Huntingdon football improves to 2-0 in USA South

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Saturday wasn't the crisp performance Huntingdon head coach Mike Turk was looking for. But the Hawks did enough to pick up a 48-40 win over Greensboro College and improve to 2-0 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

"We did enough good things to win, but we have to play better," Turk said. "We didn't play very well in any phase of the game. We did some good things on offense, enough to score 48 points, but we missed a lot of opportunities. We were sloppy in the kicking game with a blocked punt, a missed field goal and a missed extra point and we just didn't play well on defense.

"We're at the midway point of our season. We have five games left. All of them are conference games and each one of them is important. We have to go back to work, continue to improve and figure out how to play better as we move forward."

Huntingdon (4-1, 2-0 USA South) jumped out to a 22-point lead in the first half, but had to recover an onside-kick with a little more than a minute to play in the game to seal the victory.

The Hawks led 34-19 early in the fourth quarter when Greensboro (1-5, 0-3) blocked a punt and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown. The Pride scored 21 points in the fourth quarter. The Hawks answered with touchdowns of their own after Greensboro's first-two fourth-quarter scores.

When Greensboro scored with 1:18 to play in the game to make it an eight-point game, Huntingdon's Anthony White recovered the onside-kick to allow the Hawks to run out the clock.

"We opened the game with a missed tackle on the second play from scrimmage and they were able to take it for a long touchdown," Turk said. "But we answered when we got the ball back. We moved the ball the whole game, but we couldn't put them away.

"When they blocked the punt for a touchdown, it really flipped the tone of the game and made things interesting in the fourth quarter. After they cut it to eight, we were fortunate to recover the onside kick and get out with the win."

Greensboro opened the game with a 75-yard touchdown pass on the second play from scrimmage before the Hawks answered with four straight touchdowns. Senior quarterback Ryne Taylor connected with sophomore Jamichael Bibb on a 51-yard touchdown play and hit freshman running back John Iwaniec for a 14-yard score in the first quarter.

Junior quarterback Taylor Hughes found freshman Nick Haas for a 52-yard touchdown play early in the second quarter and senior running back Garrett Fletcher scored on an 8-yard run to make it 28-6 with 9:23 left in the first half.

Hughes and Zach Camp hooked up for a 57-yard touchdown pass and a 34-12 lead on the Hawks' first possession of the second half.

Leading 34-26 after the blocked punt in the fourth quarter, Iwaniec scored on a 4-yard run to give Huntingdon a 15-point lead. Hughes scored on an 11-yard run for the Hawks' final touchdown with 2:53 to play in the game.

Taylor Hughes finished with 196 yards passing and two touchdowns on a 10-of-12 day and rushed for 44 yards on seven carries. Ryne Taylor completed 13-of-17 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

Fletcher ran for a career-high 113 yards and scored once on 17 carries. Iwaniec added 63 yards on 13 carries, rushing for one touchdown and catching another. Haas led the receivers with six catches for 87 yards and a score. Bibb had 80 yards and a touchdown on three catches and Camp had 71 yards and a score on three receptions.

Linebacker Darius Dixon was credited with a team-high six tackles. Defensive backs Jeremy Murphy and Anthony White, linebacker John-David Swiger and defensive linemen Jacob Wright and Blake Lawley were each credited with five tackles.

Huntingdon travels to LaGrange on Oct. 19. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. Central.