Football Loses at Charleston
CHARLESTON, W. Va. - Mars Hill lost on the road at the University of Charleston Saturday afternoon, 42-20. Both teams took their season record to 1-1. Jon Richt threw for 304 yards and two scores in the loss.
The Lions struck first as Richt (Watkinsville, Ga.) found Patrick Park (Anaheim, Calif.) in the back of the end zone from 11-yards out, but strong pressure from the Charleston special teams forced the PAT attempt wide right as MHC took a 6-0 early lead.
The Richt pass would be the only scoring for either side through the first quarter of action as Charleston tallied just 30 yards in the opening frame. The second quarter saw the Golden Eagles rally for 28-points highlighted by two Jordan Roberts (Madison, W. Va.) rushing touchdowns.
Roberts first TD of the afternoon came at the 11:19 mark of the second quarter as he powered into the end zone from two-yards out behind a strong push from the Charleston offensive line. UC would then pull away with 14-points in less than two minutes as Hassan Coleman (Columbus, Ohio) ran an interception back 57-yards followed by a 37-yard pass from Blain Wilson (Richwood, Ohio) to Julian Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio).
The second quarter would conclude in exciting fashion as the Golden Eagles special teams yet again came up big with a blocked punt recovering the ball with 0.01 on the play clock at the Mars Hill one-yard line. Roberts vaulted across the line to secure a 28-6 halftime advantage.
In the second half Wilson connected with leading receiver Andre Higgins (Cincinnati, Ohio) for a 44-yard touchdown pass just 1:04 into the closing half to cap a 35-0 Charleston scoring run.
Richt took the Lions down the field with their first possession of the second half passing for 55-yards on the drive capped by a 12-yard completion to Allen Woerner (Tiger, Ga.) to close the gap to 35-13. Mars Hill would end its scoring run with Garrison McDowell (Landrum, S.C.) finding the end zone on a nine-yard run as the Lions closed the score to 35-20.
Charleston's defense would close down the momentum for Mars Hill in the fourth quarter as the teams traded possessions with vital seconds clicking off the play clock. Charleston sealed its first victory of the season as Wilson weaved his way to a 14-yard touchdown run with 4:23 on the clock to set the final score at 42-20.
MHC will travel to St. Augustine's College next week. MHC leads the series against the Falcons, 6-1. Their first m,meeting was in 2002. The Lions won that contest, 56-0. MHC won the last meeting in 2009, 20-14. Game time is set for 1:30 p.m. MHC will provide a live audio webcast of the game beginning at 12:30 p.m. at www.pennatlantic.com.