CINCINNATI. OH – The Bethel Wildcats snapped a six game losing streak with a convincing 54-0 victory at Cincinnati Christian Saturday.
The Wildcats got on the board at the 4:13 mark of the first quarter on a short run (13 yards) by Breelan McKinney. Dalton McCann's point after made it 7-0. Just over two minutes later Taye Davis scored on a 15-yard touchdown scamper to make it 13-0. McCann was true again and the Cats led 14-0 with 2:04 left in the first.
At the 11:13 mark of the second quarter Bethel's Sam Castronova hit Braden Simmons on a short pass (6 yards) to make it 21-0. A team safety with 6:20 left in the first half made it 23-0 at the break.
Demetrice Gilbert returned the second half opening kick-off for 81 yards and the Wildcats pulled away to lead 30-0. Gilbert struck again with a 29-yard interception return for a touchdown with 7:58 left in the third to give Bethel a 37-0 lead. Castronova ran it in from seven yards out and Bethel upped their lead to 44-0 with 2:53 left in the third. Christopher Burney scooped up a blocked punt and ran in from 25-yards out and Bethel continued to pour in on leading 51-0 with 18 seconds left in the third stanza.
McCann drilled a 21-yard field goal with just under eight minutes left in the game to put Bethel up 54-0. The Wildcats would win by that margin.
Bethel outrushed the Eagles 251- 67. They had a 274-118 advantage in passing. Castronova was 17-of-31 in the air for 243 yards. Davis had 77 rushing yards on 13 carries. Braden Simmons had six receptions for 109 yards.
Gilbert finished with two picks while Burney had one interception. Chris Beavers and Jeremy Beaulieu led Bethel with eight total tackles each.
Bethel moved to 2-6 overall and 1-3 in the Bluegrass Division of the Mid-South Conference. CCU dropped to 0-8 and 0-4. The Eagles are still looking for their first ever win in program history and are 0-19 in two years.
Bethel closes out their home schedule on Senior Day Saturday against highly ranked (5) Lindsey Wilson. Senior Day activities begin at 1 p.m. with kick-off slated for 1:30 p.m. Fans can catch the action on WEIO, 100.9 and at www.thefarmradio.com. Live streaming will be available on Wildcat Vision at www.bethelathletics.com.
