MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Centre football bounced back from last week's loss at Trine as the Colonels turned in a magnificent defensive game to open Southern Athletic Association play with a win at Rhodes.
 
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
 
- Sam Murray took the opening kickoff and raced 55 yards to set up the Centre offense with a short field. The Colonels only had to drive 30 yards to reach paydirt, which they did in spectacular fashion as Cort Marbaugh reeled in a goal line pass from Nick Osterman with one hand at the boundary of the end zone and kept a foot inbounds to give Centre a 7-0 lead.
- On the ensuing series, Rhodes faced a 3rd & 9 when the Colonels came up with a huge play on defense. Armon Wells blitzed and strip-sacked Luke Macias, and then Miles Smith scooped up the loose ball and scampered into the end zone to put the Colonels on top by two scores.
- As the game entered the second quarter, both offenses stalled and the battle for field position began. Rhodes looked to strike with five minutes to go before halftime, reaching the red zone for the first time. A holding penalty pushed the Lynx back and then Smith made his second big play of the half with a sack on fourth down to turn the ball back over to the Colonels.
- Rhodes got the ball back with three minutes left in the half and made their deepest march to that point, reaching the Centre 11 before the Centre defense came through in the clutch yet again as Smith recovered a botched snap to turn away the Lynx yet again, keeping the score at 14-0 at the half.
- On the first series of the third quarter, the Lynx made their best drive of the game as Macias made some clutch throws on third down and found Andrew Pickens for a short touchdown pass to cut the deficit in half at 14-7.
- After the Rhodes touchdown, both defenses went back to controlling the game as the teams traded punts for the rest of the third quarter. This continued well into the fourth quarter as Nick Whitlow kept putting Rhodes in deep holes with his punts.
- With a little over six minutes to go, a Rhodes interception set the Lynx up at the Centre 35 for their best field position of the game. Smith, playing the game of his life, started off the Rhodes drive with a sack on first down. The Lynx reached Centre's 27 before Nick Grant broke up a pass attempt on fourth down to turn Rhodes away.
- The Colonels punted the ball back with two minutes left as Rhodes had to go 78 yards to reach the end zone. After three incompletions, the pocket collapsed on Macias on fourth down and Wells picked off the desperation pass, hightailing it into the end zone for Centre's second defensive score of the game to put the Colonels up 21-7.
- As a fitting end to the game, the final Rhodes pass of the day was intercepted by Caleb Jones to seal the win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
 
- The Colonels held Rhodes to -8 yards on the ground for the game, including an incredible -35 in the first half.
- Smith had the finest game of his career, recording game highs with eight tackles and three tackles for loss, to go along with a sack and two fumble recoveries, including his first career touchdown.
- The Colonels were +2 on turnovers for the day as they forced four Lynx turnovers, directly converting two of them to points.
 
NEXT UP
 
Centre football will return home on Oct. 8 as they host the Sewanee Tigers in the conference home opener. The game will be played at Boyle County High School.