The Centre football team suffered its first Southern Athletic Association loss of the season, falling 35-14 to Rhodes on Saturday in Memphis, Tenn.

The Colonels fell in a 21-0 hole by halftime and 35-0 deficit early in the third quarter before scoring the last 14 points of the game. Centre outgained Rhodes 395-318 and picked up more first downs but turned the ball over five times to one for the Lynx, including four turnovers in the first half as Rhodes built its lead.

After the teams played a scoreless first quarter, Rhodes went 63 yards in six plays with Mason Windatt catching a pass from Blake Box to go up 7-0 early in the second quarter. Minutes later, Rhodes went up 14-0 after a 56 yard touchdown run by Box. Before the half, The Lynx capitalized on the field position from an interception to go up 21-0 on a 6-yard touchdown run from Kevin Viera.

Rhodes took its momentum into the second half where it went up 28-0 on its first possession by going 70 yards in eight plays and finishing on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Box to Mike Edel. The Colonels drove deep into Rhodes territory on the next possession only to see Rhodes' John Dodd return an interception 100 yards to go up 35-0.

The Colonels closed the gap with a sustained drive of 80 yards in 11 plays with Harry Meisner (Wyoming, Ohio) scoring from 13 yards out to cut the margin to 35-7. Centre got another touchdown on its first possession of the fourth quarter when Heath Haden (Kingsport, Tenn.) capped a 11-play, 62-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run.

Haden went on to throw for 238 yards for Centre while rushing for another 84 and the touchdown. Meisner led the Colonels with 84 yards on the ground while Austin Jones (Louisville, Ky.) was the team's top receiver with four catches for 70 yards. Trey Yeager (Danville, Ky.) was Centre's top tackler with nine total and 2.5 for loss. Tami Aderoba (Columbia, Tenn.) had eight stops with a sack and 2.5 tackles for loss while Alex Mattingly (Louisville, Ky.) had eight with two for loss.

Centre falls to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in SAA competition with the loss while Rhodes moves to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference. Centre hosts Hendrix for homecoming next Saturday at 2:30 p.m.