HICKORY, N.C. -- Tusculum wasn't perfect on Saturday, but the Pioneers played pretty well in all phases of the game to roll up a 48-19 South Atlantic Conference road victory over Lenoir-Rhyne.

And coach Frankie DeBusk said that's all you can ask.

"I think this is the best four quarters we have played all year as a football team," he said. "We still didn't play error free, but we did make a bunch of plays when we needed to."

The Pioneers made big plays every which way. The offense racked up 482 yards and didn't have a single fumble. The defense forced four turnovers and came up with one huge goal line stand to stop the Bears. On special teams, the Pioneers blocked an extra point and a field goal.

Tusculum's offense had a little different look against Lenoir-Rhyne (3-3, 1-1). The Pioneers still spread the field and put the ball in the air, but they relied more on the running game of Marcus Foster.

"I've said all year the best thing we have is the little guy that lines up back there in Marcus Foster," DeBusk said. "We have to keep giving him the football. He really makes a lot of plays. We've had that in our game plan. We just haven't had opportunities to do it."

Foster carried the ball 20 times for 96 yards and two touchdowns.

His first came from four yards out in the opening quarter to give the Pioneers the lead for the first time, and he scored again before the first half came to a close, this time from the 1-yard line.

"I just give all the credit to the offensive line," Foster said. "They blocked their tails off. I'm 5-6, running behind 300-pound guys, it's hard to see me going through the holes. I'm able to see a lot of cutback lanes."

Receiver Calvin Britt also had a two-touchdown afternoon, recording 100 yards on four catches. Rashaad Carter had 148 yards receiving and a touchdown on three catches.

Quarterback Corey Russell threw for four touchdowns, going 20-of-35 for 375 yards. It marks the fourth straight game in which Russell has thrown for more than 300 yards, not bad considering that after the game DeBusk revealed that Russell was "a little banged up this week" and missed two days of practice.

Perhaps the injury to the Pioneers' starting quarterback was a little evident in retrospect because Tusculum came out flat. The Bears scored first after a sluggish start by the Pioneer offense.

But after falling behind 6-0, the rest of the first half was all Tusculum. Russell hit Britt for a 15-yard touchdown to tie the game, then Foster gave the Pioneers the lead 13-6 at the end of the first quarter.

Tusculum's defense and special teams really stepped up in the second. The Pioneers recovered two fumbles and blocked a field goal to set up three touchdowns in the final four minutes of the first half to give Tusculum a 34-6 lead.

Lenoir-Rhyne trimmed the Pioneers' lead with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Justin Sanders to Joey Robinson at the start of the third. The Bears threatened to get back in the game with another touchdown, but Anotonio Johnson came up with the big goal line stop to turn L-R back and swing the momentum back in favor of the visitors.

Johnson led Tusculum's defense with nine stops and a forced fumble. Brandon Kelley, Justin Scott and Nate Swafford each recovered a fumble. Scott's was the sixth of his career, tying him for the all-time Tusculum record. Tagon Richard recorded the field goal block. Antrez McDaniel blocked an extra point.

"It's a huge win," DeBusk said. "We get to enjoy it tonight, but we have to go back to work (Sunday) because we've got Brevard coming in next week. It's the good and the bad. You can't let a loss keep you down long, and you can't enjoy a win too long. We have a good football team. We just have to keep it going."

The win improves the Pioneers to 4-2 overall, 1-1 in the South Atlantic Conference.

Tusculum returns home Saturday to host Brevard for a 1:30 p.m. game at Pioneer Field.

RUSHING: Tusculum-Marcus Foster 20-96; Corey Russell 8-5; Fred Jones 3-4; Ryan Tallent 1-2; TEAM 1-0. Lenoir-Rhyne-James Pone 9-53; Anthony Silvers 8-46; Andrew Courman 9-40; Joey Robinson 5-39; Justin Sanders 10-28; Major Herron 9-21; Justin Wynn 3-7; Antwain Ross 1-4; Team 1-0.

PASSING: Tusculum-Corey Russell 20-35-1-375. Lenoir-Rhyne-Justin Sanders 9-14-0-119; Major Herron 0-3-0-0; Team 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING: Tusculum-Jarrell NeSmith 7-49; Calvin Britt 4-100; Rashaad Carter 3-148; Ryan Tallent 3-16; Nate Binder 2-53; Marcus Foster 1-9. Lenoir-Rhyne-Pete Goodman 3-39; Evan Huggard 3-28; Nick Stutts 2-22; Joey Robinson 1-30.