LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Bellarmine sprint football team jumped out to a big first-half lead and held on in the second half to down Quincy in the Midwest Sprint Football League opener Saturday afternoon at Page Stadium.
 
Freshman quarterback Kyle Horvath threw for three first-half touchdowns in his debut, accumulating 258 yards through the air on 19-for-28 passing for Bellarmine.
 
Hauling in a pair of Horvath's touchdown passes was freshman receiver Nathan Kitchens. He collected a lob down the left side for a 26-yard touchdown to open the game's scoring with 5:38 left in the first. The Simon Kenton product would follow that up with a grab on a jump ball at the goal line on a 4^th-and-10 play from the 21-yard line to put the Knights up 21-7 with just under nine minutes left in the first half. Kitchens led the Knights with 80 receiving yards on four grabs.
 
Sophomore Pleasure Ridge Park product Kendrick Jackson grabbed the other score from Horvath on a 48-yard bomb down the left side to put Bellarmine up 14-0 with 2:22 left in the first.
 
An interception returned for a touchdown by sophomore defensive back Lance Weiter with 1:25 left in the second quarter accounted for the final dent on the scoreboard by the Knights. It was the DeSales product's fifth career interception and the first ran back for six.
 
Bellarmine led 27-7 at the break, but Quincy battled back with a pair of scores in the second half while the Knights did not have the same success moving the ball as in the first half. Second string quarterback Tate Meyer found Nasir Carson for a 38-yard score on the Hawks' first drive of the second half and Chance Newton rattled off a 24-yard touchdown run with 8:13 left in the fourth to bring Quincy to within six at 27-21.
 
The Knights responded by grinding out a 14-play, 55-yard drive to chew up the remainder of the game clock. A 23-yard run by junior back Brenden Reid sealed the win. Reid finished with a team-high 74 rushing yards.
 
Carson led the Hawks with 88 receiving yards on four catches while CJ Jackson tallied 76 yards in 12 carries on the ground. Quincy split time between a pair of quarterbacks, starter Deuce Allaway and Meyer. Neither found much success against the talented Knights secondary, who held them to just 131 yards through the air.
 
In a scheduling quirk, Bellarmine will now head out on the road for their next three games before returning home for their final two. They see action again next Sunday, September 22 at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET.
 
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