Box Score LAKELAND, Fla.- Southeastern picked up their fourth win of the season, knocking off NCAA Division III Birmingham Southern College 42-21 Saturday afternoon.
The Fire (4-1, 2-0 TSC) started slow, but the momentum changed at the 5:06 mark of the first quarter when Mark Myers jarred the ball out of Sam Vermilyea's hands and Will Tillo recovered the fumble at the Panther 21-yard line. Five plays later, the Fire had their first score of the game on a nine-yard pass from Jonathan Pearce to Dakota Duron.
"We were a little flat to start the game, but usually something happens early to get us going," said Coach Keith Barefield. "That first turnover got us enough spark to get us going."
The SEU defense came through in the second quarter, when Myers made a stop on 4th and Goal at the Fire 1-yard line. Jarrell Reynolds answered on the next play with a 99-yard touchdown run to give the Fire a 14-0 lead.
"After that, we were off," said Barefield.
The redshirt freshman back added three more rushing touchdowns, a 60-yard run with 5:29 left in the second quarter, a one-yard run to end the first half, a 44-yard run with 4:09 left in the third, then caught a seven-yard pass for a touchdown with 14:19 to play in the fourth.
"Our offensive line did a great job controlling the line of scrimmage, and opened up some seams and creases for Jarrell (Reynolds) to run through," said Barefield.
Birmingham Southern (1-5) wouldn't go quietly, as they opened the second half with an 11-play, 77-yard touchdown drive that chewed up the first 5:36 of the third quarter, cutting the lead to 28-7. The Panthers forced a Fire punt, and added another score with 6:22 to play in the third, on a 30-yard touchdown pass, to make it a two-score game.
That's when Reynolds added his final two scores of the game to pull away.
Southeastern rode the ground game for 288 of their 517 total yards, with Reynolds rushing 19 times for 236 yards and four scores. Pearce finished the game 20-of-29 passing for 229 yards with two touchdowns, finding seven different receivers. He also rushed four times for 35 yards. Duron was the leading receiver for the Fire with eight catches for 95 yards and a touchdown.
The Fire return to Sun Conference play next week when they travel to Ave Maria University.
