Huntingdon downs defending conference champion Maryville

MARYVILLE, Tenn. – The Huntingdon football team finally shook its road woes on Saturday at Maryville.

After losing by a touchdown in each of its first two road games of the season, Huntingdon set the tone early against defending USA South Athletic Conference champion Maryville and earned a 35-21 win.

Huntingdon (2-2, 1-1 USA South) now holds a 7-2 record in the series with the Scots (2-2, 1-1 USA South).

"This was a much-needed win," Huntingdon football coach Mike Turk said. "As hard as we've worked this season, to come up short in two of our first three games, it's been tough. Getting this win today was good for morale. It was a win over a rival, it was a conference win and hopefully it's going to be the win that gets our season turned around and headed in the right direction."

The Hawks came out strong on both sides of the ball on Saturday. The Hawks scored three first-half touchdowns. The second touchdown was set up by the Huntingdon defense. On Maryville's second possession, Huntingdon linebacker Jake Green forced a fumble and linebacker Zach Brownell recovered at the Maryville 23-yard line.

"We were able to take the lead early and we never trailed," Turk said. "That's big. We came out and scored early and we got a turnover and cashed in on it for another score. We had several situations today, at crucial points in the game, where we had to have players step up and make plays and our guys came through."

Making his second career start, sophomore quarterback Luke Bailey passed for a career-high four touchdowns, including three in the first half, and 261 yards. Bailey is just the fifth Huntingdon quarterback to pass for at least four touchdowns in a game, joining Neal Posey, Zach Golson, Jared Hale and Justin Ridgeway. Posey and Golson share the school record with six touchdown passes in a game.

Bailey connected with Jamichael Bibb for a 20-yard score and found Brantley Carr for a 28-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0 in the first five minutes of the game. Bailey hit Diggan Andre on a 17-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to give the Hawks a 21-7 lead at the half. Bailey added his final touchdown pass in the third quarter with a 6-yard pass to Bibb.

"Luke played well," Turk said. "He missed three or four passes, but he made some big throws today. He made great throws on the first two touchdowns and was able to put the ball where it had to be for us to make the play. He's still young and gaining experience, but he is continuing to get better each week."

Leading by a touchdown in the fourth quarter, sophomore running back John Iwaniec added the Hawks' final touchdown on a 2-yard run with 5:40 left in the game. Senior Jimbo Turk kicked all five extra points.

Iwaniec finished with 60 yards rushing and Mark White had seven receptions for 70 yards to lead the receivers.

Defensively, Huntingdon held Maryville well below its season average for rushing offense (329.3) and total offense (444.7). Maryville managed 156 yards rushing and 344 yards of offense against the Hawks.

"We knew the key today was stopping their running game and trying to force them out of their comfort zone," Turk said. "Our cornerbacks really held up well today. Jeremy Murphy had several breaks ups and an interception and I thought Brendon Brown played the best game he has played for us."

Murphy and Brown helped end Maryville's final two drives. Murphy picked off a pass at the Huntingdon 14-yard line and Brown broke up the Scots' final pass on fourth down at the Huntingdon 29.

Green led the Hawks with a career-high 15 tackles, Brownell added 10 tackles and linebacker Jacob Wright finished with nine tackles. In addition to his interception, Murphy had three pass break ups and blocked a field goal as time expired in the first half. Freshman Jalen McDonald blocked a punt in the second quarter.

Huntingdon returns to Samford Stadium on Oct. 4 for Homecoming. The Hawks host USA South rival Greensboro at 1 p.m.