MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.—A 24-0 halftime deficit was too much to overcome as No. 21 Southeastern suffered its first loss of the season to No. 22 St. Thomas 34-14.
The Bobcats (3-1) got on the board at the 3:31 mark of the first quarter on a 71-yard touchdown run following a missed field goal by SEU. Rontavious Farmer also added a one-yard touchdown run with 10:28 to go in the second to make it 14-0. St. Thomas added a 29-yard field goal, then turned a late turnover by the Fire into a 25-yard touchdown pass to go into the locker room with a 24-point lead.
"Ultimately, you have to go out and play the game no matter what the circumstances are," said coach
Adam Waugh. "They are a good football team, they were prepared to play and they were ready and the good thing is we'll see them again at the end of the year."
The second half saw SEU quarterback
Kaylan Wiggins run for a 67-yard touchdown with 22 seconds left in the third and a 59-yard touchdown run with 11:20 to go in the fourth to get the deficit down to 10.
Wiggins finished with 88 yards rushing, 97 yards passing, and was sacked seven times.
"We challenged our guys to play the second half like it was 0-0," said Waugh. "We tried to execute our game plan like we intended to and got some stops and got some points on the board and it was encouraging."
The Bobcats answered with a nine-play, 75-yard drive that ate up 3:47 and culminated in Farmer's third touchdown of the game with 7:33 to play.
"I thought until the last score we had a chance to get back in it late, but got worn down at the end," said Waugh. "Hats off to St. Thomas, they played a good game, they were ready to play and they beat us."
Marc Viechec led the defense with 10 tackles and two for loss.
The Fire will begin Sun Conference play next week at Ave Maria.
