HUNTINGDON KNOCKS OFF MARYVILLE IN SEASON OPENER

MARYVILLE, Tenn. – Saturday wasn't the crisp performance Huntingdon head coach Mike Turk was looking for.

But as far as season openers go, Turk and the Hawks were pleased with the 35-7 win over Maryville College. The offense rolled up more than 500 yards of offense and the defense held the Scots to 214 yards.

"We made a lot of mistakes today but we did some things well too," Turk said. "We have a lot we have to clean up and improve on, but we can build on what we did today."

Huntingdon (1-0) scored twice in the first quarter and led 21-7 at the half. Quarterback Neal Posey threw a pair of touchdown passes, running back Trevor Manuel ran for two scores and Paul Mielke added another as the Hawks won for the fifth time in seven meetings with the Scots (0-1).

Huntingdon totaled 532 yards of offense on 89 plays. Posey finished with 309 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions on 23-of-38 passing. He connected with Willie McDowell for a 10-yard score in the first quarter and hit Austin Worley for a 7-yard score in the second quarter.

Manuel finished with 104 yards on 24 carries and had 210 all-purpose yards. Ten receivers combined for 23 catches and 309 yards. Worley led the group with four catches for 83 yards and McDowell finished with four catches for 62 yards.

"Posey and Trevor were both really solid today and our receivers came through with some big plays," Turk said. "Worley's 68-yard catch in the first quarter set up our first touchdown and Nick (Sheppard) and Willie both had big third-down plays for us."

The Huntingdon defense prevented the Scots from finding the end zone more than once. Maryville ran 69 plays and averaged just 3.1 yards per play. The Scots ran the ball 31 times for 11 yards. The lone score came on Tim Connor's 4-yard scoring pass to Wesley Idlette.  

"The defense did a great job," Turk said. "When you're defense holds the other team to 11 yards rushing and seven points, most of the time you're going to win."

Kirk Johnson led Huntingdon with 10 tackles. D.J. Chappell was a force on the front, recording eight tackles, three sacks and 3 ½ tackles for loss.

Kaleb Futral added nine tackles and Justin Brown had seven. Keith Anthony had one interception, giving him 14 for his career. He needs two more to become the Hawks' all-time interception leader.

Huntingdon returns to action next week in Birmingham. The Hawks will face Birmingham-Southern for the Wesley Cup at 1 p.m.