COLUMBIA, Ky. -- Top-ranked Lindsey Wilson football captured a pair of cherished trophies today with a 77-14 win over visiting Campbellsville (Ky.) at Parnell Family Stadium.
The Blue Raiders (9-0, 6-0 in the Mid-South Conference Bluegrass Division) retained the Highway 55 Traveling Trophy -- the sixth straight win in the series with the Tigers (1-7, 1-5). Lindsey Wilson improves to 8-4 all-time against Campbellsville.
Lindsey Wilson also captured sole possession of the MSC Bluegrass Division and a berth into the NAIA's Football Championship Series which begins in two weeks. The divisional title is the third straight for the Blue Raiders and fourth in five seasons.
Lindsey Wilson accumulated a season-high 635 yards of total offense -- just 26 yards off the program record. The Blue Raiders finished with a balanced attack in their final regular-season home game of the season, running for a season-high 395 yards while completing 12-of-14 passes for 240 passing yards.
Jaylen Boyd and Griffin Swinea each amassed 100-yard rushing days. Boyd finished with 108 yards on 10 carries -- his program-leading 12th 100-yard game -- while Swinea notched the century mark for the first time in his career with 104 yards on 12 carries.
Eleven different players registered at least one carry en route to a 7.6 7.6 yards per carry average to go along with seven rushing touchdowns.
Boyd and Jbias Dawson each ran for two scores while Swinea, Kobe Belcher, and D'Mauriae VanCleave each had one.
Cameron Dukes led an efficient passing attack, completing nine of 10 passes -- in less than two quarters of play -- for 192 yards and three touchdowns. He was one of five quarterbacks to take a snap during the game. Ethan Cash added a 3-for-3 day for 48 yards and one touchdown.
While the offense produced its most prolific numbers of the season -- including a season-high 77 points -- the defense continued its string of games with multiple takeaways.
The Blue Raiders forced three turnovers -- interceptions by Bryson Fields and Cordarien Trice to go along with a fumble recovery -- to elevate its takeaway total to 24 for the season. It marks the fifth time in nine games this season Lindsey Wilson has for at least three turnovers and the eighth time with at least two takeaways.
The Lindsey Wilson defense disrupted the Campbellsville offense for much of the game, recording double-digit tackles-for-a-loss (10) while logging five sacks. Brandon Fields led the Blue Raiders with six tackles, three tackles-for-a-loss, two sacks, and a forced fumble. Thirty-one players recorded at least one tackle in the win.
The Blue Raiders jumped out to a 15-0 lead on rushing touchdowns by VanCleave and Boyd.
Following a Campbellsville score, the Blue Raiders scored 42 unanswered first-half points to take a 57-7 lead into the locker room.
Darius Clark, Joshua Lewis -- who finished with team-highs with five catches for 92 yards -- Noel Patterson, and Tanner Wade all caught a touchdown in the first half while Boyd and Belcher each added rushing scores to aid in the largest halftime lead of the season for Lindsey Wilson.
After scoring a touchdown on all six of its first-half possessions, Lindsey Wilson did not let up in the second half. The Blue Raiders finished the game scoring on 11 of 12 possessions. The lone non-score came inside the red zone on kneel-downs to end the game.
Dawson found the endzone twice in the second half while Swinea scored once to increase the lead to 77-7 early in the fourth quarter.
After the break, Lindsey Wilson almost went exclusively to the ground game -- running the ball on 32 of its 35 offensive plays in the half. The Blue Raiders finished the half eating up nearly 22 of the 30 second-half minutes. For a second straight week, Lindsey Wilson set a season-high for first downs. After 35 last week, the Blue Raiders moved the chains 37 times today.
The Highway 55 win coincidentally marks the 55th program victory at home while extending the overall winning streak to a program-record 20 games -- all since February 2021.
Lindsey Wilson returns to action at 12:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, November 13, as the Blue Raiders travel to Cumberlands (Ky.) for the regular-season finale in Williamsburg, Ky.
