STREAMWOOD, Ill. - The University of Saint Francis (Ind.) football team traveled to Illinois to take on Judson University in USF's MSFA Midwest opener on Saturday, October 19. The Cougars earned a 49-20 win, giving them their fifth victory by 20 or more points this season. 

Saint Francis was the first to strike in Saturday's game, taking a 7-0 lead thanks to a five-yard reception from Joshua Kulka to Adam Smith at the 11:00 mark in the first quarter. About two and a half minutes later, Crosley MacEachen brought in a 27-yard pass for another USF touchdown. McCall Ray extended the Cougars' lead to 21 off a 43-yard reception in a USF drive that consisted of just two plays for 72 yards. The start of the second quarter saw an nterception returned 100 yards for a touchdown by Nick Nondorf, putting Saint Francis ahead 28-0 with 13:57 on the clock. Judson would put two scoring drives together to cut the Cougar's lead to 28-14 with 3:30 left to play in the half. USF responded with a touchdown from Ray, this time a 27-yard reception that put the Cougars up 35-14 at halftime. 

Chamaar Smith intercepted the Eagles' quarterback and returned the ball 28-yards for a Saint Francis touchdown with 5:15 left to play in the third quarter, making the score 42-14 in favor of the Cougars. An interception by Tamarris Springfield gave USF the ball back on the Judson 43 yard-line. Then, Lenny Bennett was able to put USF up 42-14 at the 3:42 mark to extend USF's lead to 49-14. Nondorf got his second interception of the day during the Eagles' second play to start off the fourth quarter. Judson was held scoreless in the second half until the 5:15 mark of the fourth when the Eagles were able to put together a scoring drive to make the score 49-20. The Cougars would go on to win Saturday's matchup by 29 points to start MSFA play 1-0.

As a team, the Cougars finished with 562 total yards of offense, including 374 net passing yards and 188 net rushing yards. Kulka finished the afternoon with 260 passing yards for four touchdowns. Ja'Suan Lambert led the Cougars with 56 rushing yards on four carries, followed by Drew Wheat with 45 yards and David Smith with 44 yards. Ray brought in five receptions for 102 yards and two touchdowns. Adam Smith added 92 receiving yards. Freshman kicker Austin Deleon was a perfect 7/7 on extra point attempts and had eight kickoffs for 420 yards, including five touchbacks. 

Defensively, Saint Francis had four sacks, forced three fumbles and came away with five interceptions. Three Cougars had five total tackles, including AJ Moore, Emmanuel Davis, and Connor Price. Moore had a sack, two tackles for a loss, and a forced fumble. Davis finished with five solo tackles and a pass breakup, while Price contributed to a sack and had two tackles for a loss of 13 total yards. Chamaar Smith added four solo tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and an interception. Nate Newcomer also had an interception and a pass breakup. Corey Norris had a sack, and Benjamin Rectanus contributed to a sack and forced a fumble on Saturday.

Up next, USF football (5-2, 1-0) will travel to No. 17 Marian University on October 26 for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.

Cougar fans can stay updated on all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting saintfranciscougars.com.