Don’t look now, North Carolina Wesleyan football is figuring things out.
The Battling Bishops, who started the season 0-4, won for the third time in a row this past Saturday, topping Southern Virginia 34-7 at home.
Anthony Byrd rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Myles Martin added 91 rushing yards and another score. Braxtyn Green booted field goals from 51 and 46 yards to compliment the Bishops’ most dominating performance of the season. Green’s 51-yarder broke a school record for longest field goal.
After scoring just 35 points in its first four games, NC Wesleyan has scored 35, 34 and 34 in its last three to improve to 3-1 in USA South Conference play. The Battling Bishops trail only Belhaven and Brevard in the league standings.
Zachary Marquis threw for 142 yards and completed a 37-yard touchdown pass to Christian Drumgoole in the second quarter.
NC Wesleyan outrushed Southern Virginia 219-77. Four different players — Jaydon Denmark, Wilson McMinn, Sevion Brown and Nasir Spriggs — recorded sacks. Wilson’s quarterback wrangle resulted in a 10-yard loss.
The Bishops kept the shutout intact until the final minute when Southern Virginia’s Isaiah Maxey completed a 66-yard TD throw to Isaac McMullin.
NC Wesleyan remains No. 2 in our Best In State Division III power rankings, putting some pressure on No. 1 Brevard (4-3) for the top spot. Brevard did not play this past weekend.
The Bishops and Tornados do not play each other this season. NC Wesleyan travels to Methodist this Saturday at 6 p.m.
In other action involving D3 schools from North Carolina this weekend:
Huntingdon 56, Greensboro 8
Michael Forney returned a fumble for a touchdown in the fourth quarter for the Pride’s only points. Greensboro dropped to 0-8 on the season, 0-5 in the USA South Conference.
Greensboro only managed 133 total yards. Huntingdon improved to 5-2 overall.
Max Steele (13 tackles), Tyler Alston (12 tackles) and William Paithorpe (10 tackles) paced the Pride’s defense.
Greensboro will look to get rid of the goose egg in the win column this week, visiting Southern Virginia (1-6)
Belhaven 45, Methodist 10
The Monarchs (1-6, 1-3 USA South) struggled to score on the road in Mississippi on Saturday afternoon. Belhaven improved to 7-0, 5-0 in league play.
Methodist’s points came on a 6-yard touchdown throw from Chase Carroll to Mikhail Baldwin in the fourth quarter and an 18-yard field goal from Samuel Andrae in the second period.
Belhaven’s Kolbe Blunt rushed for three touchdowns.
Ferrum 28, Guilford 0
The Quakers drove to the Ferrum 20 on their first possession, but an 11-yard sack sent them backwards and a field goal was missed. Guilford never really had a scoring chance again the rest of the game.
Ferrum dominated time of possession, and Guilford only had the ball for roughly 23 minutes.
Nick Iannone (11 tackles) and Brett Shreve (10 tackles) led the Guilford defense. Burke Nettles averaged 40 yards on five punts, putting two inside the Ferrum 20-yard line.
The Quakers, who have now lost four straight, will host Hampden-Sydney on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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Best In State Division III Power Rankings
