Lions Fall to North Greenville

MARS HILL, N.C. – North Greenville scored 21 unanswered points in the second half for a 38-14 victory over Mars Hill on Homecoming at Meares Stadium and Ammons Family Athletic Center. North Greenville improves to 3-2 on the season while Mars Hill drops to 1-4.

Austin Brown was 13-21 for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Keshaun Taylor finished with 188 all-purpose yards as he had two kickoff returns for 77 yards and caught eight passes for 103 yards. Gilbert Johnson caught two touchdown passes on six receptions for 77 yards.  Shaikel Davis led the Lions with 38 yards on the ground, with Jamel Harbison and Foluke Gordon-Lamar each running for 31 yards. Johnny Maxey led the Lion defense with a game-high 14 tackles. Jerjuan Edwards had 11 tackles, while Trey Clark contributed 10 tackles.

Nelson Hughes led the North Greenville passing attack, going 20-34 for 331 yards and two touchdowns. Simeon Byrd ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns. Trey Walker ran for 18 yards and one touchdown. Ashton Heard caught four passes for 95 yards and a score. Heard also ran for 85 yards. Robbie Brown caught six passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Sam Houston had 11 tackles, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. Darius Custard had four tackles and a fumble recovery. Anthony Blair had four tackles, two sacks and recovered a fumble.

Taking over following a Mars Hill punt at the 6:51 mark of the first quarter, North Greenville successfully converted a fourth-and-2 at the Lion 19 to keep the drive alive. The Crusaders would get to the Mars Hill 12 before the Mars Hill defense forced a turnover on downs following a pair of incomplete passes.  Following a Mars Hill three-and-out, Hughes would find Brown for a 17-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the first quarter for a 7-0 NGU lead.

After Mars Hill was unable to gain a first down on a fourth down at the North Greenville 13, the Crusaders used a Hughes 61-yard pass to Devon Turman to go from their own 32 to the Mars Hill seven yard line. Walker would cap the drive with a seven yard scamper to give the visitors a 14-0 lead with just over nine minutes to play in the first half.

North Greenville capped a 15 play, 79-yard drive with a Jeremy Hart 24-yard field goal to take a 17-0 lead with just over 90 seconds to play in the half. On the ensuing kickoff, a Crusader penalty gave the Lions the ball at their own 45. Brown connected with Taylor for a 20-yard gain to get across midfield and found Johnson in the left corner of the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown pass with four seconds left in the quarter. The Crusaders led 17-7 at halftime.

Mars Hill cut the deficit to three on a Brown-to-Johnson 30-yard touchdown pass with 6:57 remaining in the third quarter to cap a nine play, 82-yard drive. Brown's 27-yard completion to Chris Trimmings got the Lions inside of Crusader territory. After forcing a three-and-out, the Lions got to their own 43 before a fumble that was recovered by Blair.  NGU would capitalize thanks to a Byrd seven-yard touchdown run to give North Greenville a 24-14 lead after three quarters.

Following a Mars Hill punt, the Crusaders ran for 11 yards before Hughes found Heard for a 33-yard touchdown to take a 31-14 lead with just over seven minutes to play. Byrd scored his final touchdown of the game on a 51-yard dash down the right hash to give the visitors a 38-17 advantage with just over five minutes to play. Mars Hill advanced to the Crusader 40-yard line on their next drive before losing a fumble at the NGU 9-yard line. North Greenville would recover the ball and run out the clock to secure the victory.

Mars Hill returns to South Atlantic Conference play next week, traveling to Newberry for a 4 p.m. kickoff.