Horsemen Score Resounding Victory Over Tupelo

The Lexington Horsemen streaked to a 27-0 lead after the first quarter Sunday against division-foe Tupelo and cruised to a 75-13 win in Rupp Arena. The Horsemen set several team and individual records against the Fireants and swept the season series with Tupelo.

Lexington’s (5-3) 75 points are a UIF league high this season, and the third-highest points scored in a game by the Horsemen in franchise history.

Horsemen wide receiver/running back Harry Lewis caught three touchdown passes and ran for one, marking a single-game career game four scores, while Derek Homer accumulated 73 yards on the ground with three rushing touchdowns.

Lexington quarterback Dusty Bonner completed 14-of-18 passes (77.8 pct.) for 108 yards with three touchdowns. Tupelo (2-6) quarterback Tommy Miller was picked off three times in the game and completed only 15-of-27 passes (55.3 pct.). The Horsemen returned four Tupelo interceptions for 92 yards.

Horsemen linebacker John Sullivan recovered a fumble in the Fireants’ end zone for a touchdown less than two minutes into the game, before Homer followed with a 25-yard touchdown run on the opening play of the Horsemen’s next drive to put Lexington up 14-0.

Leading 27-0 late in the second quarter, Homer found the end zone with less than a second remaining until halftime to give the Horsemen a 34-0 advantage heading into the halftime intermission. Lexington’s 34-point lead is its largest halftime edge of the season.

Homer opened the third quarter with an 8-yard run for touchdown before Tupelo finally got on the board with an 8-yard pass from Miller to Chris Edwards. On the next series, William Mulder, who already has one UIF Special Teams Player of the Week honor to his credit this season, scored on a 50-yard kickoff return that ignited the Rupp Arena crowd of 3,122 fans.

Leading 61-7 at the 2:25 mark of the game, Champ Kelly picked off Miller for the third time in the game and returned the ball 31 yards for a touchdown to push Lexington’s advantage out to 75-7. The Fireants, who accumulated negative two yards rushing in the game, were able to string together a 6-play 30-yard drive with 30 seconds left in the game to round out the scoring.

The Horsemen return to action Saturday as they travel to Huntsville, Ala., to face the Tennessee Valley Raptors. Kickoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. ET and the game will be carried live on Supertalk 96.1 FM with Gary Ball.

Single-game tickets for the remaining five games of the 2005 season are still available for purchase. Please contact the Horsemen at 859-422-PASS or the Lexington Center Ticket Office at 859-233-3535. For more information on the Lexington Horsemen, please log on to the team’s official Web site at www.lexingtonhorsemen.com.

Post-game Notes
Final Score: Lexington 75, Tupelo 13

Team Records and Series Notes
-The Horsemen improve to 5-3 on the season while the Tupelo Fireants fall to 2-6 on the 2005 campaign. -Lexington leads the all-time series with the Fireants 3-1, but the Horsemen picked up their first home win of the series. -Horsemen head coach Bob Sphire has a 2-1 record vs. Tupelo. -Lexington sweeps the season series with the Fireants after its 75-13 win. -The Horsemen return to action Saturday as they travel to Huntsville, Ala., to face the Tennessee Valley Raptors. Kickoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. ET and the game will be carried live on Supertalk 96.1 FM with Gary Ball.

The Series with Tupelo
Date Location Score
5/31/03 Tupelo, Miss. W, 43-22
4/24/04 Lexington, Ky. L, 56-67
3/18/05 Tupelo, Miss. W, 49-37
5/15/05 Lexington, Ky. W, 75-13

Team Game Notes
-Lexington’s 75 points are a UIF league high this season and the third-highest points scored in a single game by the Horsemen in franchise history. The largest win in Horsemen history was a 116-18 victory over Waco on June 26, 2004. -The Horsemen improved to 3-1 as a team when scoring the first points of the game. -Lexington improved to 5-0 when leading at the halftime intermission.
-The Horsemen returned four interceptions for a total of 92 yards to mark a team single-game high in interceptions this season.
-Attendance: 3,122

Individual Game Notes
-Sunday’s game marks the fourth time this season that quarterback Dusty Bonner has not thrown an interception. The Horsemen are 3-1 when Bonner does not throw an interception in the game. -Wide receiver/running back Harry Lewis scored a career-high four touchdowns in the game, surpassing his previous career-high of three touchdowns scored in Lexington’s 67-66 win over Atlantic City on May 23, 2004. -Derek Homer’s 73 yards rushing are a season-high for the running back. Homer was 15 yards shy of tying his career high of 88 yards rushing in a single game set June 26, 2004 vs. Waco.