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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford football team used a complete team effort to pull away from Tennessee Tech and earn an impressive 52-14 win in the season opener for both teams Thursday night at Seibert Stadium.
 
"I thought defensively we played outstanding," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "We gave up drives at the beginning of the third and end of the second, but other than that, defensively we played outstanding. In the first half, offensively, we just got whipped at the line of scrimmage. We challenged the guys at halftime and we came out firing on all cylinders."
 
Graduate quarterback Liam Welch completed 33-of-44 passes for 370 yard and four touchdowns in the win. Montrell Washington caught eight passes for a career-high 170 yards, while also returning a punt for a 62-yard touchdown. Ty King, A.J. Toney, Michael Vice and Jai'Rus Creamer each caught a touchdown pass for the Bulldogs.
 
Defensively, Chris Edmonds had an interception to go along with his four tackles, including one sack. Lamar Anderson led the team in tackles with nine, while Nathan East produced eight tackles, including 1.5 sacks.
 
As a team, Samford rolled up 475 yards of total offense, compared to 231 for Tennessee Tech. The Bulldogs averaged an impressive 6.2 yards per play in the contest.
 
For Tennessee Tech, Davis Stanley completed 19-of-34 passes for 159 yards, one touchdown and one interception. David Gist rushed for 72 yards and one touchdown for the Golden Eagles. Josh Reliford led all tacklers with 11.
 
Samford got on the scoreboard first when Welch hit Vice for a 24-yard touchdown pass to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead with 6:50 left in the first quarter. After Tennessee Tech's ensuing possession, Washington returned the punt 62 yards for a touchdown to push the Bulldogs' lead to 14-0 with 3:49 remaining in the opening period.
 
Samford's Zach Williams kicked a 24-yard field goal to make the score 17-0 at the 7:28 mark in the second quarter. Tennessee Tech struck for the first time when Shanley hit Justin Oden for a 10-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 17-7 with 2:25 left in the second quarter.
 
On the opening drive of the third quarter, Tennessee Tech's Gist scored on a three-yard run to cut the lead to 17-14 with 9:25 left in the period. From that point on, it was all Samford.
 
On Samford's ensuing possession, Welch connected with Toney for an eight-yard touchdown pass to increase Samford's lead to 24-14 with 6:18 left in the third quarter. Samford's DeMarcus Ware scored on a 10-yard run to make the score 31-14 with 4:31 to go in the third quarter. Samford added one more third-quarter score when Welch hit King for a seven-yard touchdown, giving the Bulldogs a 38-14 lead with 39 seconds left in the period.
 
On the final play of the third quarter, Samford's Edmonds intercepted a Tennessee Tech pass and returned it 25 yards to the Golden Eagles' two-yard line. On the second play of the fourth quarter, Samford's Jay Stanton scored on a one yard run to make the score 45-14 with 14:34 left in the game.
 
Welch connected with Creamer for a 10-yard touchdown to push the Samford lead to 52-14 with 7:58 to go in the contest.
 
Samford will next travel to UT Martin to take on the Skyhawks on Saturday, Sept. 11. The game is set for a 6 p.m. start from Martin, Tenn.
 
For the latest news and information on Samford football, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordFootball (Facebook), @SamfordFootball (Instagram) and @SamfordFootball (Twitter).