BREVARD, N.C. – The Brevard College football team (4-1) dominated in all facets of the game to earn a decisive 30-point victory, 44-14, over cross-divisional rival NC Wesleyan College (0-4) on Saturday afternoon at Ives-Lemel Family Field.
Brevard College, who claimed USA South Conference Co-West Division Champion honors prior to this weekend's matchup outscored NC Wesleyan 30-7 in the first half en route to the dominant victory. BC outgained the Battling Bishops, 523-212, as the Tornados' 523 offensive yards gained Saturday ranks top-10 all-time in BC football history for single-game total offensive yards.
Senior quarterback Steven Hogan and junior quarterback Dalton Cole accounted for five of BC's six touchdowns on the afternoon. Hogan completed 13-of-17 passes for a career-high 204 yards and a pair of passing touchdowns, while Cole accounted for 97 total yards of offense and found the end zone three times on the ground.
Mitchell Yoder, a sophomore running back from Columbus, North Carolina, rushed 18 times for a career-high 105 yards and a touchdown, pacing a season-best effort for the Tornado ground attack that accounted for 319 yards. Through the air, USA South All-Conference selections Cedric Brooks and Justin Pendergrass led the aerial attack. Pendergrass caught three passes for 51 yards, including a game-long 46-yard touchdown strike, while Brooks hauled down three catches for 47 yards. Jonathan Woods brought down a six-yard touchdown pass from Hogan as well.
Brevard's nationally recognized defense stood out once again on Saturday, stifling the Battling Bishop offense to 212 total yards, including an impressive effort from the Tornado secondary to limit NC Wesleyan to 81 yards through the air In addition to three interceptions.
Joc Pledger, a sophomore cornerback from Monroe, Georgia, logged the fifth interception of his 2021 spring campaign. Pledger's five picks leads the USA South and currently ranks second in all of NCAA DIII. Derek Frazier and Chason Lowery also recorded interceptions, marking the first picks of the Tornado senior's careers.
Junior linebacker Chris Diaz tallied a career-high 10 tackles with a sack, while freshman defensive lineman and former USA South Football Defensive Rookie of the Week selection Ernest Smith II added seven tackles and a tackle-for-loss. Jerome Bass and Lowery each logged half a sack, while Quentin Jackson registered a pair of tackles-for-loss. Sophomore linebacker Toby Naylor added a team-high three quarterback hurries.
NC Wesleyan running back Jeff Black led the Battling Bishop offensive effort with 108 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. Benyon Williams and RJ Carter each racked up eight total tackles to lead NCWC's defense.
Pledger kickstarted BC's statement victory on the game's first drive, picking off Terrence Craig for his conference-leading fifth interception. Brevard used an eight-play, 64-yard drive to score its first TD, as Cole punched in a four-yard rushing score to give the Tornados a 6-0 lead.
Kevil Alford returned a Tornado kickoff 78 yards to give the Battling Bishops a brief 7-6 advantage that was quickly erased by a 10-play, 90-yard BC scoring drive. Cole broke off a big 40-yard touchdown run that gave the Tornados the lead back, 13-7.
Brevard's defense got a key stop on fourth down on the ensuing possession when Jackson stuffed a Garry Daies run attempt to give the Tornados the ball back. Following back-to-back punts by both sides, Brevard put together an eight-play, 58-yard drive that ended in a 39-yard Stamati Damalos field goal that extended Brevard's lead to nine points, 16-7. Damalos' 39-yarder was the second-longest field goal of his BC career.
A Hogan-to-Cole 29-yard completion set up a two-yard Cole rushing TD – his third of the day – as Brevard kept the pedal to the metal, extending their advantage to 23-7. On the ensuing NCWS possession, Frazier jumped a route and secured the first interception of his Tornado career to set up the Tornado offense. Yoder punched in a three-yard score that gave the Tornados a 30-7 lead that they would take into the halftime locker room.
Brevard came out of the intermission firing, as Hogan found Pendergrass for a game-long 46-yard touchdown reception. After being pinned down inside their own one-yard-line, Brevard put together a dominant 10-play, 99-yard scoring drive that was capped off by Woods' six-yard touchdown reception, pushing BC's lead to a 44-7 margin.
A streak of 14 quarters without allowing a touchdown by the BC defense came to a close in the fourth quarter when Black scampered in for a five-yard touchdown that brought the score to a 44-14 margin.
On NCWC's last offensive possession on third and goal, Craig threw a pass that found the hands of BC defensive lineman Lowery for his first-career interception, sealing the dominant triumph in favor of the Tornados.
Brevard is scheduled to wrap up their regular season next Saturday, April 10 at Sewanee University in Sewanee, Tennessee at 4 p.m.
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-BC-