SEGUIN, Texas -- In an intense 60-minute battle, East Texas Baptist made enough big plays to hold off Texas Lutheran 24-21 on Saturday afternoon at Bulldog Stadium.

Texas Lutheran went toe-to-toe with East Texas Baptist but came up short to slip to 1-3 overall to conclude non-conference play. The Tigers improved to 4-0.

East Texas Baptist was victorious despite running ten fewer plays, having 95 fewer yards, and losing the time of possession battle to Texas Lutheran, 33:20-26:40. The Bulldogs also had 20 first downs compared to 14 for the Tigers.

ETBU offset Texas Lutheran's steady offensive drives with a pair of scoring drives that required less than five plays. A Tigers field goal with 3:12 remaining proved to be the difference.

Reece Deitrick (Austin/Canyon) completed 17-of-30 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns to keep the Bulldogs within striking distance. Two of the touchdown passes were connections with wide receiver Caleb Camarillo (Gonzales/Southside), who finished with three receptions for a game and season-high 153 yards. Running back Weston Guzman (McAllen/McAllen) added a game-high five receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown and added 62 yards rushing on 12 carries. Kibreante Williams (Victoria/Victoria West) led Texas Lutheran with a career-high 139 yards rushing on 16 carries.

Deitrick did throw one interception and was sacked five times for 25 yards in losses on Saturday.

Overall, ETBU finished with 408 total yards, while Texas Lutheran finished with 503 yards and a 25-yard difference (25-0) in yards lost by sack.

Texas Lutheran took the opening kickoff and following four straight runs and a strip sack, Deitrick connected with Camarillo for a 72-yard passing touchdown to get the Bulldogs on the board. The Tigers fired right back with a 69-yard touchdown pass of their own as the game opened as a shootout was in store for the Bulldog Stadium crowd.

It would take until the first drive of the second quarter for either team to find the end zone again as Deitrick found Guzman on a screen he would take 29 yards for a touchdown. After the extra point was blocked on the first touchdown, Deitrick found Lavonta Henry (San Antonio/Madison) on the two-point conversion to give TLU a 14-7 lead.

ETBU scored on their final two drives of the half to take a 21-14 lead into halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter, ETBU extended their lead to 24-14 with a 25-yard field goal with 3:12 remaining in the game.

Deitrick and the Bulldogs answered as he found Camarillo, who entered the weekend ranked 12th in NCAA Division-III in yards per catch, for yet another explosive play, a 39-yard touchdown pass to bring the game to a 24-21 score.

The Bulldogs would attempt an onside kick but the Tigers would recover and run out the final 50-plus seconds to seal the victory.

Owen Garcia (Austin/Connally) led the Texas Lutheran defense with a team-high eight tackles and added a forced fumble and a pass break up, while Nicola Pari (San Antonio/Churchill) added seven tackles, a forced fumble, and a pass break up. Justin Navarro (Edinburg/Robert Vela) pitched in seven tackles while Marec Square (Houston/Lamar) tallied one tackle and his second interception of the season.

Following a bye week next Saturday, Texas Lutheran heads on the road to open SCAC play as the Bulldogs head to Shreveport, Louisiana, to face the Centenary College Gents on Oct. 11. Kickoff is set for 6 PM. The game will be broadcast on FloCollege. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.

For more information on Texas Lutheran football, follow the Bulldogs on X (Twitter) and Instagram (@TLU_Football) and as always you can find updates on all Texas Lutheran athletics on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics on X (Twitter,) @tlu_athletics on Instagram, and @tlubulldogs on Facebook).