D3 Football: Brevard races past Methodist, NC Wesleyan clips Greensboro

Brevard’s Zackary Orr launched the day with a 90-yard return for a touchdown on the opening kickoff. North Carolina Wesleyan’s Braxtyn Green finished things off with a clutch field goal late in the fourth quarter.

The dynamic duo provided two of the biggest highlights in D3 football across the Old North State on Saturday afternoon. Brevard rolled to an easy victory over Methodist at home, while NC Wesleyan nipped Greensboro on the road in a pair of USA South Athletic Conference in-state clashes.

Meanwhile, Guilford lost in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action to Ferrum.

D3 Football Scoreboard

• Brevard 44, Methodist 21
• North Carolina Wesleyan 23, Greensboro 21
• Ferrum 20, Guilford 7

Brevard Tornados unleash F5 football damage in first half

Brevard buried the visiting Monarchs with a 41-point first-half outburst. The Tornados improved to 5-2 overall and 5-1 in the USA South — still in the thick of the title chase.

Ethan Beamish diced up the Methodist defense, finishing 21-of-29 for 299 yards and five touchdowns. Chancellor Lee-Parker provided another 133 yards on the ground, averaging 7.8 yards per attempt.

In addition to the 90-yard kickoff return, Orr caught two of Beamish’s TD throws covering 25 and 24 yards. Reggie Taylor also hauled in two touchdown receptions, one from 59 yards and the other from 8.

Brevard’s other points came courtesy of a 10-yard Beamish-to-Ian Castellanos touchdown early in the first period and a 24-yard field goal from Hugo Taylor.

Methodist cracked the scoreboard with 6:34 left in the second period when Ja’Lon Miller hit Jaelan Pile for a 71-yard touchdown. Miller and Sajari Love connected on touchdown plays of 2 and 16 yards in the fourth quarter for the final margin.

Brevard recorded nine tackles-for-loss. Trey Williams, Ernest Smith II, Robert Dorsey and Justice Redmon led the defensive effort. Redmon’s forced fumble, which resulted in a touchback, kept Methodist from adding to its tally.

Battling Bishops Tame Pride For Third Conference Win

Anthony Byrd rushed for 136 yards and earned touchdowns on runs of 25 and 5 yards to lift North Carolina Wesleyan past its in-state conference rival. NC Wesleyan improved to 3-5 overall and 3-3 in USA South play. Greensboro dropped to 1-7, 1-5.

The game went back and forth. Byrd’s second TD late in the third quarter gave the Battling Bishops a 20-14 edge.

But Greensboro’s Ja’Shawn Harris returned the kickoff 92 yards, and Thomas Chapman’s PAT put the host Pride back on top 21-20.

With 7:26 to go in the fourth quarter, Chapman pinned NC Wesleyan at its own 1 with a 42-yard punt. But the Battling Bishops battled out of the hole and moved to the Greensboro 18. Braxtyn Green, who had a field goal blocked earlier in the period, booted a 31-yarder with 3:33 left for what would be the winning points.

Greensboro made it inside NC Wesleyan territory on the ensuing possession but fumbled after an 11-yard run at the 33, and Andrew Brown recovered for the Bishops to preserve the victory.

Christian Drumgoole caught a touchdown pass from Chaz Hirschman to start the NC Wesleyan scoring in the first period. Josh Sims gave Greensboro a 7-6 lead with a 6-yard TD throw to Wes Kidd in the second. Tareek Smith, who rushed for 140 yards on the day, scored a touchdown with a 1-yard plunge for the Pride.

Eric Cooper and Botise Manuel had 10 tackles each for NCW. Greensboro’s defense was led by JaJuan Givens and Max Steele, who had eight tackles each.

Guilford struggles to move ball, stop Ferrum RB

Jahylen Lee rushed for 211 yards and scored a touchdown, helping Ferrum hand Guilford its fifth straight loss. The Quakers managed just 225 total yards, dropping to 3-5 overall and 0-5 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference play.

Caleb Robles had Guilford’s lone touchdown, scoring from two yards out midway through the second quarter. That play drew the Quakers to within 10-7, but Ferrum held Guilford off the board the rest of the way.

Guilford threw an interception, lost a fumble and committed 11 penalties for 100 yards.

Malik Hargrove had a solid defensive game for the Quakers, notching 13 tackles and 3.5 tackles-for-loss, resulting in 17 minus yards. Devin Chavis added seven stops and 2 tackles-for-loss.

Three Stars of the Day

Ethan Beamish (Brevard): Completed 21-of-29 passes for 299 yards and five first-half touchdowns to lead the Tornados past Methodist.

Zackary Orr (Brevard): Returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and added a pair of TD receptions. Orr finished with 174 all-purpose yards.

Anthony Byrd (North Carolina Wesleyan): Recorded his sixth 100-yard rushing effort of the season, finishing with 136 and two touchdowns in the Battling Bishops’ comeback win.

By The Numbers

4,378 – Career passing yards for Brevard quarterback Ethan Beamish, setting a new school record. Beamish has played in 17 games for Brevard and assumes the new career mark from former BC standout Dalton Cole.

4 – Times Brevard football has scored 40+ points in a game this season.

2 – Fourth-quarter, game-winning field goals for Braxtyn Green of North Carolina Wesleyan the past two weeks. After lifting the Bishops past Southern Virginia on Oct. 26, Green hit a 31-yarder for the win against Greensboro.

Looking Ahead:

This week’s D3 winners will play each other on Nov. 9, with Brevard traveling to North Carolina Wesleyan for a noon kickoff. Greensboro hosts Maryville, Guilford visits Averett and Methodist will be on a bye.