Hawks Chip away at Panthers to pick up second conference win

FERRUM, Va. – The Huntingdon football team scored 24 points in the first half and held on for a 31-28 win at Ferrum College on Saturday.

Sparked by the return of senior quarterback Chip Taylor, the Hawks never trailed in the game and improved to 2-0 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Taylor, who was seeing his first action since suffering an injury in Week 2 against Birmingham-Southern, had a hand in all four of Huntingdon's touchdowns against Ferrum. Taylor completed touchdown passes to Jay Davison, Chance Byrd and Garrett Headley in the first half and scored on a 9-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Records: Huntingdon (3-1, 2-0 USA South); Ferrum (2-2, 0-2 USA South)

The Turning Point: The Hawks built a 10-point lead twice in the game, the second time with 10:48 left in the fourth quarter.

But Ferrum would not go quietly. The Panthers scored with 1:11 left in the game to pull within three points. Ferrum attempted an onside-kick, but the Hawks recovered near midfield and ran out the clock.

Notable Performance: Taylor's return to the field helped the Hawks account for four touchdowns and 244 yards of offense.  His 13-yard touchdown pass to Davison gave the Hawks an early 7-0 lead before a 34-yard scoring pass to Byrd made it 14-7 late in the first quarter.

Following a 22-yard field goal by Chase Young, Taylor hit Headley for a 24-yard touchdown play and a 24-14 lead. Taylor's 9-yard run with 10:48 left in the game put the Hawks ahead 31-21. 

Taylor finished with 201 yards on 12-for-21 passing and was Huntingdon's second leading rusher with 43 yards on 10 carries

Stat Leaders

Offense

Passing: Chip Taylor: 12/21 for 201 yards, 3 TDs,1 INT

Receiving: Garrett Headley: 3 receptions for 59 yards, 1 TD

Rushing: Vic Jerald: 11 rushes for 65 yards

Kicking:  Chase Young: 4/4 PAT, 1/1 field goal (connected on a field goal of 22 yards)

Defense

Overall: Brandon Williams: 12 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble

Tackles: Jarrett White (6)

Sacks: Garrett Stacks (1), Oaklee Williams (0.5)

Tackles For Loss: Parker Allen (2), Stacks (1), Trey Hayes (1), Seth Warren (1), Red Hinton (1)

Forced Fumbles/Recovered Fumbles: Cameron Compton (1/1)

Interceptions: Trey Hayes (1)

Quick Facts: Huntingdon improved to 5-0 all-time against Ferrum … with four extra points on Saturday, junior Chase Young tied the USA South's career record for extra points made … Young is tied with former North Carolina Wesleyan kicker Kevin Quicker with 136 career extra points

Head Coach Mike Turk on Saturday's win: "Ferrum has a good team and we were fortunate to come away with a win. I am proud of the way we scratched and clawed and made the plays we needed to make to win. We still have some things we have to figure out, but I felt like we played a full four quarters for the first time all season."

Turk on Taylor's return at quarterback: "Chip played really well. He is a guy who is part of the heartbeat of this team. He played hard and turned in a gutsy performance coming back from an injury. He helped us win the game today. He had a hand in just about every score." 

Coming Up: Huntingdon plays at Brevard on Sept. 30 at 12 p.m. (Central)