PINEVILLE, La. – For the second-straight week, it came down to the wire for the Louisiana Christian University football team, and this time, Jaterrius Johnson broke free for the game-winning score with Kylon Polk's interception sealing a 43-37 win over the Wayland Baptist Pioneers Saturday night at Wildcat Field.
 
The Wildcats (2-1, 2-0 SAC) seemed poised to open the game up early as both Bryce Perkins, from two yards out, and Datlan Cunningham, from 34 yards away, both rushed for touchdowns in the first quarter, getting LCU out to a 14-0 lead after one quarter of play.
 
Wayland Baptist (0-2, 0-2 SAC) pulled back quickly in the second quarter, getting a 28-yard scoring pass on the first play of the second quarter and a 42-yard field goal just a few minutes later to cut the Wildcat lead down to 14-10.
 
Johnson scored his first touchdown of the day, and his first with the clock ticking down to the end of a half, as a pushed in from nine yards out to push the LCU advantage back out to 21-10 with just over a minute to go before halftime. The Wildcats took that 21-10 lead to the halftime break.
 
The Pioneers took the first possession of the second half and got that late first half score by LCU back on a 24-yard scamper, cutting the Wildcat lead down to 21-17.
 
Cunningham helped the Wildcats push the lead back up as he plunged in from a yard out with less than four minutes left in the third quarter to make it 27-17 as the third quarter came to a close.
 
Levi Hilborn had the Wildcats feeling good early in the fourth as he connected on a 22-yard field goal to give LCU a 13-point lead at 30-17 just less than two minutes into the final period.
 
But suddenly, the Pioneers found big plays to bust in front. First came a 79-yard scoring catch and run. After getting a stop, a five-play, 63-yard scoring drive ended with a 27-yard scoring trot to tie the score at 30-30 after a botched snap on the point after. WBU took its first lead of the game on LCU's ensuing possession as the Wildcats worked their way into the red zone but fumbled. That was scooped up by the Pioneers and returned 83 yards for a touchdown, putting Wayland on top for the first time in the game at 37-30 with 5:55 left in regulation.
 
The Wildcats didn't even need 90 seconds to get the score back even again. On the first play following the turnover, Perkins found Omarius Davis who went up over the defender and snagged the ball for a 39-yard gain. Two plays later, Perkins and Davis connected again, this time in the back of the end zone for a 24-yard scoring strike, bringing the score even again at 37-37.
 
After forcing a three-and-out, the Wildcats got the ball back at their own 26 and with 3:05 left to find a winning score. After a two-yard loss, Perkins found Xavion Butler for 37 yards to get into Pioneer territory as the two-minute timeout was reached. Johnson pushed through for eight, and then, on second and two from the Wayland 31, he busted through the right side and galloped to the pylon, getting inside the right corner of the end zone for the touchdown with just 1:33 remaining. The point after was blocked, however, keeping the score at 43-37.
 
Scrambling now for a potential winner of its own, Wayland started its final drive of the contest with a holding penalty and a X'zavier Jackson got to the Pioneer quarterback for a sack, pushing WBU back six more yards. Then came the game-deciding moment as Polk tracked down a pass that was lofted to the right sideline and took it in before going out of bounds, securing the interception and allowing the Wildcats to run out the remaining 43 seconds and secure the victory.
 
Perkins finished the day 20-for-32 through the air, passing for 354 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions while adding a rushing score as well.
 
Cunningham rushed for 157 yards on 30 carries and scored twice. Johnson went for 93 yards on 13 carries and also went into the end zone two times.
 
EJ Scott had nine catches on the day, totaling 147 yards. Davis made six receptions and went for 118 yards and a score.
 
The Wildcats racked up 585 total yards of offense while the Pioneers had 410 total yards. The LCU defense forced three turnovers while Wayland Baptist came up with four turnovers in the contest.
 
LCU now takes a week away from Sooner Athletic Conference play for a date with old American Southwest Conference foe Hardin-Simmons next week. Kickoff off next Saturday's contest against the Cowboys (2-0, 0-0 ASC) is set for 1 p.m. at Shelton Stadium in Abilene, Texas.