Hawks close season with win over Maryville

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Huntingdon scored twice in the final eight minutes and the Hawks' defense ended Maryville's final two threats in a 45-38 win on Saturday.

Quarterback Taylor Hughes connected with Darius Dawsey for a 5-yard touchdown with 1:12 to play and senior linebacker Darius Dixon ended the game with an interception at the Huntingdon 11-yard line as time expired.

"This was a big win for a lot of reasons," Huntingdon football coach Mike Turk said. "Coming back out this week, preparing like we did and playing like we did today, it says a lot about the character of these players. The guys did what we needed to do to win today."

The win was the sixth for Huntingdon (7-3, 5-2 USA South) in nine meetings with Maryville (8-2) and the first conference loss of the season for the conference champion Scots (6-1 USA South).

"Last week was tough, but we had to bounce back this week," senior quarterback Ryne Taylor said of the loss to Methodist that eliminated the Hawks from contention for the USA South championship. "We all wanted to go out with a win today. It means a lot to us (seniors) that the younger players had enough respect for us to keep working and help us close our careers with a win."

Taylor passed for two touchdowns on Saturday, connecting with Taylor Belsterling for a 26-yard touchdown and with Tyler Robinson for a 12-yard score. Taylor ends his career fourth in Huntingdon history in passing yards and touchdown passes.

For Robinson, who finished his career with 86 receptions (fourth in program history) for 1,130 yards (fifth in Huntingdon history), the 12-yard scoring reception was his first of the season and one of two touchdown receptions for him against Maryville. Robinson also caught a 44-yard touchdown pass from Hughes to tie the game 38-38 with 7:17 to play.

"This was a nice way to end the season," Robinson said. "When I got hurt earlier this year, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to come back. I'm thankful to be able to go out with a game like this. Speaking for the seniors, I know we're all appreciative for the way the younger guys continued to work this week and helped us go out with a win."

Hughes and senior running back Garrett Fletcher accounted for the Hawks' other two touchdowns. Hughes scored on a 50-yard run in the first quarter and Fletcher scored on a 6-yard run in the second quarter. Fletcher's touchdown was his 14th of the season.

Fletcher finished with a career-high 151 yards rushing and fellow senior running back Austin Bennett added 104 yards rushing. It was the second time this season the Hawks have had two 100-yard rushers in a game and just the fourth time in program history.

With 45 points and 520 yards of total offense in the win, the Hawks broke their season records for points scored, total offense and passing offense and had the second best rushing offense in 11 seasons. Huntingdon, which leads Division III in total offense per game, finished the season with 436 points scored, 5,858 yards of offense (3,447 passing and 2,411rushing).

"The great thing about this offense is no one was selfish," Robinson said. "Each player was willing to put the team before any individual accomplishments this season. It was the most fun I've ever had on offense."

David Ballard kicked a 21-yard field goal and all six extra points for the Hawks. With four punts against the Scot, Ballard also became the Hawks' career leader with 128 punts. He ranks second in the Huntingdon record book with 4,427 punting yards.

Defensively, the Hawks gave up 450 yards to Maryville but recorded two turnovers and forced the Scots to punt five times. Anthony White led Huntingdon with 13 tackles and senior linebacker John-David Swiger recorded 12 tackles.

Swiger's 12 tackles gave him a school-record 96 for the season and 184 for his career. Swiger's 12 stops on Saturday helped him pass former defensive back Keith Anthony and the Hawks' all-time leading tackler and current linebackers coach Granger Shook for the season record.

"We all wanted this game to be for the conference championship, but that didn't work out," Swiger said. "We were determined to come out and finish with a win. This is a rivalry and it was a huge game and I'm happy with the way we finished.

"When I look back on this season, the camaraderie and brotherhood of this team are what I'm going to remember the most. We all come into this program as individuals. But we leave as a family."