BREVARD, N.C. – Three second half touchdowns helped Huntingdon distance itself from Brevard as the Hawks emerged with a 38-10 victory on Saturday afternoon at Brevard Memorial Stadium.
With an 11-point advantage and the first offensive possession of the second half, Huntingdon capitalized on 38 yards rushing from Vic Jerald and an 11-yard scamper by Chip Taylor to stretch its lead to 21-3 early in the third quarter.
Less than a minute later, following a three-and-out on defense, the Hawks took over from their own 28-yard line. Taylor used his mobility outside the pocket to gain 28 yards on a key third down to sustain the drive. He followed that with a 21-yard strike to Colton Chinn, to move Huntingdon to the one-yard line, where Dontavion Cunningham pushed his way over the goal line to extend the advantage to 28-3.
A sound second half defensive performance by the Hawks kept Brevard's (1-4) offense at bay as they forced a Tyler Beam punt on the second Tornado possession of the third quarter. Two plays later Kobe Smith broke off a 58-yard run to put Huntingdon at the Brevard six-yard line. Stout defense and a key tackle by Trevon Charles and Johnathan Tucker forced the Hawks to settle for a 19-yard field goal by Chase Young.
Huntingdon put its final points on the board in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, after taking over at the Tornado 18-yard line following a breakdown on special teams. The Hawks used three rushes by Eric Thomas, including a nine-yard rumble for the score, to push the lead to 38-3.
Brevard's offense returned the favor two possessions later as O'Shay Carter picked apart the Hawk defense to cap off a four-play, 56-yard drive with a six-yard strike to Tyler Gregory. Carter completed four-of-five passes during the drive, hitting Rikiya Bain on a 15-yard strike, for the lone Brevard touchdown of the game.
Carter led the way for the Tornado offense with 183 yards through the air as he finished 18-of-31 passing. Eight different Brevard receivers had at least one catch, including Xavier Brown who finished with six for 73 yards. Nazayah Brown and Jarkevius Hopkins each netted 39 yards on the ground as Brown has the longest run from scrimmage (28 yards) on the afternoon.
The combination of Jason Nieradka (13 tackles; six solo) and Jinsly Jhon (nine tackles; seven solo) led the way for the Tornado defense. The aforementioned Tucker was also active on defense for Brevard, with eight tackles, as the team recorded 73 stops in the contest.
Brevard closed out the first half trailing 14-3, despite controlling the time of possession (16:12) and having 161 yards by virtue of 31 total plays.
The Tornados took the opening kickoff and put together a nine-play, 44-yard drive that ended when a fourth down pass from Carter to Gregory fell short, allowing Huntingdon to take over at the Brevard 31-yard line.
Two plays later, with Huntingdon at their own 47 after a 16-yard gain by Jerald, Taylor hit a streaking Otis Porter for a 53-yard touchdown that gave the Hawks a 7-0 lead.
Brevard began its second drive from the 25-yard line and proceeded to march 64 yards down the field due in large part to Carter's 55 yards through the air to the wide receiving corps of Xavier Brown, Gregory and Bubba Craven. Huntingdon's defense stopped the offensive progression at the 16-yard line, but a 22-yard field goal conversion by Joseph Calhoun gave the Tornados their only points of the half.
The Huntingdon offense took the field for the second time and behind the combination of Jerald in the backfield and Taylor in the pocket, who completed three passes for 43 yards, reached the endzone on a nine-yard completion from Taylor to Porter for the 14-3 advantage.
The Tornados return to Brevard Memorial Stadium next weekend when they host Virginia-Lynchburg for Homecoming. The game is set to kickoff at 4:30 p.m.
