Presbyterian College’s greatest moment to date in the Pioneer Football League occurred in Des Moines, Iowa, and on the unlikely date of April 17, 2021.

It was the weird COVID spring. PC’s quarterback was Tyler Huff, and its head coach was Tommy Spangler, and the Blue Hose drove nearly the length of the field twice in the fourth quarter to win 28-24.

The Blue Hose bused to Des Moines and back, and then athletics director Rob Acunto fired Spangler when the bus got back to Clinton.

Since that game, PC’s record is 6-25. The Blue Hose, who were not fully operational in the PFL, went 4-3 that spring, 3-2 against PFL schools. They lost their next 18 PFL games, which did count, under Kevin Kelley and Steve Englehart.

This time the Blue Hose flew to Des Moines.

Drake (6-3, 6-0 PFL) is tied for first place in the league now with Davidson (7-2, 6-0), which it doesn’t play. PC (3-6, 1-5) could do Davidson and the PFL quite a favor by upsetting the Bulldogs.

The season’s penultimate game begins at 2 p.m. EST at Drake Stadium.

Under the direction of head coach Todd Stepsis, Drake’s defense is 15^th in FCS in turnover margin and has allowed no more points than 21 in its six PFL games to date. None of its six PFL adversaries has been able to score more than 21 points against that group, ranking 15th in the country in turnover margin.

PC’s superb junior linebacker, Alex Herriott, made 16 tackles against San Diego, which defeated the Blue Hose, 23-13, in Clinton in spite of the Blue Hose defense keeping the Toreros’ offense out of the Bailey Memorial Stadium end zones. Herriott was named PFL defensive player of the week.

Cruising back home after a stunning 68-62 upset of Vanderbilt, Quinton Ferrell’s men’s basketball team has a win streak going.

Behind four double-figure scorers, led by Samage Teel’s 22 points, PC crushed Columbia International, 100-58, in their home opener on Thursday night. 

Teel scored 14 of his 22 points in the first half. Marquis Barnett scored 16 points with 12 of them coming in the second half. Carl Parrish recorded his first career double-figure scoring game with 15 points on five three-point field goals off the bench. Trevon Reddish-Rhone added 10 points.

Presbyterian finished the game with 50 points in the paint and 42 bench points.

It was all downhill for the Rams after they scored seven of the game’s first 11 points.

The Blue Hose’ defense limited CIU to .368 (21/57) shooting from the field and wracked the Rams on the boards, 40-30. PC shot .554 (36/65) from the field and .629 in the latter half.

Presbyterian concludes its two-game homestand with a Monday-night matchup against The Citadel at 7 p.m.

Take a look at the stats here.    

Wichita State thumped the PC women, 60-41, in Kansas on Wednesday afternoon in spite of 11 points from Christina Kline.

“We did a lot of good things today on both ends of the floor. We got really good looks offensively, but the ball would just not fall. Defensively we executed the game plan and fought hard on the glass. We will regroup quick and get ready for Saturday,” stated head coach Alaura Sharp.

Johnson C. Smith arrives from Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game at Templeton Center. PC is 0-2.

Take a look at the stats here.

Blue Hose Blurbs: Men’s golfer Gage Howard of Woodruff is the Big South freshman of the week based on his seventh-place tie at the league’s preview tournament at Fripp Island.

Six newcomers – Baxleigh Arnette of Lake View, Audrey Burton of Jefferson, Ga., Olivia Goforth of King, N.C., Grace Kelley of Mitchell, Ga., Sabrina Rose of Ona, W.Va., and Lanie Ruscoe of Lexington, N.C. — have signed with PC softball.

Lacrosse also signed six: Emily Currie of Trapp, Md., Kate Dominick of Cumming, Ga., Annabel Geisler of New Market, Md., Ceili Jobb of Edmonton, Alberta, Madeleine Lowrance of Collierville, Tenn., and Morgan Thompson of Hendersonville, Tenn.

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