Football | 11/2/2013 6:18:00 PM

Box Score GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Anthony Radke's 22-yard touchdown reception with less than five minutes to play lifted the Methodist football team to a wild, 51-50, win over Greensboro at Jamieson Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
 
Radke's reception capped a wild day of scoring and turned a 50-44 deficit into a 51-50 lead with 4:53 to play as MU (6-2, 4-1 USA South) won its sixth game of the season, its most since going 8-2 in 2005.
 
The two teams combined for 1,174 yards of total offense and punted just three times combined. Greensboro's (2-7, 1-5) Dexter Russell set a USA South Conference record with 23 receptions, which went for 309 yards and included three touchdowns, and GC's Ryan Throndset set league records in pass attempts (70), completions (47), and passing touchdowns (6), while finishing with 575 yards through the air.

For the Monarchs, quarterback Max Reber was 30-of-45 for 378 yards and four touchdowns and set new single-season records in passes attempted (279), passes completed (182), and passing yards (2,579), and is now Methodist's career leader in passes attempted (735), passes completed (426), passing yards (5,755) and touchdown passes (47).
 
The Pride took the opening kickoff and marched 78 yards in five plays and took a 7-0 lead when Throndset hooked up with Russell from six yards out just 2:42 into the game. Methodist answered right back as Max Reber capped an 11-play, 51-yard drive with an eight-yard pass to Vaughn Cross to make it 7-6 as Cody Ausherman's PAT was unsuccessful.
 
Late in the first quarter, MU took a 13-7 lead as Reber found Cross once again, this time from 28-yards out and on 3rd-and-16, with 2:13 in the left in the period. That play capped a marathon, 11-play, 98-yard drive that came after MU blocked a short GC field-goal attempt. Greensboro responded with a 60-yard drive that used up 4:31 of clock and culminated in a Throndset-to-Russell 13-yard scoring strike to give the home team a 14-13 edge at the 12:34 mark of the second quarter.
 
Darius Page put MU on top, 20-14, with a two-yard run at the 10:17 mark of the second quarter and Warren Scott added a two-yard run for Greensboro to push the Pride back on top, 21-20, with 5:05 left in the stanza. Marqueis Hall gave Methodist a 27-21 lead at the break when plunged in from two yards out just 2:58 before the break.
 
In the second half, the see-saw battle continued as Throndset tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Justin Dukes, including a 52-yard scoring strike, to put the Pride back on top, 35-27, at the 7:00 mark of the third quarter.
 
Methodist answered with a one-yard touchdown run by Reber and an Ausherman 31-yard field goal to pull reclaim the lead, 37-35, with 2:08 left in the third.
 
Greensboro opened the scoring in the fourth quarter as Throndset hooked up with Tripp Honeycutt from 10 yards out to take a 42-37 lead with 11:52 to play. It took MU less than a minute to answer, as 58 seconds later Cross hauled in his third touchdown catch of the day, this one from 35 yards out to once again put the Monarchs up two, 44-42.
 
Throndset tossed his sixth touchdown pass of the day, and third to Russell, when the duo connected on a 10-yard score for a 48-44 advantage with 6:57 left in the contest. Throndset pushed the GC lead to 50-44 when his two-point conversion pass to Russell was good.
 
On Methodist's ensuing possession, the Monarchs marched 75 yards in eight plays and regained the lead for good, 51-50, when Reber found Radke for the game-clinching score. Greensboro appeared to be in position to retake the lead after MU was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty prior to the ensuing kickoff.
 
A 38-yard kickoff return by Raymond Bridges set up the Pride with 1st-and-10 from MU's 42 yard line and 4:46 to play. After Greensboro converted on a 4th-and-1 play to earn a new set of downs at the MU 32 yard line, the Monarchs forced three straight incompletions from Throndset and got the ball back on downs at their own 27 yard line and ran out the final 1:28 on the clock to seal the win.

Cross finished with 147 yards receiving on 11 grabs with the three touchdowns. Radke added a career-best 110 yards on six catches.
 
Defensively, D.J. Payne racked up a game-high 13 tackles (10 solo) to lead the Monarchs. Marlon Thomas added seven stops, all solo, including 2.0 tackles for loss and a quarterback sack.
 
Warren Scott rushed for a team-high 26 yards on 17 carries as MU held Greensboro to just 36 net yards on the ground. Dukes finished with 93 yards on five receptions, including the two touchdowns, to supplement Russell's record-setting day.
 
De'Vante Hender led GC's defense with nine total tackles and Sam Parker chipped in six stops, including 2.0 for loss.
 
Methodist is on the road next week at Huntingdon beginning at 1:00 pm.