BOLIVAR, Mo. – In the first of three straight road contests, the UIndy football team opened Great Lakes Valley Conference play with a 41-37 defeat at Southwest Baptist (3-0) Saturday night. The result extended the Greyhounds' season-opening skid to three games, marking the team's first 0-3 start since 2004.
 
Trailing by four late in the contest, the Greyhounds marched 79 yards on 10 plays to set up a 3rd-&-goal situation. But the 11th play of the drive ended in an SBU interception at the goal line that helped seal the win for the host Bearcats, who were receiving votes in the latest AFCA Division II Coaches Poll.

Junior running back Andrew Walker scored three rushing touchdowns for the Hounds, while Malik Higgins and Garrett Willis each amassed more than 100 yards receiving.
 
Defensively, senior linebacker Rob Dury led all players with 18 tackles while also adding a forced and recovered fumble. Redshirt-freshman Jacob Schmatz, making his first collegiate start, was credited with 2.5 sacks.                                                                                                           
 
The second half featured a number of seismic momentum shifts, with long plays and kickoff return TDs becoming the norm rather than the exception in the final 30 minutes.
 
Trailing by 13 at the half, the Bearcats came out of the locker room slinging, scoring two quick touchdowns in less than seven minutes to retake the lead, 21-20. UIndy responded with 10 unanswered points of their own, starting with a 92-yard kickoff return by Tuwan Payton. The junior out of New Albany reinvigorated the Hounds with his second career kickoff return TD.
 
The Greyhound defense came up with a big takeaway on the ensuing SBU drive, as Dury knocked the ball out of the arms of SBU running back Bubba Jenkins, giving the ball right back to the Hounds. The change of possession eventually led to a 20-yard field goal from junior Brad Schickel.
 
The flurry didn't end there, as the teams traded touchdowns on the game's next three possessions. Southwest Baptist fueled a 1:27 scoring drive with a 51-yard pass, while UIndy engineered a 75-yard march to make it a two-score game early in the fourth. Alex Kimack put the points on the board on the latter drive with a three-yard TD reception from Jake Purichia, making it 37-27 UIndy.
 
The Bearcats had an emphatic answer, however, as Cassian Foreman took the next kickoff the full 100 yards the other way, again trimming the lead to three.
 
Following a three-and-out from UIndy, SBU struck again, this time with a 41-yard bomb to Jenkins that ultimately put the home team up for good.

The Greyhounds remain on the road next week when they travel to Owensboro, Ky. , for a non-conference tilt versus the Kentucky Wesleyan College Panthers, Sept. 24. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.


NOTES
The final marks just the second-ever loss for UIndy in GLVC play. It is now 30-2 all-time versus GLVC opponents … SBU came into the night ranked first in the GLVC and ninth in D-II in total offense … The Bearcats were whistled for 14 penalties for 132 yards … Korey Rogan garnered the Hounds' first interception of the season in the first quarter, picking off QB TJ Edwards on the third play from scrimmage.