Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
After jumping out to a 28-6 halftime lead the No. 25 Centre College football team remained undefeated by finishing with a 35-26 win over Hendrix College on Saturday, Nov. 1 in Conway, Ark.
With the win, the Colonels are now 8-0 for the first time since the 1955 season, and move to 4-0 in the Southern Athletic Association (SAA).
The Colonels struck first with a 14-play, 81-yard drive capped off by a 14-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Nolan Coulter (Knoxville, Tenn.).
The Warriors kicked a field goal later in the first quarter to make it 7-3, but senior quarterbackHeath Haden (Kingsport, Tenn.) hit sophomore receiver Max Mazza (Cincinnati, Ohio) for a 55-yard scoring strike early in the second to stretch the lead to 14-3.
Hendrix added a second field goal in the second quarter to cut the lead to 14-6, only to see the Colonels add a pair of touchdowns prior to the end of the half and take a 28-6 lead at the break.
Sophomore running back Amoh Kumengisa (Lexington, Ky.) crossed the goal line from three-yards out for his second rushing touchdown of the season, and Haden found Mazza again, this time for a 14-yard touchdown pass with less than two minutes left in the opening half.
With just under a minute to play in the third quarter, Hendrix scored its first touchdown of the game on a 10-yard run, and then added its second early in the fourth on a 52-yard touchdown pass to pull within 28-20.
Centre answered with a nine-play, 65-yard drive and another Haden to Mazza touchdown pass to make it a 35-20.
The Warriors (5-3 overall and 2-2 SAA) cut the lead to 35-26 with 4:24 left in the game, but would not get the ball again as the Colonels were able to gain three first downs and run out the clock.
The two teams combined for 993 total offensive yards and there was only a 28-second difference in time of possession.
Coulter and Mazza had huge days offensively for Centre. Coulter ran for a career-high 186 yards on 33 carries (5.6 avg.) to put him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season, while Mazza caught a career-high 11 passes for 156 yards. Haden threw for 201 yards and rushed for another 59 yards.
Defensively, safety Alex Mattingly (Louisville, Ky.) led the way with 11 total tackles. Senior Selwyn Mallah (Lawrenceburg, Ky.) and junior linebackers Nate Letton (Lexington, Ky.) and Nick Dietz(Cincinnati, Ohio) added eight tackles each.
The Colonels will next host Millsaps College Saturday, Nov. 8 at Farris Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.