DANVILLE, Ky. – Andy Frye Stadium played host to a wild game under the lights on Family Weekend as the Centre football team earned a walk-off victory over the Maryville Scots by a score of 17-14.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
- The opening quarter belonged to the defenses as neither team allowed the other offense to get much going. The Colonels had a drive end on a turnover on downs in Scots territory. Maryville's most promising drive of the period ended with an interception by freshman
Micah Valenti.
- To start the second quarter, Maryville embarked on the longest drive of the game as they began the march from their own 5. They hit a 40-yard pass on the first play of the series, and in a penalty-filled possession by both teams, the Scots ended it with another deep ball on a wheel route for the game's first touchdown.
- The Scots looked to score again before halftime as they reached midfield with less than two minutes left. On third down,
Nick Grant came through for a sack, scooped the ball up and raced to the end zone for a defensive score to tie the game.
- Maryville again threatened to score at the end of the quarter, but the Colonels blocked a long field goal attempt to preserve a 7-7 tie at the half.
- Centre got a spark on special teams to open the third period as
Tayden Mounivong gave the Colonels a short field with a 40-yard punt return into Maryville territory. On fourth down,
Cam Tegge kicked a field goal to give Centre the lead, but a Maryville penalty gave the Colonels a fresh set of downs, and the offense capitalized as
Jack Gohmann delivered a strike to
Carter Chandler in the corner of the end zone to give Centre its first lead of the game at 14-7.
- The Scots took over nine minutes on their next drive as the fourth quarter began, capping off a 21-play drive with a touchdown pass on third and goal to tie the score again at 14-14.
- The next four possessions saw the defenses hold firm as the Colonels and Scots each went three and out. The Colonels were pinned deep after a Maryville punt as they got the ball on their own 7 with just under five minutes left. After struggling for most of the game, Gohmann converted a couple of third downs and then connected on a deep ball to
Dant Bowling to get the Colonels just outside the red zone.
Will McDaniel and
Harris Phelps combined to deliver another first down on the ground, setting the stage for Tegge to make a 32-yard field goal at the buzzer to give Centre the victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Centre went 76 yards in nearly seven minutes in their final drive, more than doubling their amount of total yards in the game up to that point.
- After recording seven sacks in their win against Hanover last week, the Centre defense added five more by five different players.
- The Colonels held the Maryville rushing attack to 52 yards on 37 attempts, continuing their success against the run from last week.
NEXT UP
The Colonels will hit the road to play Hampden-Sydney in Virginia on Sept. 21. Centre last faced Hampden-Sydney in the program's first ever Division III Playoff game in 2011, winning 51-41.
