Scots Slam Huntingdon 44-16, Take Solo Lead in USA South
MARYVILLE – Don't look now but the Maryville Scots are alone at the top.
Maryville ended five years of frustration Saturday with a resounding 44-16 victory against perennial USA South frontrunner Huntingdon. It was the most points scored by a Scots football team versus their Alabama rivals in the 20 all-time meetings of this series.
Steph Carter Jr. caught six passes for a career-high 162 yards and two touchdowns, eclipsing the 1,000-yard barrier as a Scot and closing in on the program's all-time top 10 in receptions and receiving yards. Carter's scoring catches went for 5 and 70 yards, the latter the longest reception of his career.
And Grant Henderson returned an interception 56 yards for a TD as the Scots scored early and often. Henderson's pick-six was the first touchdown of his collegiate career.
Coupled with Brevard's home loss to LaGrange, Maryville took sole possession of first place in the USA South standings.
Focused on One Goal
"Everything we have done since I became the head coach here has been about trying to help our players get better so they could try to have a championship experience," Scots head coach Ben Fox said. "The reality of the situation within this conference is we have had to chase them, to chase Huntingdon, the entire time we have been here.
"They have been the standard-bearing championship program ever since they won the conference title for the first time when I was down there in 2015. To be a championship team, you have to beat the other championship teams. Everything we have done has been to get better."
Fox coached five seasons on the Huntingdon staff, from 2012-16, helping the Hawks go 5-0 against Maryville. Not until 2018 did the Scots break through against Huntingdon, winning 42-13 on Honaker Field for their most recent victory in the series. Going into this year's matchup, Huntingdon had won 15 of the last 16.
"When you have a rival, it spurs you on to continue to improve," Fox said. "It's necessary because we will play them, and it means a lot to both teams. This rivalry provided a lot of motivation for our team in winter workouts, during spring practice and throughout the summer.
"I respect what they do; they are our rival. If we were going to hold up our end of the rivalry, we had to get better. And I can assure you, having been on both sides of this, it's a rivalry down there too. We just haven't won a bunch here lately."
But Maryville won BY a bunch in this one, outgaining the Hawks 398 to 235 while basically running out the clock during the fourth quarter.
Rollins on Target
Quarterback Bryson Rollins completed 15-of-24 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns against just one interception. The pick came on a tough-luck deflected ball, but the sting went away just three plays later when Henderson returned interception the favor and paid his house call to the Hawks end zone.
"To win big games, your best players have to play their best, so I was really proud of them," Fox said. "Steph played phenomenally. He's really good; really special. Bryson is seeing things pretty well and throwing it well.
"The running backs played great. We've got our three main guys and then Mac (McCovery) comes in on third down and he was in on one of the bigger plays of the game."
McCovery took a dump-off pass from Rollins and raced 23 yards for a first down that set up the Scots for the first touchdown to Carter just 31 seconds before halftime. Maryville led 24-10 at intermission.
Bryson Claiborne paced the Maryville rushing game with 44 yards on 13 carries, followed by Griffin Swinea with 12 for 35 yards and Jermaine Abner with four for 21 yards. Swinea had a 2-yard TD run and Abner scored from 1 yard out.
Defensive Leaders
Defensively, Tyler Bost was the tackle leader with 10, followed by six apiece from Henderson and Devon White. Tyler Barrett contributed a 9-yard sack, blocked a punt and had two pass breakups.
"Our defense is at least as good as any defense we have seen or will see on our schedule," Fox said. "The unit that rolls out there in Orange and Garnet is serious.
"I told our team it was going to come down to intensity, discipline, excitement and physicality. Every Tuesday for the last three years, we have done a pods period and the name of it is the Scarlet and Gray Drill, because we knew that's what it was going to take to beat Huntingdon."
Carter for his career now has 64 catches for 1,098 yards and 11 touchdowns. The TD total already ranks seventh on the Maryville career list, and he is nearing the top 10 in the other two categories.
In addition to the goings-on at Honaker Field, LaGrange won 26-21 at Brevard on Saturday to hand the Tornadoes their first conference loss. The 3-0 Scots lead the USA South standings, followed by Brevard, Huntingdon and LaGrange all at 3-1.
Maryville improved to 4-1 overall. Huntingdon is 3-3. The Hawks still lead the all-time series 16-4, but it is just a 6-3 advantage here in Maryville. Fox said that despite Maryville's move next season to the Southern Athletic Association, he hopes to continue the series against Huntingdon.
Homecoming Week
Maryville prepares now for Homecoming against Methodist, which lost Saturday at home 21-17 to Southern Virginia. The Monarchs are 1-6 overall and 1-4 in the USA South.
"Next week should be a super environment," Fox said. "Everybody knows Homecoming at Maryville College is special. It speaks about how special the school is and the experience our student-athletes have while they are on campus. It's a place that impacts them so they can impact the world around them.
"We look forward to seeing all of Scots Nation here next week."
Kickoff is 1 p.m.