Owensboro, Ky. – The University of Findlay football team, ranked #23 in the country in the latest American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA) poll, went on the road on Saturday, Oct. 5, battling the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers in Owensboro, Kentucky. A productive second quarter led to a dominating 49-9 victory for the Oilers. With Saturday's victory, Findlay moves to 5-0 on the season, the first such start since 2002, and 3-0 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). KWC falls to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in league play with the loss.
It did not take long for Findlay to strike as, less than three minutes into the game, senior quarterback Matthew Rueve found senior Delon Hurt for an 18-yard score. It would be the first of three scoring connections between that duo.
KWC did force a punt in the first quarter and drove the ball to the Oilers' 33-yardline before missing a field goal. That would be the home team's best chance to keep the score close.
The second quarter began and it would go solely in favor of the Orange and Black. Findlay would go on to score 28 points in the frame, the most points in a quarter by the Oilers since 2018, opening up a 35-7 advantage at halftime.
Rueve, who had a historic day, finished the first half with five touchdown passes, three of which went to Delon Hurt. Rueve is the first Findlay quarterback to throw five first-half touchdown passes since Rhys Gervais did so against Lake Erie back in 2016.
The Panthers did record a safety in the third quarter, but two more second-half touchdowns put the game completely out of reach as the Oilers would cruise to a 40-point victory.
Findlay put up 554 yards of total offense, the most in a game in three seasons, most of which came through the air. The UF defense also played well, holding the Panthers to 255 yards of total offense and limiting KWC to just 3-of-16 on third down conversions.
For the Oilers, Rueve was a big part of the offensive onslaught. The Cincinnati, Ohio native completed 18 passes to ten different receivers for 296 yards and set a program record with six touchdown passes, passing Gervais and Bo Hurley who each had five-touchdown games to their credit.
Hurt had his best performance for Findlay since his arrival on campus earlier in the year. The Ontario, California native and UCLA transfer had seven receptions for 128 yards and three scores, all of which set new career-highs. He is the first Findlay wideout to have three touchdown receptions in a game since Jason Moore (2013-18) hit the trifecta three times back in 2017. Junior Bryan Hunt, senior Mitch Nielsen, and freshman Donovan O'Leary were all on the receiving end of touchdown passes, as well.
Arguably overshadowed by Rueve's arm was the work on the ground by senior Makya Matthews who rushed 14 times for a career-high 136 yards. Senior Braydon Johns chipped in with a rushing touchdown, the first of his career and the only score for Findlay that did not come through the air.
Defensively, sophomore Isaiah Kenney led the way with six tackles including one tackle-for-loss while junior Sam Weihrauch, sophomore Joel Kpassou, and freshman Bryce Stack all had five tackles. Junior Reece Brancifort had four stops and a team-high 2.5 tackles-for-loss.
With the Panthers now in the rearview mirror, the Oilers return home to take on Ashland University on Saturday, Oct. 12. The two Ohio rivals will kick off at noon.
