Huntingdon comes up short against Methodist in OT

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Huntingdon football team rallied from an early deficit and led for much of the fourth quarter on Saturday.

But Methodist answered with a touchdown in the final minute of regulation and scored again in overtime to knock off the Hawks 41-34 in the USA South Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

Running back Noah Shuler scored the final two touchdowns for Methodist (2-1, 1-0 USA South). Shuler was on the receiving end of a 6-yard pass from Max Reber with 42 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The Monarchs' extra-point attempt was no good.

In overtime, Shuler capped Methodist's possession with a 10-yard touchdown run. On Huntingdon's overtime possession, the Hawks (1-2, 0-1 USA South) gained 10 yards on their first two plays before Methodist forced a fumble to end the game.

"We played really hard and we had some chances, but we didn't take advantage of those chances and that is very disappointing," Huntingdon head coach Mike Turk said. "We had a chance to put the game away tonight with about four minutes left at their 2-yard line and we came away with no points.

"That being said, we still had the lead late in the fourth quarter. On their scoring drive we had a personal foul and we gave up a long play. You can't do that in a game like this and expect to win. We made too many critical mistakes in crucial situations. When you do that, you're going to lose."

Methodist jumped out to a 14-0 lead to open the game before Huntingdon battled back. Quarterback Luke Bailey connected with Jamichael Bibb on a 16-yard touchdown play. The extra point was blocked to make it a 14-6 game late in the first quarter.

Huntingdon tied the game four seconds into the second quarter when sophomore Jay Ware scored on a 2-yard run and Bailey added the two-point conversion run.

Methodist answered in a little more than two minutes before Bailey and Bibb connected again, this time for a 35-yard touchdown play. But the Hawks' extra-point attempt was blocked.

Trailing 21-20, Huntingdon took its first lead of the game on a 2-yard scoring run by John Iwaniec with 4:04 left in the first half. After the missed extra point, Huntingdon led 26-21.

The Monarchs led 28-26 early in the fourth quarter before Iwaniec broke free for a 49-yard touchdown run with 9:56 left in the game. Bailey connected with Brantley Carr for the two-point conversion.

Leading 34-28, Huntingdon got the ball back with 8:32 to play and marched from its own 20-yard line to inside the Methodist 5. With a little more than five minutes to play, the Hawks had first-and-goal at the Methodist 2-yard line. The possession ended with a missed 18-yard field goal. On the ensuing drive, Methodist marched 80 yards in 11 plays to tie the game.

Iwaniec finished with 126 yards rushing and two touchdowns and Bailey passed for 291 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on a 17-of-25 night.

Bibb and Nick Haas led the receivers. Bibb finished with four catches for 88 yards and two scores and Haas had three receptions for 95 yards.

As a team, the Hawks generated 545 yards of offense and averaged 6.9 yards per play. Methodist finished with 539 yards of offense on 6.7 yards per play.

Defensively, linebacker Zach Brownell tied the Huntingdon record for tackles in a game with 17. Linebacker Jacob Wright had 16 tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss. Jake Green had one interception.

Huntingdon travels to Maryville on Sept. 27. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m.