Hawks bounce back with Homecoming win over Ferrum

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon football team was looking to get back on track on Saturday.

Coming off their first loss of the season, the motivated Hawks bounced back with a 48-27 Homecoming win over Ferrum.

"It was good for us to bounce back like this. We were a little down this week because we felt like we could have played better last week," senior defensive lineman Octavis Harris said. "We worked hard all week and it showed today. We came out in the first half and dominated like we were supposed to and we dominated in the second half like we were supposed to. We played hard for all four quarters and we played well in all three phases of the game."

Huntingdon (4-1, 1-1 USA South) built a 20-point lead in the first 20 minutes of the game and led by as many as 35 points in the second half.

"I'm proud of the way we came out and took control of the game," Huntingdon head coach Mike Turk said. "There was a lull at the end of each half, but we started strong in each half. We built a good lead in the first half and then we scored first in the second half to pretty much put the game away.

"That allowed us to be able to play a lot of guys today. It got a little sloppy in the fourth quarter, which is disappointing, but it was good for those younger guys to get to play and get some experience under their belt."

Quarterback Luke Bailey led the offensive attack, throwing four touchdown passes in the first half and finishing with a career-high five touchdown passes. He also rushed for a career-high 119 yards on 11 carries. His 59-yard run in the third quarter was the longest run by a Huntingdon quarterback in program history.

Bailey finished with 234 yards passing on a 15-of-23 day. Ten different receivers caught at least one pass. At halftime, the Hawks were averaging 9.3 yards per play. Huntingdon finished the game with 538 yards of offense on 68 plays.

"Having these receivers makes my job easy," Bailey said. "I know I can throw it to any of them. All I have to worry about is doing my job. I know they're going to do their job.

"This was a good win for us. As well as we played, we still let a few drives slip away. We didn't execute the way we needed to on every drive. That's something we're going to continue to work on. Even if we're winning, we want to make sure we're executing and playing the best we can."

Bailey threw touchdown passes to Nick Haas (18 yards), Vic Jerald (11 yards), Diggan Andre (41 yards), Otis Porter (25 yards) and Kris Cannon (1 yard). Jerald scored the first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run. John Iwaniec added the Hawks' final touchdown on a 39-yard run.

Porter led the receivers with three receptions for 55 yards. On the ground, Iwaniec finished with 76 yards on 11 carries and Jerald had 73 yards on seven carries.

Defensively, after allowing more than 400 yards of offense in each of the first four games, Huntingdon limited Ferrum (3-2, 1-1 USA South) to 316 yards on 80 plays. Entering the fourth quarter, Ferrum had managed 197 yards on 58 plays.

"This was big for us. It's a boost for the team's morale," senior defensive lineman Heath McCray said. "We had our heads down a little after last week's loss. But we practiced hard, prepared like we should and came out and played hard today.

"We made some mistakes, but everyone played hard today. I think effort was one of the biggest differences between this week and last week. We need to stay focused, keep pushing and get better each week."

Huntingdon, which had 19 tackles for loss and 8 ½ sacks in the first four games, recorded 11 tackles for loss and five sacks against the Panthers.

Linebacker Trey Hayes led the Hawks with 11 tackles and two quarterback hurries. Brandon Williams added eight tackles and two tackles for loss and McCray had eight tackles and 1 ½ tackles for loss. Parker Allen, DeAnte' Griffith, William Elliott, Harris, Reed Graham and Drew Wheeler combined for five sacks and Jarrett White picked off one pass.

Huntingdon returns to action at home on Oct. 15 against LaGrange. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.