SEGUIN, Texas -- The Texas Lutheran Bulldogs claimed the outright Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship for a second consecutive year, winning the 2014 crown with a 41-14 win Saturday over Southwestern University.
 
At Bulldog Stadium, the Bulldogs celebrated at their new football home with the second conference title in school history.
 
"It's just unbelievable really," said Danny Padron, TLU's head coach after winning his 30^th game with the Bulldogs in five seasons. "We think we are able to do stuff, and then to have it happen is just a great feeling. We are full of gratitude for our seniors and the leadership that we have had. We have a great young football team and great young men that really demonstrate all the good things about Division III football. They represent well. We are tickled for them and very happy for them."
 
"We are very happy for our university and our community - the commitment they made to build our stadium. There are a lot of good things happening, so we are just full of gratitude. It's a blessing from the Lord."
 
TLU completed a 9-1 regular season and 3-0 conference run. But the SCAC does not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Bulldogs must receive an at-large bid (either a Pool B or Pool C bid) from the NCAA Division III Football Championship Committee.
 
The selection show is set for 5 p.m. Sunday on www.NCAA.com. A link to the show will be available on www.tlubulldogs.com.
 
TLU has never advanced to the NCAA Division III football playoffs. The Bulldogs' last playoff appearance of any kind in football came back in 1976, when the Bulldogs fell in the NAIA-II national semi-final. TLU won back-to-back NAIA-II National Championships in 1974 and 1975.
 
TLU, a winner of 18 of its last 20 games, posted an 8-1 record in 2013 but did not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
 
The Bulldogs wasted little time Saturday to make sure the outright SCAC Championship would remain in Seguin. TLU scored just 15 seconds into the game with a 40-yard run from sophomore Marquis Barrolle (Ingleside/Ingleside).
 
Barrolle entered the game as the second-leading rusher in all of NCAA Division III. He ended the 2014 regular season with 1,568 yards and 14 TDs on 247 carries (an average of 6.3 yards per carry).
 
After an opening-kickoff return of 39 yards from Drake Dowling (Katy/Katy), Barrolle burst up the middle untouched for the quick score.
 
Barrolle and quarterback Trenton White (Sachse/Sachse) combined for 271 rushing yards against the Pirates. Barrolle rushed 14 times for 136, with one score, and White carried the ball eight times for a career-best 135 yards and two scores.
 
White scored a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter. The first TD came on a career-long, 75-yard run that capped a two-play, 80-yard drive that elapsed just 23 seconds.
 
White's second TD run came on 4^th-and-4 from the Southwestern 19.
 
TLU rushed for 333 yards against Southwestern and averaged 7.6 yards per carry.
 
White completed just five passes Saturday, but he again hooked up with sophomore Caleb Oliver (Pearland/Lutheran South), who found the endzone with eight seconds to play in the first half. The play covered nine yards and put an end to a drive that covered 27 yards in 1:02. The drive was set-up by another strong return from Dowling. This time Dowling went 51 yards on a punt return.
 
The TD catch was Oliver's team-best 10^th of the season and marked the seventh straight game in which he has caught at least one touchdown.
 
TLU took a 34-0 lead into the half.
 
Tyler Brandenburg (Spring/Concordia Lutheran) made a pair of field goals (from 26 and 29 yards), and Reggie Jackson (Killeen/Ellison) completed the Bulldog scoring with a 25-yard TD connection with back-up quarterback Zach Galindo (Helotes/O'Connor).
 
Defensively, TLU held Southwestern to 260 yards of total offense and to 2.0 yards per carry. The Pirates carried the ball 37 times for 73 yards.
 
The Bulldogs registered 15 total tackles for loss, for 48 yards in losses. Safety Adam McGuire (Houston/Cypress Falls) tallied 2.0 for 10 yards (with a sack of nine yards), and Darian Candler (Humble/Atascocita) chipped in 2.5 tackles for three yards in losses.
 
TLU sacked Southwestern quarterbacks eight times for 35 yards. Senior defensive end Bryan Doolittle (Houston/Langham Creek) added to his team-lead with two sacks for four yards.
 
Freshman cornerback Poodie Strong (Carthage/Carthage) contributed four pass breakups and a blocked extra-point.
 
"Our dream is to get into the NCAA playoffs, and we still have an opportunity for that," said Padron. "So we have been chasing that every week. It is hard to (win each week). Every game is a must win. Our guys have worked their rear-ends off. (Our coaches) have worked their rear-ends off. We are really happy that we've had this opportunity to accomplish these things."
 
"It says a lot about our team's character and how hard they have worked. They didn't settle. They weren't satisfied. They understood that we had to continue to get better. So they worked extremely hard. You have to attribute that to our coaches too. They put our guys in a tremendous position to win and to represent this conference. We are excited for that, and we really believe that we have a good shot at the NCAA playoffs."