Balanced Hawks put LaGrange away early

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon football team scored four first-half touchdowns, built a 35-point lead in the third quarter and cruised to a 55-13 win over LaGrange College on Saturday.

The victory was Huntingdon's eighth in 11 games with LaGrange, dating to 2006.

The Hawks (5-1, 2-1 USA South) took control with balance on offense and pressure on defense.

"This is probably as complete a game as we have played this season," Huntingdon head coach Mike Turk said. "I'm really proud of the way we played in all three phases. We gave up some things defensively, we didn't execute some things offensively, and we made some mistakes in the kicking game, but in the big picture, we won all three phases of the game.

"We wanted to establish some things early. We wanted to establish that we were going to run the ball and throw the ball effectively. Defensively, we wanted to establish that we were going to put pressure on them and get after the quarterback with four guys. We played that way for all four quarters."

Huntingdon took a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter after a pair of short touchdown runs by Vic Jerald and a 32-yard touchdown pass from Luke Bailey to Nick Haas. The Hawks made it 41-7 midway through the third quarter.

"We knew LaGrange was a good team. So, from the start, we had to let them know that we had come to play," senior running back John Iwaniec said. "I think the work we've put in and the intensity we played with was the difference in the game.

"Our offense is really balanced right now and we're playing unselfishly. It's definitely harder to beat a team that is as balanced as we are, a team that can run and throw and is not limited to just one or two guys making the plays."

As a team, Huntingdon rushed for 285 yards on 52 carries. Iwaniec led the way with 83 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. Jay Ware added 66 yards and a touchdown on six carries, freshman Dontavion Cunningham had 56 yards and the game's final touchdown on 10 carries and Jerald finished with 43 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.

Quarterback Luke Bailey ran for one touchdown and threw for two touchdowns, connecting with Haas and Zach Camp. Bailey finished 19-of-29 for 266 yards.

Otis Porter led the receivers with five catches for 69 yards and Camp had three receptions for 66 yards. Kicker Chase Young was 7-for-8 on extra points.

For the second straight game, the Huntingdon defense was able to apply significant pressure. The Hawks finished with six sacks, nine tackles for loss, four quarterback hurries and forced three turnovers. LaGrange (3-3, 1-2 USA South) finished with 320 yards of offense, including 287 passing yards. Entering the game, the Panthers were among the Division III leaders with 410 passing yards per game.

"I'm really proud of our defense," Turk said. "We got after their quarterback and had relentless pressure in the first half. That pressure was really the difference in us getting momentum and pulling away from them."

Sophomore linebacker Trey Hayes led the defense with 10 tackles and an interception. The interception ended LaGrange's first drive of the second quarter and helped set up the Hawks' third touchdown of the game.

"We wanted to set the tone early on defense," Hayes said. "The past two games, the coaches have helped us focus on doing what we do best. Instead of trying to be all over the field, we've been focusing on the things that allow us to just line up and play."

Behind Hayes, freshman linebacker Brandon Williams added nine tackles. Senior defensive lineman Heath McCray finished with two sacks, three tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery and senior defensive lineman Drew Wheeler had 2 ½ sacks and three tackles for loss.

Defensive back Jordan Smith forced one fumble and defensive lineman Jarren Jones recovered one fumble.

Huntingdon is scheduled to return to action on Oct. 22 at Methodist. Kickoff is set for noon (Central).