Mars Hill downs Erskine on Homecoming
The Mars Hill football team (4-1, 3-1 SAC) defeated Erskine (0-6, 0-4 SAC) by a score of 38-3 on Homecoming Saturday.
MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill football team (4-1, 3-1 SAC) defeated Erskine (0-6, 0-4 SAC) by a score of 38-3 on Homecoming Saturday.
The Lions opened the scoring with 6:25 left in the first quarter as Malik Laurent scored his first touchdown of the day on the receiving end of a JR Martin pass from nine yards out. Less than two minutes later, Erskine put their only points of the afternoon on the board, a 44-yard field goal from Dylan Beauford.
With less than a minute to play in the first, the Lions' Lon Teachey answerd with a 22-yard field goal to put the Lions up 10-3 after the first 15 minutes of play.
Mars Hill held the Flying Fleet scoreless for the remainder of the game, outscoring them 28-0, scoring 14 points in the second. Simeon Thompson hauled in a 24-yard pass from Martin less than four minutes into the quarter. With 4:11 remaining in the half, Tristan Rankin intercepted an Erskine pass, returning it 21 yards for the touchdown.
Laurent rushed for five yards on his second score of the day with 1:12 left in the third quarter. Zachery Smith scored his first touchdown of the season in the fourth with 6:35 remaining in the game, punching the ball in from a yard out.
The Lion defense only allowed six first downs and 130 total yards on the day. Landon Honeycutt led all players with nine tackles, followed by five apiece from Dexter Fitzpatrick and Tarshawn Reed. Rankin ended the day with four tackles, two pass breakups, and one interception. Monroe Sanderson and Courtney Slocum each added one interception.
Offensively, the Lions racked up 438 total yards. Martin threw for 215 yards, going 21-of-29 with two touchdown passes. He also led the team with 86 rushing yards followed by 71 from Jon Gullette. Laurent caught eight passes for 83 yards.
Mars Hill takes to the road on Saturday, October 14 when they face Emory & Henry. The South Atlantic Conference Mountain Division contest is set for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
