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Senior Nick Haas had seven receptions for 128 yards and two touchdowns, including a 76-yard touchdown reception, in the Hawks' 49-28 win over Birmingham-Southern on Saturday night.
Senior Nick Haas had seven receptions for 128 yards and two touchdowns, including a 76-yard touchdown reception, in the Hawks' 49-28 win over Birmingham-Southern on Saturday night.

21st-ranked Huntingdon knocks off Birmingham-Southern

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The 21st-ranked Huntingdon football team set the tone early in Saturday night's 49-28 win over Birmingham-Southern.

The Hawks rolled up more than 300 yards of offense in the first half, built a 35-7 lead in the second quarter and put the game away early in the fourth quarter.

"Any win in this series is a good win," Huntingdon head coach Mike Turk said. "This was a fun atmosphere to play in and we thank the fans for coming out. I think they got to see a good game.

"I'm proud of the way we played tonight. We took control early. We let them slip back into the game in the second half, but we answered and put the game away."

The Panthers pulled within 14 points, 42-28, late in the third quarter before Huntingdon scored the final points of the night on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Luke Bailey-to-Nick Haas early in the fourth quarter.

Huntingdon (2-0) was presented with the Wesley Cup following the game. The win was the Hawks' third in seven meetings with Birmingham-Southern (0-2).

"It's a lot of fun to play in the atmosphere we had tonight," Haas said. "The fans were into it. When the crowd is loud and into it, that can give you some momentum.

"It means a lot to know that our senior class is going out with two wins against them in three years. We lost a heartbreaker to them last year, so that makes this one even better."

Haas finished the game with seven receptions for 128 yards and two touchdowns. In addition to his 14-yard touchdown, Haas also scored on a 76-yard reception to make it 35-7 in the first half.

Bailey finished the game with 318 yards of total offense. The senior quarterback passed for 268 yards and three touchdowns on a 20-of-26 night and rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

Bailey scored the first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run in the first four minutes of the game. With his first touchdown pass of the night, a 29-yard pass to Diggan Andre late in the first quarter, Bailey broke the Hawks' record for career passing touchdowns. He now has 57 touchdown passes in three seasons.

"The good thing is I know I can count on any of our receivers," Bailey said. "I know that whatever set of receivers is on the field, if I can get the ball to them, they're going to catch it."

Sophomore Otis Porter finished with seven receptions for 93 yards. As a team, the Hawks rolled up 531 yards of offense and averaged a little less than eight yards per play.

On the ground, senior John Iwaniec turned in his second 100-yard rushing game of the season and finished with 102 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. Senior Jay Ware broke a 52-yard run in the first half, scored on a 6-yard run and finished with 94 yards on eight carries. Junior Vic Jerald also ran for one touchdown.

Sophomore kicker Chase Young was 7-for-7 on extra points.

Defensively, sophomore linebacker Trey Hayes led the way with 10 tackles and a tackle for loss. Freshman linebacker Brandon Williams added seven tackles and a tackle for loss and senior defensive lineman Heath McCray had one fumble recovery.

Turk said he saw improvement in the defense from Game 1 to Game 2. Although the Hawks allowed 420 yards of offense against Birmingham-Southern, 199 yards came on four plays. Huntingdon held Birmingham-Southern to an average of 3.9 yards per play on the remaining 57 plays.

"We still have some things we need to work on and improve, but aside from a few plays, we played pretty well on defense," Turk said. "We're making progress and there are signs of good things to come."

Huntingdon returns to action on Sept. 17 at home against Belhaven. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.