MARYVILLE, Tenn. – Despite a near two-and-a-half-hour lighting delay, the Brevard College football team (3-1, 2-1 USAS) outlasted Maryville College (1-2, 0-2 USAS), 14-3, on a rain-soaked Saturday afternoon at Honaker Field in Maryville, Tennessee.
Brevard's defense, which has not allowed a touchdown in 11 consecutive quarters of play, forced three interceptions, two sacks, and six tackles-for-loss while limiting the Maryville offense to under 150 yards of total offense and holding the Scots to 2-of-10 on third downs. The BC offense out-gained Maryville, 246-147 in total offense, while BC's special team's unit averaged 40.8 yards-per-punt.
Senior defense back Quentin Jackson picked off a pair of Maryville passes, bringing his career interception total to nine – a mark that ranks second all-time in the history of BC Football. Sophomore defensive back Joc Pledger added an interception, while Jerome Bass led all Tornados with a five-tackle performance that included a sack. Sophomore linebacker Toby Naylor recorded four tackles and a sack, while Steffon Canady recorded a team-best 1.5 tackles-for-loss.
Senior quarterback Steven Hogan stepped in and delivered 99 yards passing and an 18-yard touchdown to Cedric Brooks, who hauled down four catches for a game-high 50 yards. Jamerial Parks caught four passes for 43 yards receiving, while Justin Pendergrass caught a game-long 40-yard pass from freshman quarterback Eli Carr.
BC's running game logged 91 yards, led by Aaron Bennett who rushed nine times for 50 yards – with 5.6 yards-per-carry. Damon Rouse punched in a five-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter to help put the contest out of reach.
Sophomore punter/kicker Damon Hewitt helped flip the field on the Scots, launching five punts for 204 total yards – a 40.8 average – with a long of 54.
Carr helped lead the Tornados down the field on their first possession of the contest, going 3-for-3 with 56 yards passing to set the Tornados up in the red zone. Hogan was called upon and answered right away, throwing an 18-yard strike to Brooks in the right side of the end zone to give the Tornados a 7-0 lead early.
Maryville got on the board at the beginning of the second quarter, as a nine-play, 55-yard drive was capped off with a 22-yard field goal that cut BC's advantage to a 7-3 margin.
MC's next possession was cut short, as Pledger racked up his fourth interception of the season gave BC the ball near midfield. A three-and-out forced the Tornados to punt back to Maryville midway through the second quarter.
With 5:24 left to play in the first half, BC strung together a nine-play, 48-yard possession that found the Tornados in the red zone. However, the drive would halt after Maryville's Bo Herring intercepted a pass to effectively end the half as Brevard clung to a 7-3 lead at the intermission.
A two-hour and 37-minute lightning delay would ensue, as Brevard and Maryville resumed play at 6:02 p.m.
Both sides traded punts on their first two possessions of the third quarter before Jackson snagged his first interception of the contest, setting up the Tornados in Maryville territory. The Scots would force a fourth-down stop before Jackson secured his second-consecutive interception, returning it 26 yards to set the Tornado offense up in the red zone.
Rouse burst forward for a five-yard touchdown to put the Tornados on top by 11 points, 14-3, while the Tornado defense got a fourth-down stop on the ensuing Maryville possession. BC's offense milked the final 4:08 off the clock to wrap up the pivotal conference victory in the regular-season conference finale.
The Tornados will now prepare for a non-conference matchup vs. fellow USA South member NC Wesleyan College at Ives-Lemel Family Field on Saturday, April 3, with time to-be-determined. BC will is scheduled to conclude its Spring 2021 season on Saturday, April 10 with a trip to Sewanee, Tennessee to face Sewanee University at 4 p.m.
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-BC-