Death. Taxes. UNC Pembroke football winning on homecoming.
OK, so it’s not quite that inevitable, but the Braves did capture their 11th straight homecoming victory Saturday afternoon, defeating Chowan 38-21 in a pivotal Conference Carolinas matchup that reshaped the league standings.
UNCP quarterback Josh Ehrlich threw three touchdown passes and rushed for another score. Malik Brown caught two TD throws. After a back-and-forth opening half, the Braves outscored the Hawks 21-7 to close out the win.
UNC Pembroke improved to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play. Chowan suffered its first Conference Carolinas defeat, falling to 4-4, 3-1.
Saturday’s league results, which also included a North Greenville win over Barton and a Ferrum victory over Erskine, left four teams with one conference loss at the top of the standings.
Reigning champ North Greenville also is 4-1, its lone loss coming to Chowan. Ferrum joins Chowan at 3-1. There are two weeks left in the regular season. The top two teams when all the dust settles will meet in the Conference Carolinas Bowl on Nov. 14.
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UNC Pembroke has won three straight since a narrow 42-41 loss to North Greenville at home on Oct. 3. The Braves have outscored their last three foes – Erskine, Barton and Chowan – by a 141-24 margin.
Chowan, one of our state’s most improved small-college teams this season, showed why it belongs in the conference conversation in the opening half Saturday. Tyler Adkins threw touchdown passes to Dezmond Randolph (39-yard catch-and-run) and James Williams (25 yards), and the Hawks grabbed a 14-10 lead in the second quarter.
UNCP jumped back ahead right before the break, with Ehrlich hitting Brown for an 8-yard touchdown with only eight seconds on the clock. That made the score 17-14 in favor of the home team.
UNC Pembroke extended the lead to 24-14 on its first possession of the third quarter when Ehrlich completed a 53-yard TD pass to Jonathan Barnett. But credit Chowan for hanging in and battling back. Adkins completed his third touchdown pass of the day, finding Amir Alexander from 16 yards out. That made it 24-21 Braves.
Chowan, trailing 31-21 midway through the fourth quarter, had a chance to pull back within seven points. But a 41-yard field-goal attempt went awry on a bad snap, turning the ball back over the Braves. That ultimately was the backbreaker, and the Hawks didn’t really threaten again.
Ehrlich put a final stamp on the game, breaking away for a 44-yard touchdown run through the middle of the defense with 1:39 to play. Ehrlich led all rushers with 136 yards on 20 attempts.
UNCP vs. Chowan Stats and Notables
- Josh Ehrlich (UNCP): Completed 18-of-21 throws for 229 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for 164 yards before yardage from three sacks brought his net rushing to 136.
- Tyler Adkins (Chowan): Completed 19-of-27 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns. He also did not have an interception. Adkins was sacked four times.
- Chowan managed just 54 yards rushing as a team. Lane Roberts (38 yards) led the way.
- Dezmond Randolph (Chowan) caught five passes from Adkins for 93 yards. Teammate Amir Alexander also had five grabs for 62 yards.
- Ehrlich completed passes to eight different teammates. Jonathan Barnett made three catches for 69 yards and a touchdown. Malik Brown finished with four catches for 49 yards and two scores.
- Tayshawn Benson (Chowan) had a monster defensive game, recording two sacks, four tackles-for-loss and seven total stops. Teammates Cameron Richardson and Darian Whitaker each had nine tackles and one TFL.
- Fred Giles and Laden Ford each had two tackles-for-loss for UNCP. Giles was credited with 1.5 sacks, as was Isi Etute. TaShawn Jeter and Jadin Baptist led the Braves in tackles with seven apiece.
- Myles Hudson (UNCP) returned a fumble recovery 13 yards.
- Jared Navidad (UNCP) made all five PAT attempts.
- UNC Pembroke outrushed Chowan 208-55 and outgained the Hawks overall 437-281. Both teams earned 22 first downs.
- The Braves were flagged 13 times for 113 yards.
- UNC Pembroke won for the 11th time in a row on homecoming and is now 17-2 all-time in homecoming games.
- The Braves improved to 4-0 all-time against Chowan, winning for the second time at home.
What’s Next?
The race to make the Conference Carolinas Bowl is still too close to call at this point. Four teams, including UNCP and Chowan, remain in the mix. The highest seed will host the league title game Nov. 14, with the champion earning an automatic berth to D2 playoffs.
Here is the remaining regular season schedule for the league:
Saturday, Oct. 31 Games
UNC Pembroke bye
Chowan at Ferrum
Erskine at North Greenville
Barton at Shorter
Saturday, Nov. 7 Games
UNC Pembroke at Ferrum
Shorter at Chowan
North Greenville at Valdosta State (non-conference)
Barton at Erskine
👉 View the latest Conference Carolinas standings
