Football Falls to Lenoir-Rhyne

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Lions football team lost to Lenoir-Rhyne University, 51-21 in South Atlantic Conference football action Saturday afternoon in the Ammons Family Athletic Center and Meares Stadium. The no. 21 Lions fall to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the SAC. The Bears improved to 4-3 on the season and 3-1 in the league.

The Bears accumulated 589 yards of total offense, 429 yards on the ground. Major Herron led the Bears with 129 yards rushing and 147 yards passing. He completed 9-12 passes that included a pair of touchdowns. He also rushed for a couple touchdowns. Nick Stutts led the Bears receivers with five catches for 104 yards and one touchdown. Isaiah Whitaker recorded 96 yards on the ground and one score. B.J. Woodley led the L-R defense with four tackles, three tackles-for-loss and two sacks.

Jon Richt threw for 139 yards to lead MHC. He was 13-26 with a touchdown strike to Joshua Young. Dimitri Holmes caught eight passes for 71 yards. Jasper Mason and Kevin Johnson led the Lions' defense with 13 and 12 tackles in the loss, respectively. Mason added a sack, two tackles-for-loss and a forced fumble.

L-R opened the scoring at the 13:20 mark of the first quarter when Herron founds Stutts for a 32-yard scoring pass. Five minutes later (8:48) Jasper Thomas ran 32 yards to the endzone to put the Bears ahead 14-0. Richt then hit Young for a 14-yard scoring completion to bring the Lions within seven of the bears with 6:35 left in the first quarter. Colin Corpe nailed a 41-yard field goal with 1:10 on the clock in the opening frame to extend the Bears lead to 17-7.

Jonas Randolph started the second quarter with a 13 yard touchdown rush to trim the Lions' deficit to 17-14 at the 14:33 mark. Thomas gave the Bears a 24-14 advantage with 10:28 left in the half when he scampered in from 16 yards out. The Bears defense held MHC and Herron ran in from a yard out on their ensuing possession to lead 30-14 after the PAT kick was missed. A bad snap on a punt by L-R led to a Anthony Lewis, five-yard fumble recovery return into the Bears endzone to make the score 30-21 at the intermission.

The third quarter belonged to the Bears. L-R scored 21 unanswered points to obtain the win. Whitaker scored at the 8:56 mark of the third stanza on a 40-yard rush, then Herron added a 25-yard rushing touchdown (6:04) and Graham Duncan caught a 26-yard touchdown pass (4:34) from Herron to end the scoring in the contest. Corpe missed a 23-yard field goal with 4:35 left in regulation and MHC could not manage a score in the final minutes of play.

Mars Hill will play at SAC foe Tusculum College next Saturday. Kickoff in Greeneville, Tenn., is set for 1:30 p.m.