Football | 10/12/2013 5:34:00 PM

Box Score DANVILLE, Va. -- The Methodist football team rushed for 412 yards and scored 20 first-quarter points en route to a 41-33 win at Averett on Saturday afternoon.
 
Three different Monarchs (4-2, 2-1 USA South) eclipsed the 100-yard mark, led by 142 yards on 14 carries by Marquies Hall. Darius Page added 114 yards on 21 carries and Max Reber contributed 107 yards on 15 carries. On the day, MU averaged 6.6 yards per carry and ran the ball 62 times.
 
On their first possession of the game, Methodist marched 75 yards in 10 plays and scored when Reber connected with Vaughn Cross on a 7-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 following Cody Ausherman's extra point at the 11:25 mark of the first quarter. After forcing the Cougars to go three and out on their next drive, Page scored on a 4-yard run to put the Monarchs up 13-0 with 8:39 left in the period.
 
On its next drive, AU (1-5, 0-3) marched 70 yards in 12 plays and melted 5:40 off the clock and got on the board when Hobie Proctor booted a 39-yard field goal at the 2:52 mark. However, the Monarchs answered right back with a 74-yard drive, and scored on a Hall 4-yard run with 52 seconds left in the period to put MU up 20-3. Hall carried five times for 62 yards on the drive.
 
The Monarchs extended their lead to 27-3 when Hall found paydirt again, this time from 32 yards out, at the 5:32 mark of the second quarter. Averett cut its deficit to 17 points (27-10) when Cinco Simmons hooked up with Brendan Hughes for a 44-yard scoring strike with just over three minutes to play in the first half.
 
The two team traded scores in the third period and MU entered the final stanza holding a commanding 34-16 lead. The Cougars would tally 17 fourth-quarter points, but a Reber to Blake Scott touchdown pass covering 55 yards with five minutes to play provided the Monarchs enough breathing room to win their second straight contest.
 
For the game, Methodist rolled up 557 yards of total offense to Averett's 483, and sacked Simmons four times to just one sack for the Cougars.
 
To supplement the ground game, Reber added 145 yards passing with a pair of touchdowns on 12-of-17 passing. Cross led the receiving corps with five receptions for 30 yards.
 
Defensively, Methodist was led by D.J. Payne, who had 10 tackles including nine solo stops. Navahri Holden added eight tackles (2 for loss) and a sack, while Mike Jones picked up a pair of quarterback sacks among his four tackles.
 
Averett was led by Simmons, who finished 20-of-31 through the air for 305 yards with a pair of touchdowns. He also picked up 54 yards on 16 carries. Xavier Morgan led the Averett rushing attack with 79 yards on 13 carries. Adaryal Jones had 127 yards receiving on six grabs and Hughes finished with 54 yards receiving on three receptions with a pair of touchdowns.
 
Donald Redding led Averett's defense with 10 tackles, and Stefan Varner and Brent Skipper chipped in nine and eight, respectively.
 
Methodist will now enjoy its off week before returning home to face LaGrange on Oct. 26 at 1:00 pm.