FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Emontie Dears ran for 113 yards and one touchdown and scored the game-winning touchdown on a 13-yard reception with 29 seconds remaining to lift the Methodist football team to a 31-28 Homecoming win over N.C. Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon at Monarch Stadium.

Dears averaged 9.4 yards on 12 carries, scoring on a 62-yard run in the first quarter, but it was his 13-yard reception out of the backfield in the game's waning moments that propelled MU to victory. The Monarchs (3-3, 1-2 USA South) had seen N.C. Wesleyan (1-5, 1-2 USA South) take a 28-24 lead on Ty Roberts' 52-yard touchdown reception with 1:51 to play before covering 70 yards in eight plays and 1:17 to earn the win.

After Roberts' go-ahead score, the Monarchs took possession at their own 30-yard line following a 20-yard kickoff return by Justin Martin. Following two incomplete passes by Dylan DeGroot, Dedric Bowman hauled in a 24-yard pass on 3rd-and-10 to give MU a new set of downs near midfield with under 1:30 to play. A three-yard sack was followed by a pass interference penalty on the Battling Bishops that moved Methodist to the NCWC 34-yard line with: 54 to play.
 
Two more incomplete passes had the Monarchs facing 3rd-and-10 with :42 left, but DeGroot found Bowman again, this time for a gain of 21 yards to the Bishops' 13-yard line before calling timeout with :35 to play.
 
On the first play out of the timeout, DeGroot hit Dears on a swing pass on the right sideline, and he made his way to the end zone for the winning score.
 
With :22 to play, N.C. Wesleyan's Dustin Midgett threw an incompletion on first down, was sacked by J.D. Stalvey on second down, and threw incomplete on third down. With eight seconds to play, Midgett ran for a gain of 12 on the game's final play as MU improved to 7-6 all-time versus the Bishops.
 
For the game, MU outgained NCWC, 471-426, and forced four turnovers (2 INT, 2 FUM) while sacking Midgett four times.
 
N.C. Wesleyan opened the scoring at the 12:20 mark of the first half, needing just 2:40 to cover 85 yards, capped by Ben Dorfman's 22-yard touchdown reception. Methodist scored the next 14 points, including Dears' 62-yard scamper and a one-yard plunge by DeGroot to take a 14-7 lead with less than 5:00 to play in the first quarter.
 
The Bishops tied the game at 14-14 :34 into the second period on Antonio Owens' two-yard run, but E'Mond Brown answered with a one-yard score and Brandon Torres' extra point made it 21-14 midway through the second quarter.
 
Midgett threw a five-yard touchdown pass to John Young at the 7:07 mark of the third quarter that made it 21-21.

In the fourth quarter, Torres, who had missed from 40 and 33 yards previously, nailed a 42-yard field goal to push the Monarchs into a 24-21 lead with 13:56 left on the clock that set up the game's frantic final minutes.
 
DeGroot finished 13-of-29 passing for 257 yards with one interception and one touchdown. Bowman had 104 yards receiving on five grabs to lead the receivers. Led by Dears' 113 yards, the Monarchs racked up 214 yards on the ground. Brown added 73 yards on 22 carries with a score.
 
Defensively, Bryan Bing had 11 tackles, and Shyheim Simpson added eight with a fumble recovery. Mark Stanford had six tackles and a forced fumble, and Kyle Colborn chipped in six tackles and an interception that he returned 31 yards to set up Brown's touchdown. James Choyce also had an interception, Stalvey finished with 1.5 sacks, and Zayd Stivender had four tackles (2.0 for loss) a sack and a fumble recovery.
 
Midgett completed 15-of-27 passes for 320 yards with three touchdowns and a pair of picks. The Bishops were limited to 106 yards on the ground, led by Gerrel Patton's 47 yards on eight carries. Slade Dale led all players with 127 yards receiving on five catches, while Malik Adams had 61 yards on four catches.
 
Kenyon Johnson led NCWC with eight tackles, including 2.0 for loss. Jeffery Clayton, Jaylon Johnson and Jeffery Person all had seven tackles. Clayton had 3.0 tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
 
Methodist is on the road next week at Huntingdon beginning at 1:00 pm.
 
 
 
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