North Carolina Wesleyan dissipated a Tornado warning. Guilford came within inches of an acrobatic game-tying touchdown at the buzzer. Greensboro simply ran into a buzzsaw.
Those were highlights involving Division III college football in the Old North State this past weekend. Only North Carolina Wesleyan emerged victorious in the penultimate week of the regular season.
Here are scores, recaps and top performers from the weekend that was:
D3 Scoreboard | Nov. 9
- North Carolina Wesleyan 30, Brevard 24
- Averett 28, Guilford 21
- Maryville 47, Greensboro 7
- Methodist – bye
Battling Bishops subdue Brevard in final quarter
Brevard came into Saturday’s in-state showdown at North Carolina Wesleyan still hoping for a shot at the USA South Conference title. The Battling Bishops derailed those hopes, kicking two field goals in the fourth quarter and stalling a pair of Brevard drives that could have tied the game or given the Tornados the lead.
Brevard’s final series marched as deep as the NC Wesleyan 11 with just over a minute to play. But Kam McDowell sacked Tornados quarterback Ethan Beamish, then Botise Manuel made a stop on a fourth-down play well short of the sticks, giving the ball back to the Bishops, who ran out the clock.
Anthony Byrd had two second-half touchdowns from short yardage for NC Wesleyan. Javier Rice found the end zone from 15 yards away right before halftime. Braxtyn Green hit a trio of field goals, including two on back-to-back possessions midway through the fourth that made the score 30-24.
Beamish did have three touchdown passes in the losing cause. Favorite target Zackary Orr hauled in two of the scoring strikes, while Reggie Taylor II had the other. Hugo Taylor hit a field goal for the Tornados.
Saturday’s result leaves Brevard 5-3 overall and 5-2 in conference heading into Saturday’s season finale at Kentucky Christian. North Carolina Wesleyan improved to 4-5, 4-3.
Maryville clinches USA South with win over Greensboro
Bryson Rollins threw for 317 yards and three touchdowns, and Maryville defeated Greensboro 47-7 in the Pride’s final home game. With the win, and Brevard’s loss, the Scots (7-1, 6-0) clinched the USA South Conference title. Greensboro dropped to 1-8, 1-6.
The Pride kept Maryville off the scoreboard through one quarter, but the Scots notched 37 points in the middle periods to pull away. Ja’Shawn Harris recorded Greensboro’s lone touchdown, taking a screen pass from Josh Sims for a 42-yard score.
Maryville has the top rushing defense in the league. Tareek Smith, a breakout running back for Greensboro (140 yards in week 10), only managed 30 yards on Saturday. As a team, Greensboro finished with 23 yards on 27 attempts.
Max Steele made seven tackles for the Pride, putting him four stops away from the school’s all-time tackles record, currently held by Allen Stallings. Steele will have one more chance to reach the record. Greensboro will close the season Saturday at Huntingdon.
Guilford’s potential game-tying TD ruled out of bounds in final seconds
Guilford College moved to the Averett 5 in the final seconds Saturday, needing a touchdown and PAT to tie the game. The Quakers thought they had it when Caleb Robles rolled out and sent a looping pass to Tegan Griggs in the back of the end zone.
Griggs made the grab but was ruled just out of bounds, and the clock expired with Guilford on the short end of another conference defeat. The Quakers dropped to 3-6 overall, 0-6 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference with one game to play. Averett improved to 3-6, 1-5.
Griggs did earn a touchdown in the first quarter, catching a 10-yard strike from Robles. Malik Woodard added a TD in the second period on an 11-yard run. JuJu Rice tied the game 21-21 with 4:12 left, hauling in a 13-yard touchdown throw from Robles.
Averett completed a 40-yard pass on the first play after Rice’s score. Three plays later, Jayden Williams went over from the 3 to put the Cougars in front for good. Despite moving from their own 21 to the Averett 5 in the final 1:44, the Quakers couldn’t quite get a foot inbounds in the end zone on the final play.
Top Performers
Braxtyn Green (North Carolina Wesleyan): Recorded 12 “kicker points” against Brevard, booting field goals of 25, 19 and 43 yards and hitting 3-3 extra points.
Anthony Byrd (North Carolina Wesleyan): Led our D3 contingent in rushing yards this week, with 161 on 26 carries, with two touchdowns. He averaged 6.2 yards per attempt and hit the 100-yard plateau for the seventh time.
Ethan Beamish (Brevard): Completed 19 passes for 277 yards and three touchdowns, without an interception, at North Carolina Wesleyan.
Malik Hargrove (Guilford): Recorded nine tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss to lead the Quakers’ defense at Averett.
The Numbers Game
3 – Interceptions by Guilford (Brandon Howell, Jaylen Moore and Jalen Graves) in the tough loss to Averett.
3 – Successful field goals and successful extra points by North Carolina Wesleyan’s Braxtyn Green in the win over Brevard, including two in the fourth quarter
3 – Wins in a row for North Carolina Wesleyan after starting the season 1-5. The Battling Bishops can get to .500 in their season finale but will have to defeat conference champion Maryville on the road to reach the five-game milestone.
