Cosme & Forton Combine for Five Touchdowns, Defense Forces Seven Turnovers in Rout of Southwestern

GEORGETOWN, Texas -- The Texas Lutheran football team dominated in all phases Saturday night at Birkelbach Field - with multiple rushing touchdowns from quarterback Seth Cosme (Angleton/Angleton) and running back Jacob Forton (Spring Branch/Smithson Valley) and a TLU defense that forced seven turnovers to beat Southwestern 39-7.

Forton carried the ball 15 times for 56 yards and two touchdowns while adding 31 yards receiving on four receptions.

Quarterback Seth Cosme boasted another efficient performance, completing 77-percent of his passes (23-of-30). While Cosme would not throw for a touchdown, he would rush for a career-high three touchdowns behind six carries for 35 yards. Wide receiver Jacob Wallace (Marion/Marion) continued to make his presence felt - following up last week's two touchdown performance with a nine reception, 122 yard day on Saturday.

Defensively, Texas Lutheran had one of their best games in recent memory forcing seven turnovers on the night. Defensive back Jermario Thomas (Jasper/Jasper) recorded two interceptions and a forced fumble while Michael Tomaselli (Castroville/Medina Valley) and Jonathan Cooper (Anahuac/Anahuac) each brought in one. The Bulldogs would also force and recover three fumbles on the night. They were led by freshman Troy Tomaselli (Castroville/Cornerstone Christian) who finished the night with a team-high six tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and two pass break ups while Zach Anderson (Montgomery/Montgomery) posted five tackles.

After trading drives that stalled to open Saturday night's contest, TLU got the scoring started on their third drive following Cooper's interception as the Bulldogs used their balanced attack to march 32 yards - capping it off with a Forton touchdown. The Bulldogs would immediately return to the field in scoring position as the Pirates would muff the kickoff by Logan Barnes (Marble Falls/Marble Falls) that would be recovered by Michael Puente (San Antonio/Brackenridge). It would only take two plays for the Bulldogs to find the end zone with Cosme rushing it in from six yards out to increase the lead to 14-0.

Cosme would find the end zone for his second rushing touchdown of the night in the closing moments of the first half as the Bulldogs took a 21-0 lead into the break.

Southwestern would capitalize on a TLU special teams blunder to score from 10 yards out early in the half to avoid the shutout but that would be the only time the Pirates would get on the board on the night.

Cosme would rush it in for the third time the following drive and backup quarterback Caden Bosanko (San Antonio/East Central) would take the direct snap and tag the pylon to convert the two-point play to extend the Bulldogs lead to 29-7.

Texas Lutheran would take the ball to start the fourth and drive down to find the end zone for the final time as Jacob Forton scored for the second time. Joaquin Rodriguez (San Antonio/Smithson Valley) would convert a field goal to put an exclamation point on the Bulldogs 39-7 rout of the Pirates. Under head coach Neal LaHue, the Bulldogs are now 5-2 in road contests.

Texas Lutheran continues its non-conference schedule next Saturday, Sept. 16, against NAIA opponent, Ave Maria (FL), in the 2023 home opener at Bulldog Stadium. The game is scheduled for a 6 PM kickoff and will be broadcast on TLU's YouTube Channel, TLU+, along with KWED 1580 AM. All streaming and stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.