Football | 10/18/2008 4:30:25 PM
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The Methodist football team had a 13-12 lead in the third quarter, but Ferrum came back to win 31-13 over the Monarchs. Methodist moves to 1-5 this season and 0-3 in the USA South while Ferrum is 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the conference.
The Monarchs' defense held strong through the first quarter keeping the Panthers scoreless through three possessions. Methodist picked up a first down on their first possession with a pass from quarterback Erik Teague to Chris Peoples, but Ferrum came up with the necessary defensive stops for the remainder of the quarter.
Ferrum started the second quarter on the Methodist 11-yard line and used three plays for Mike Vann to finish with the 2-yard touchdown run. The Monarchs' Michael Doyne blocked the extra point for Ferrum to lead 6-0. Ferrum's kickoff went out of bounds giving Methodist the ball on their own 40-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Teague stepped up to find Peoples who beat his defender with the catch andfinished with a 30-yard run to the endzone for the Monarchs' first touchdown. Mario Miralles' extra point was good to give Methodist the 7-6 lead.
Ferrum came back with a 64-yard drive to regain the lead at 12-7. The Panthers attempted a 2-point conversion, but quarterback Matt Dobson was tripped up on the play. Methodist drove back down the field to the Ferrum five yard line on their next possession. The Monarchs lost a yard rushing and then had a false start to move back to the 11 before Teague was intercepted at the 2-yard line. The Methodist defense stepped up forcing Ferrum to punt and the offense got the ball back on their own 37-yard line with 2:56 to go in the half. A couple of passes from Teague to Peoples and the Monarchs were at the Ferrum 27-yard line but a sack and two incomplete passes brought Miralles to the field for a field goal. The 46-yard attempt came up just short and Ferrum took a knee for the 12-6 halftime lead.
The Panthers kicked off the second half and Devin Goodman had a 5-yard return to the Methodist 37-yard line. The Methodist offense picked up a first down on a 12-yardpass to Brian Hopkins and another on a 20-yard pass to Peoples. Tailback Reggie Scales had a 3-yard run for another first down at the Ferrum 15-yard line. Another false start pushed the Monarchs back to the 20, but Teague found Peoples at the 11-yard line for nine yards. On second down and six to go, Teague connected with Nathan Kindley for the Monarchs' second touchdown of the game. Methodist went for two, but the Teague's pass to Hopkins was short of the endzone.
Methodist led 13-12 before Ferrum took advantage of a 38-yard run by Matt Lucas to get inside the red zone. Vann finished it off on an 8-yard run for the touchdown. Clint Slappey's extra point gave Ferrum the 19-13 lead. Teague was intercepted again on the next possession to give the ball back to the Panthers. The third quarter ended with Ferrum on the Methodist 20-yard line. Quarterback Marcus Mayo passed to Le'Bryan Patterson to score. The extra point was blocked by Devoe Mewborn, but Ferrum led 25-13.
The Monarchs were intercepted and unable to come up with a first down on two separate possessions before Ferrum took over again with 8:43 to go in the game. They moved the ball back down the field and Patterson scored on a four-yard run with 3:22 to go. Michael Sabol's kick was deflected and Methodist received the kickoff with 3:15 to go, down 31-13. The Monarchs picked up two first downs on passes to Hopkins and Jared Boyles but Ferrum broke through for a couple of sacks and the Monarchs turned the ball over on downs. The Panthers ran the clock out and finished with the 31-13 win.
Teague was 20-for-29 for 269 yards passing while Peoples caught nine passes for 163 yards receiving. Scales was the Monarchs' leading rusher with 20 yards.
Mayo and Dobson combined to throw 2-for-8 for 31 yards for Ferrum. Lucas ran for 132 yards and Dobson added another 81. Vann and Mayo had 56 yards a piece. The Ferrum offense combined for 369 yards rushing.
Antonio Bartee led the Methodist defense with 19 tackles while Troy Glover had 11. Maureik Goode and Darwin Nichols had seven a piece to lead the Panthers.
The Monarchs will travel to Christopher Newport next week for a 1 pm kickoff.
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