Hawks Shut Down the Battling Bishops

Montgomery, Ala.-The Huntingdon Football Team defeated N.C. Wesleyan, 30-7. The Hawks are now 6-0 in conference and 6-2 overall.

The Battling Bishops opened the scoring with a 32-yard touchdown rush, taking the lead 7-0 at 10:59 in the first quarter.

The Hawks answered back at 6:08 in the first quarter with quarterback Landon Cotney completing a 22-yard touchdown rush, tying the game at 7. At 12:14 in the second quarter, Cotney rushed 5 yards for the touchdown to give the Hawks a 14-7 lead. 6 minutes later, Huntingdon forced a safety to take a 16-7 lead that they would carry into the second half.

Cotney found Malachi Harvey on a 24-yard touchdown pass at 9:40 in the third quarter. At 11:53 in the fourth quarter, Cotney rushed 2 yards for a touchdown, giving the Hawks a 30-7 lead.

Cotney was 14-21 with 203 passing yards and 88 rushing yards, including 1 passing and 3 rushing touchdowns. Casey Peppers totalled 7 solo tackles and 7 assists. Tucker Spence had 4 solo tackles and 9 assists, including a sack. Dylan Killingsworth had 3 catches for 72 yards. 

"We've really had to scratch and claw to be 6-0 and I'm really proud of our guys for that," Head Coach Mike Turk said. "We're nowhere near playing our best football yet and that's encouraging on one hand and discouraging on the other."

"When bad things happen, if we're trained the right way, we respond the right way," Turk said. "We did that today and eventually pulled away to get a comfortable win."

"We all worked together; the whole defense was on the same level," Tucker Spence said. "We expected it to be a fight, that's what we practiced for."

"The defense, every single one of them, when the time came, they all made a play," Dylan Killingsworth said. "Going into next week, we just keep pushing and show everyone who we are."

The Hawks are back in action against Maryville for Senior Day on Saturday, November 6, at 1:00 PM CST.