Hawks' Season Ends with Loss to BSC

Birmingham, Ala.-The Huntingdon Football Team ended their season with a 24-14 loss to Birmingham-Southern in Round 1 of the NCAA Division III Playoffs. The Hawks finish the season 8-3 overall. 

The Hawks' offense started out strong, taking a 7-0 at just 13:22 in the first quarter with quarterback Landon Cotney rushing 24 yards for the touchdown.
BSC answered back 5:40 in the first quarter with a 14 yard touchdown rush. BSC kicked a 38 yard field goal with 16 seconds left in the 1st quarter, making it 10-7 at the end of the first quarter.

BSC scored their second touchdown with 38 seconds left in the first half after a Huntingdon fumble, giving the Panthers a 17-7 lead at halftime.

At 5:09 in the third quarter, Birmingham-Southern found the endzone again on an 8-yard touchdown run, making it 24-7.

Kahari McReynolds completed a 15-yard touchdown run at 14:45 in the 4th quarter, making it 24-14. 

Casey Peppers led the defense with 10 tackles, including 5 solo tackles and 1 sack. Cotney was 17-26 with 179 yards in the air and a team-leading 44 rushing yards. Dylan Killingsworth had 6 receptions for 79 yards.

"We prepared for them, watching film and in practice. We had some success on some plays but there are plays that we gave to them for the win," Cotney said.

"All week long we had a really good plan in place to stop their run," Peppers said. "Everyone had to do their assignment and stay locked in and we did a pretty good job of stopping them when we needed to."

"It's hard when there's a few calls that, if they would've gone the other way, could've led to a different game," Head Coach Mike Turk said.

"I'm very proud of these guys for how hard they battled," Coach Turk said. "They didn't let circumstances get to them and I'm thankful for them."