BELLEVILLE, Ill. – The USF football team dominated from start to finish in a 48-6 victory over Lindenwood-Belleville.
St. Francis (2-4) scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the game and never looked back. USF's 48 points are the most the Saints have scored in a single game since October of 2012 when they beat Trinity International 48-17.
For the third consecutive game, USF forced three turnovers. They held the Lynx (0-6) to six points, nine first downs (2-of-12 on third down) and 285 yards of total offense.
St. Francis converted a successful onside kick to open the game and needed just over a minute to complete a four-play, 47-yard drive that was capped by a Lexus Jackson (University Park, Ill./Crete-Monee) 16-yard touchdown run. After the Saints recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff return, Jackson once again found the end zone, this time on a 61-yard pass from Aaron Ellis (Valparaiso, Ind./Boone Grove).
After the Lynx got on the board, the Saints scored two more times to take a 27-6 first-quarter lead. Jordon Smith (DeWitt, Mich./Lansing Catholic) plunged in from one yard out on a six-play, 52-yard march. Jackson rounded out the quarter with another long touchdown catch, this time 47 yards from Ellis.
The Saints took a 34-6 lead into the break on Ellis' third touchdown of the afternoon. This time, he found Brandon Ruffin (Peoria, Ill./Peoria) on a 27-yard pass.
The Ellis-Ruffin connection continued to be effective in the second half as the two hooked up from 32 yards out, wrapping up a 50-yard drive that took just 58 seconds. Michael Johnson (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic) found the end zone to round out the Saints' scoring late in the fourth quarter.
Ellis completed 15 of his 22 passes for 257 yards and four scores, two to Jackson and two to Ruffin. Jackson added a rushing score and 136 receiving yards to his explosive afternoon. Ruffin paced the Saints with seven catches, while Johnson finished with a team-high 72 rushing yards.
Antonio Lemon (Franklin Park, Ill./East Leyden) led USF with eight tackles and two fumble recoveries. Jamal Stovall (Champaign, Ill./Champaign Central) nabbed the first interception of his career, while Josh Woodard (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) broke up four passes.
Lindenwood-Belleville's Watraie Jones led all players with 101 rushing yards. Misikei Fuiava-Thomsen finished with 10 tackles, including 5.5 for loss.
The Saints return to ATI Field for MSFA Midwest League action next Saturday, October 21 when they host Olivet Nazarene at 1:00 p.m.
