Murray State pulled away from the University of Pikeville Bears in the second half to score a 59-20 victory in the college football opener played Thursday night in Murray.
UPIKE quarterback Bowen Smith finished with 186 yards passing and one touchdown, completing 15 of 29 attempts. He rushed for one score.
Running back Xondre Willis carried 15 times for 60 yards. Damian Sutton hauled in four passes for 72 yards and one touchdown.
The Bears (0-1) totaled 245yards. Placekicker Zaniel Phillips booted field goals of 42 and 30 yards.
Murray State running backs Jared McCray and Rodney Castille had a pair of rushing touchdowns for the Racers. Quarterback Preston Rice tossed two others.
At Murray
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
UP (0-1)…..3 14 3 0 – 20
MS (1-0)…17 14 14 14 – 59
Scoring:
First Quarter
UP – Zaniel Phillips, 42-yard field goal, 11:17
MS – Quinaz Turner, 95-yard kickoff return (Colin Boyd kick), 11:03
MS – Brion Sanchious, 9-yard pass from Preston Rice (Gabriel Vicente kick), 8:50
MS – Gabriel Vicente, 44-yard field goal, :38
Second Quarter
MS – Jared McCray, 3-yard run (Gabriel Vicente kick), 12:40
MS – Jacob Bell, 38-yard pass from Preston Rice (Gabriele Vicente kick), 11:13
UP – Bowen Smith, 4-yard run (Zaniel Phillips kick), 3:10
UP – Damian Sutton, 48-yard pass from Bowen Smith (Zaniel Phillips kick), :07
Third Quarter
MS – Rodney Castille, 3-yard run Gabriel Vicente kick), 12:00
UP – Zane Phillips, 30-yard field goal, 8:21
MS – Jared McCray, 25-yard run (Gabriel Vicente kick), 1:27
Fourth Quarter
MS – Rodney Castille, 1-yard run (Gabriel Vicente kick), 13:14
MS – LaMartez Brooks, 46-yard pass from Brendan Bognar (Gabriel Vicente kick), 2:35
Next up: UPIKE (0-1) at Reinhardt University (0-0), 1:30 p.m., Sept. 7