By MONTE DUTTON
It’s a long shot, but Presbyterian (9-2, 5-2) kept Pioneer Football League hopes alive with a 23-9 victory over Saint Thomas (7-4, 5-3) in Saint Paul, Minn., on Saturday.
The Tommies had won five games in a row, but PC’s defense limited them to 179 yards of offense, a season low. Saint Thomas’s only touchdown was on a third-quarter interception return of 36 yards by Brandon Smith.
“I know our players are proud of what they’ve done,” said Steve Englehart.
The victory was Englehart’s 20th at Presbyterian and 90th as a head coach.
The combination of a Drake (7-3, 6-1) loss to Morehead State (6-5, 4-3) and a PC victory over Marist at Bailey Memorial Stadium next weekend would give the Blue Hose a share of the Pioneer Football League regular-season title.
Defensive coordinator Dan Owen’s crew only allowed 12 first downs all day while watching the PC offense move the chains 22 times themselves.
The fourth quarter played out perfectly, PC leading by just one approaching the last 15 minutes but maintaining the advantage by allowing just 38 total yards in the final quarter.
PC put the game out of reach by going on a 13-play touchdown drive that expended seven minutes of clock, turning a one-score game into a 14-point final difference.
The Blue Hose ran the ball 49 times out of 73 offensive plays, playing keep-away in the latter stages.
Quarterback Collin Hurst recorded his 12th consecutive game with at least one touchdown pass after sitting out the Davidson game due to injury, completing 17/24 throws for 237 yards and two scores.
B.J. Atkins led the receiving corps with a personal-high 83 yards, while senior Cincere Gill made a miraculous return to the field after an ACL tear just three weeks ago.
Caleb Francis and Zeb Stroup each landed a diving interception off of Tommies signal-caller Andy Peters (a player who had just three picks all year going in). It was the 10th career interception for Francis, extending the program’s Division I record.
Dominic Kibby gave the Blue Hose some much-needed separation with a 31-yard touchdown sprint on a pass from Hurst, the 20th receiving TD of his career to further tighten his hold on the school record.
Saint Thomas quarterback Peters completed 16/31 passes for 144 yards and the two interceptions. The Tommies accumulated a mere 35 net yards in 21 attempts.
Presbyterian seeks its first 10-win season since 2005 and first undefeated home record since 2007 on Saturday, hosting Marist for the finale at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
The Red Foxes were victorious against Davidson by a score of 37-10 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., improving their record to 5-4 (3-4). Presbyterian visited Marist 12 months ago and won, 42-23.
Take a look at the stats here.
Sure, it was mainly a coincidence. Presbyterian fought a war – okay, a women’s basketball game — of attrition in Monday’s matinee at Templeton Center against Division II Erskine.
Led by Aminata Tal’s 20 points, the Blue Hose pulled away from the Flying Fleet, 86-50. Presbyterian (2-3) slid away like a ship at sea, outscoring Erskine (0-1) progressively: 19-14 in the first quarter. 18-10 in the second, 23-10 in the third and 26-16 in the fourth.
Slip-sliding away.
The game started at 11 a.m. on PC’s Education Day. The middle-schoolers in attendance were fervent in their support, their cheers a bit more high-pitched than the usual. At times it sounded as if the Beatles had landed. Or perhaps Taylor Swift.
The cheerleaders of Gray Court-Owings ably handled those chores.
“I thought our kids came out and played hard, for the most part,” said PC head coach Tiffany Sardin, “but we’ve still got to do some of the little things. We’ve got to keep getting better each day and clean up the turnovers.”
Turnovers. The Blue Hose committed 25 of them. Erskine had 35. Ja’Cia Cunningham made four steals. Presbyterian shot .471 (33/70) from the field, .412 (7/17) in three pointers and .684 (13/19) at the foul line.
“Our girls did a good job of pressuring the ballhandlers, but, for us … you want to take care of the ball on our end and be a little more disciplined,” Sardin said.
Erskine was considerably less precise. Its corresponding percentages were .296 (15/54), .222 (4/18) and .538 (14/26).
PC’s scoring was balanced. Trailing Tal were Cunningham (19 points), Allie Sykes (15) and Ore Ogunwolere (10).
Jakayla Lorick and Janiya Adams each scored 10 for the Flying Fleet.
Take a look at the stats here.
Sunday afternoon on the West Coach, Quinton Ferrell’s men let a game slip away in the California state capital, falling, 64-62, to Sacramento State.
It gets no easier. The Blue Hose visit California on Wednesday at 10 p.m. in Berkeley and UCLA on Friday at 10:30 in Los Angeles.
Carl Parrish led the Blue Hose with 14 points. Jonah Pierce scored 12 and added 14 rebounds. Jaylen Peterson and Triston Wilson collected 10 points apiece.
Presbyterian scored 40 of its 62 points in the paint. It wasn’t much of a long-range shooting exhibition. The Blue Hose hit 3/21 (.143) three-pointers. The Hornets hit 2/11 (.182),
The Blue Hose led, 36-27, at halftime.
“We came in and got off to a good start,” Ferrell said. “We hurt them offensively in the first half. It was probably the best first half we’ve had all year.
“They started switching defenses in the second half. It really bothered our guys’ ability to execute. That was the biggest difference, how we scored so easily in the first half. It kept us a little off balance in the second half.”
Jeremiah Cherry led Sacramento State (3-2) with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Mikey Williams added 14 points.
The Hornets made free throws with 1:26 and 1:02 on the clock to take a 64-62 lead. Presbyterian (3-3) had several scoring chances down the stretch, but was unable to convert them.
Take a look at the stats here.
Forward Chidi Chiakwelu was named Big South Conference Freshman of the Week.
Chiakwelu made three big blocks while scoring four crucial points in Presbyterian’s road win at Georgia State. He recorded his first career double-figure scoring game with 11 points on 5/6 shooting from the field at South Carolina last Wednesday.
For the week, he averaged six points and one block per game while shooting .857 percent from the field.
For years, my site has been supported by reader contributions. If you’re interested, you can make modest monthly payments on my Patreon page or a one-time contribution via Venmo (@DHKSports).
Or, if you’d like to make a contribution by check or cash, my mailing address, for now, is: Monte Dutton, 11185 Hwy. 56 N., Clinton, S.C. 29325.
Every little bit helps. It keeps gas in the truck for road trips.
Most of my books are available at Amazon.
Nightrider's Lament 