Football | 9/28/2013 5:36:00 PM

Box Score MARYVILLE, Tenn. -- The Methodist football team fell behind 28-10 at halftime and wound up dropping a 35-26 contest at Maryville College on Saturday afternoon at Honaker Field.
 
After MU (2-2, 0-1 USA South) took a 10-7 lead on a Cody Ausherman 22-yard field goal with 4:42 left in the first quarter, Maryville (3-1, 1-0 USA South) scored three straight touchdowns, including Evan Pittenger's 31-yard touchdown pass to Ed Johnson with nine seconds remaining in the first half to help the Scots to an 18-point edge at the break.
 
Immediately following Ausherman's go-ahead field goal, the Scots marched 75 yards in seven plays before Travis Felder scored on a four-yard rush to go up 14-10. MC made it 21-10 on a Pittenger plunge from three yards out early in the second quarter.
 
In the second half, Methodist opened the scoring on Jordan Vann's one-yard run with 1:36 left in the period to cut the deficit to 28-16 after a failed PAT. The Monarchs inched to within five points (28-23) on a four-yard scoring run by Marquies Hall just 49 seconds into the final period.
 
Methodist's rally continued as it found itself trailing by two after Ausherman's second field goal of the game, a 40-yarder, that made it a 28-26 game in favor of Maryville. However, Pittenger hooked up with Johnson again, this time from 13 yards out to take a 35-26 lead with just under five minutes to play in the contest. Any hope of an MU comeback was snuffed out when the Monarchs fumbled on their ensuing possession after advancing the ball in MC territory.
 
For the game, the Monarchs outgained Maryville, 486-470, including 373-269 through the air, but MU put the ball on the ground five times, turning it over twice, while Maryville did not turn the ball over once.
 
Max Reber completed 26-of-41 passes for 373 yards to lead Methodist. Vaughn Cross had 153 yards receiving on eight receptions and Blake Scott added a career-best 126 yards on six receptions. Hall led MU on the ground, gaining 76 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown.
 
Defensively, Methodist was led by Navahri Holden, who had 14 total tackles, including 1.5 for loss (-7). James Atkinson added 11 tackles and LeTovis chipped in nine stops, including six solo stops.
 
Pittenger finished 22-of-35 passing for 269 yards with a pair of touchdowns. He also gained a game-high 115 yards on the ground with on touchdown. Blake Williams led the MC receiving corps with 122 yards on six catches and Johnson gained 95 yards on eight receptions with a pair of scores.
 
Dylan Wolfenbarger paced the Scot defense with 16 tackles. Zack Brown had 11 tackles and a fumble recovery while Jamie Owen chipped in eight tackles and a pair of quarterback sacks.
 
The Monarchs return home next Saturday to host Christopher Newport at 1:00 pm.