Football Wins Home Opener
The Lions’ football team won their home opener against Limestone, 36-26, Saturday afternoon at the Ammons Family Athletic Center and Meares Stadium.
MARS HILL, N.C. – The Lions' football team won their home opener against Limestone, 36-26, Saturday afternoon at the Ammons Family Athletic Center and Meares Stadium. Mars Hill improved to 1-2 on the year while the Saints fell to 1-1 on the season.
Shaikel Davis rushed for 141 yards on 19 carries and one score averaging 7.4 yards per rush. It was his fifteenth career game rushing for more than 100 yards in a contest. Jamel Harbison rushed for 94 yards on 22 carries. He also threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Keshaun Taylor to seal the win for the Lions. Matt Layman completed 14-27 passes for 231 yards and two touchdown strikes. Taylor caught six passes for 108 yards and two scores. Gilbert Johnson caught five passes for 91 yards in the game. Christiaan Davis led the Lions defense with nine tackles and a forced fumble. Ricky Hawks and Trey Clark followed with eight tackles apiece. Hawks added a tackle-for loss. Johnny Maxey recorded seven tackles, a sack (-11 yds) two tackles-for-loss and a quarterback hurry.
Jonathan Clark completed 16-27 passes for 199 yards and two touchdown passes to lead the Saints offense. D'Anta Fleming caught five passes for 55 yards and one score. GaQuan Maize had 20 carries for 85 yards. Joey Felder and CJ Blackmon had 10 tackles each to lead Limestone's defense.
In the Lions opening drive of the game, Davis rushed three times for 42 yards, nine yards and six yards, respectively, to put the first points on the board at the 14:03 mark. The drive that lasted only 0:57.
A 4-yard dive by Clark tied the contest at 7-all with 9:15 left in the first quarter. His scoring rush capped off a 10-play, 75-yard drive that consumed 4:41.
The Saints took a 14-7 advantage with 10:32 left in the second quarter after Clark hit Fleming on an 18-yard scoring pass. It was a 10-play, 50-yard drive that took 4:16 off the clock.
A 30-yard field goal by Tyler Stewart cut the Lions deficit to 14-10 with 8:56 left in the first half. The Saints answered with a 39-yard field goal of their own with 4:28 on the clock in the second period to take a 17-10 lead.
Taylor then hauled in a 15-yard pass from Layman with just 39 second left before halftime to send the teams into the locker room with the game knotted at 17-17. The Lions' scoring drive was 9-plays, spanning 78 yards, lasting 3:42.
A 4-yard dive by Harbison gave the Lions the lead with 11:43 on the clock. After a missed PAT kick, MHU led 23-17. It was a 9-play, 69-yard drive that took 2:03 off the clock.
Limestone answered scoring six minutes later (5:49) on a 5-yard pass from Clark to Brandon Schortgen to enjoy a 1-point lead (24-23). It was a 6-play, 77-yard drive, consuming 2:35.
Layman's 35-yard pass to Johnson with 3:21 left in the third frame later proved to be the game winning score. A 2-point PAT pass was intercepted and MHU led 29-24. The scoring drive was 5-plays, 69-yards and lasted 2:22.
A 30-yard halfback pass from Harbison to Taylor with 3:03 left in regulation sealed the win for MHU taking the Lions lead to 36-24. Late in the game, Mars Hill was backed up on their own goal line and chose to take a safety that made the final tally 36-26 in favor of the hosts.
Mars Hill will open South Atlantic Conference play hosting Carson-Newman in the Ammons Family Athletic Center and Meares Stadium on Saturday, September 26. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
