Ground game carries Hawks in football season opener

CLINTON, Miss. – The Huntingdon football team turned to the ground game Saturday night in its season opener. The Hawks scored three touchdowns in the second quarter and rolled past Mississippi College 35-7.

The Hawks (1-0) pounded out 292 yards and five touchdowns on the ground and finished with 482 yards of total offense. Seniors Austin Bennett and Garrett Fletcher did most of the damage, combining for 183 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries. Senior quarterback Ryne Taylor scored the final touchdown of the night on a 3-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

Bennett turned in a career-high 128 yards rushing and scored twice on 19 carries. Fletcher added 55 yards and two touchdowns on 11 attempts.

Fletcher's 2-yard touchdown run gave Huntingdon a 7-0 lead a minute into the second quarter. Bennett scored on a 3-yard run and Fletcher added a 1-yard scoring run to make it 21-0 at the half. Bennett extended the lead to 28-0 with a 40-yard touchdown run a little more than five minutes into the second half before Taylor capped the scoring. David Ballard kicked all five extra points.

Taylor, who earned the start at quarterback on Saturday, finished with 134 yards and an interception on 12-of-22 passing and rushed for 28 yards. Junior Taylor Hughes was 3-for-5 for 56 yards and rushed for 30 yards. Freshman John Iwaniec also rushed for 30 yards in his first collegiate game.

Taylor Belsterling and Brantley Carr led the receivers. Belsterling had two catches for 49 yards and Carr had two receptions for 41 yards. A total of 11 different receivers caught passes on Saturday.

Defensively, the Hawks held Mississippi College (0-2) to 68 yards rushing on 33 attempts and 236 yards passing. The Hawks forced four turnovers.

Linebackers Zach Brownell and Jake Green each recorded six tackles. Brownell added a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Phillip Bagley had a sack, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble and Austin Armstrong finished with two tackles for loss. Anthony White, Zack Davis and Blake Lawley were each credited with one fumble recovery.

Huntingdon returns to action at home on Sept. 21 against Louisiana College. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.