Lions Roll to 42-7 victory over North Greenville

TIGERVILLE, S.C.- Mars Hill used a balanced offensive attack and dominating defensive effort to defeat North Greenviille 42-7 in non-conference action at Younts Stadium Saturday night.

The Mars Hill defense allowed just 166 total yards. The Lion defense shutout its last two opponents for seven straight quarters prior to a fourth quarter Crusader touchdown. Shaikel Davis paced the Lion offensive attack with 190 yards on 24 carries and added a pair of touchdowns. Jon Richt threw for 178 yards and tossed two touchdown strikes. Mars Hill improved to 2-2 overall on the season. North Greenville fell to 0-4 overall.

Michael Robinson paced the Lion defense with an interception return for a touchdown. Johnny Maxey added two sacks. Rudy Cabral and Troy Harris had seven tackles apiece for Mars Hill.

North Greenville quarterback Joseph Carter threw for 94 yards on 14-20 passing. Troy Jones caught four passes for 26 yards and a touchdown. Taylor Anderson made nine tackles for the Crusaders.

Mars Hill wasted no time getting on the board on their first drive of the game. Davis carried the load on the drive, converting three first downs and capping it off with a 14-yard TD run up the gut. Davis carried the ball five times for 38 yards on the drive, which gave the Lions a 7-0 lead at the 10:15 mark of the first quarter.

After a defensive stop, the Lions marched right back down with a nine-play, 91-yard drive. A 50-yard rush by Davis moved the ball from near the Lion goal line all the way into Crusader territory. A key fourth down completion from Richt to Logan Jensen kept the chains moving. Richt capped the drive with a 10-yard toss to Dimitri Holmes, who beat one-on-one coverage in the corner of the end zone to haul in the pass and make it 14-0 in favor of Mars Hill.

After the teams traded several stops, Mars Hill went on the march again. A personal foul kept the drive alive, and the Lions moved the ball to take advantage. Richt hit Holmes with a big completion on a third and nine to keep the chains moving. Davis capped the drive by taking a toss and bouncing outside for a 16-yard touchdown and a 21-0 Mars Hill lead. The Lions would take that lead into halftime.

Mars Hill outgained North Greenville 244-73 in the first half and forced the Crusaders to punt five times. The Lions punted just twice in the half.

The Mars Hill defense took over early in the second half to force a pair of turnovers. On the opening drive of the second half for the Crusaders, the Lion defense made a big play to further swing the game in favor of Mars Hill. On a third-and-eight, Robinson picked off a pass and took it 78 yards to paydirt to make the score 28-0. Robinson has now scored a defensive TD against the Crusaders three times in his career.

On the ensuing kickoff, Marvin James forced a fumble, which was recovered by Khalid Smith. Richt tossed an eight-yard TD pass to Joshua Young on a slant to cap the drive and make the score 35-0 in favor of the Lions.

Clarence Abraham added a 10-yard touchdown rush for Mars Hill early in the fourth quarter. Abraham rushed for 31 yards on six carries.

Nelson Hughes threw a 14-yard touchdown strike to Troy Jones to get the Crusaders on the scoreboard with 7:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. The score snapped a seven quarter scoreless streak for the Lion defense.

Trey Clark added a late pick for Lion defense in the game's closing minutes.

Mars Hill will host South Atlantic Conference foe Newberry next Saturday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. in Meares Stadium.