Skip To Main Content

Methodist University Athletics

The Official Athletics Site of The Methodist University monarchs Methodist University monarchs
FBvHuntingdon Howard TD run
34
Huntingdon HUNT 0-3 , 0-1
48
Winner Methodist University MU 1-2 , 1-0
Huntingdon HUNT
0-3 , 0-1
34
Final
48
Methodist University MU
1-2 , 1-0
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
HUNT Huntingdon 7 0 6 21 34
MU Methodist University 7 13 14 14 48

Game Recap: Football |

Rushing records, but more importantly, Monarchs taste victory

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.  Behind a record-setting performance of 248 rushing yards by the Monarchs' Vontre Howard, Methodist broke a 24-year old team rushing record with 469 yards and defeated Huntingdon in an impressive 48-34 win Saturday at Monarch Stadium in the USA South conference opener for both teams.

Howard had two touchdowns and 248 rushing yards on 20 carries, including a game-defining 95-yard touchdown. He broke the program's 19-year-old single-game rushing record set by Greg McDonald in 1999.

As a team, the Monarchs broke the single-game team rushing record of 461 yards set back in 1994. Nick Baker had 142 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries and Steve Keoni added 64 yards on seven carries. Even wide receiver Josh Carter joined in the fun in the ground game with 18 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on three runs.

HOW IT HAPPENED
  • The Monarchs offense set the tone early by getting on the board first with a 22-yard touchdown from Howard to score on their second offensive possession. Up 13-7 late in the second quarter, Steve Keoni and Methodist artfully put together a two-minute drive to race down the field and score a third touchdown with 17 seconds left before halftime.
  • The Methodist defense showed up as well. With the score at 20-7, the Hawks were driving and in the red zone when Nate Jones snared an interception near the goal line.
  • The next play after the Jones interception, Howard delivered a dagger to Huntingdon in the form of a 95-yard touchdown as he outraced every defender into the endzone. A potential 20-13 deficit for the Hawks was 27-7 in the matters of seconds.
  • After Howard's 95-yard touchdown, Nick Baker had a bruising 66-yard touchdown when he broke numerous tackles and galloped through the middle of the field.
  • It was too little, too late for the Hawks whose offense finally came alive late in the second half. Hawks quarterback Michael Lambert tossed three touchdowns in the fourth quarter after adding a touchdown with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
  • To counter a late Huntingdon rally, the Monarchs' Carter scored a receiving and rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter. He pulled in a 38-yard touchdown strike from Keoni and ran in a touchdown from the one-yard line from the Wildcat formation. Josh Carter was a force to be reckoned with also, as he had a game-high nine receptions for 139 yards and a receiving touchdown.
  • Julian Cupo led the Monarchs with seven total tackles and Justin Santiago led the team with five solo tackles and two tackles for a loss.

BEYOND THE STATS
  • In the last three years, Huntingdon has lost only once in conference play, going 20-1 as they won three consecutive USA South titles. Methodist drops Huntingdon to 20-2.
  • Methodist earned their first win against Huntingdon since an overtime victory in 2014.
  • The Monarchs also even up the series record against Huntingdon at 3-3.
  • Methodist exacted revenge for a 55-7 shellacking at the hands of the Hawks last season. In that game, the offense gained 242 total yards. This season they nearly tripled that number with 641 total yards.
  • Until this game, you would have to go all the way back to 2015 to find the last time Methodist scored over 45 points in a game.
  • This is a much-improved offense for Methodist. After scoring more than 30 points only twice all of last season, this Monarchs' offense has topped that mark in all three of their games this year.
  • The last time Huntingdon started the season 0-3 was the 2004 season. Huntingdon started 0-4 before finishing the season 4-5.

A HAWK'S EYE
  • Lambert was 16-of-32 with 251 yards passing, 4 touchdowns, and an interception. He also added 34 rushing yards.
  • Eric Thomas had 95 yards rushing on 13 carries.
  • Jamal Howard made every catch count. He had two receptions and two touchdowns with 56 receiving yards.
  • Trey Hayes had a game-high 12 total tackles and also one tackle for a loss.

UP NEXT
  • Methodist travels to Brevard, N.C., to take on Brevard College (0-3) for a conference game on Saturday, October 6.
  • Huntingdon looks to earn their first victory of the season when they go on the road to play the 1-2 Maryville (Tenn.) Fighting Scots.
    
Print Friendly Version