Bluejays give up four straight touchdowns in loss to Friends

Dark clouds seemed to loom over Kansas football stadiums Saturday, but the darkest of cloud for Tabor was the inability to stop the run, or take care of the football.

Friends ran 342 yards on the way to beating Tabor 35-21 at Joel H. Wiens Stadium in Hillsboro.

The 14-point margin was an improvement from 2009, when Tabor fell to the Falcons 65-17 in the third game of 2009.

Friends? Jeron Trotter gained 240 yards on 21 carries and scored three touchdowns as Friends out up 28 unanswered points in the second half for a 28-7 advantage.

Another key factor in the game was Bluejay turnovers. Tabor lost two fumbles and threw four intereptions.

Tabor struck first on a 4-yard touchdown pass to Duray Gardener from Joey Erickson to take a 7-0 lead at the 4:50 mark in the first quarter. The 12-play, 72-yard drive featured a big play and a few dropped balls.

Erickson found Kelsei Brown for a 23-yard pass to move to the Friends 23. Following the completion, Brown and Gardener dropped two passes before Tabor scored.

Friends scored its first of four straight touchdowns on a nine-yard hand off to Trotter to tie the game at seven. Friends reached the Bluejay red zone with a 37-yard pass from Jayme Bristow to Doug Pierce.

Trotter scored for a second time from 16 yards out. The Berner gave the Falcons a 14-7 lead with 8:31 left in the third quarter. On the scoring drive, Friends? Jayme Bristow found Mike Hyde for a 25-yard pass to the Tabor 38. Trotter followed for runs of five and 15 yards to set up the nextscore.

Touchdown No. 3 came on a Bristow run from the 1-yard line. The ensuing kick by Berner was blocked by Tabor?s Artravious Addison.

Trotter began at the Falcon 36, carrying to the Tabor 23-yard line for a 41-yard pickup. The Falcon tailback added a 15-yard gain to the Tabor 8-yard line.

Friends opened the fourth quarter with the fourth unanswered touchdown, a 30-yard bomb from Bristow to Pierce that extended the Falcon lead to 28-7 with 14:02 left.

Tabor responded quickly, scoring on a 2:07 drive capped by a 54-yard scoring pass from Erickson to Brown. Rothwell?s kick moved Tabor to within two touchdowns at 28-14.

Friends answered with a 70-yard touchdown scamper by Trotter to end Friends? scoring at 35-14 at the 4:47 mark.

Tabor scored once more with 1:18 remaining on a 3-yard run by James Monroe.

Tabor used trickery to try to recover an onside kick. Tabor huddled, then came out charging in a group led by Rothwell. The freshman kicker kicked the ball ahead 15 yards, where it was recovered by Friends? Cody Butts.

Coming?Tabor (1-2, 1-2) travels outside the KCAC this Saturday to play to Peru (Neb.) State College. The Bobcats are 0-4 for the season.

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