Maryville Smothers Three Methodist Punts, One PAT in 48-6 Triumph
MARYVILLE – Not even a mid-game rain shower could spoil the block party Maryville threw Saturday during its Homecoming football game against Methodist.
The Scots blocked three Monarch punts and returned two for easy touchdowns in a 48-6 thumping before a huge crowd at Honaker Field/Lloyd Thornton Stadium. Maryville improved to 5-1 overall and stayed alone in first place in the USA South at 4-0.
Maryville's ball-hawking defense intercepted three passes, two of which set up short TD drives and a third that ended the game. On offense, Maryville rushed 40 times for a season-high 254 yards. That is the most since the Scots rushed for 315 to open the 2023 season at Sewanee.
"This was a total team effort," Maryville head coach Ben Fox said. "Really happy for our guys and happy for our college, our community, our people. There was an impressive crowd. There were a lot of people there after the rain; there were a ton of people there before the rain.
"It was an incredible atmosphere. I know there were a lot of recruits who were really impressed with what was going on and what we have to offer as a program."
Special Teams Praise
Those alumni, fans and potential future student-athletes saw Tyler Barrett block two punts that were returned for touchdowns: a 1-yard run-in by Kemmanuel Liggett in the second quarter and a 2-yard catch and run to pay dirt by Brock Skelton early in the third. Barrett later intercepted a tipped ball in the end zone to keep Methodist in single digits.
He led the Scots with 68 all-purpose yards.
Seth Carter blocked a punt in the third quarter, intercepted a pass that set up a one-play touchdown drive and tied for the team lead with five tackles. Garrett Swinea's 6-yard run was the one-play drive that made it 34-6 Maryville in the third.
"I can't say enough about our special teams units," Fox said. "We had two punts blocked for touchdowns and another block that gave us a short field. The defense had three interceptions, two that gave us really short fields.
"Methodist did some stuff structurally on defense to try to take away our passing game, and they wanted us to run the ball. I was glad our guys could answer that bell and run the ball and be physical and break off runs and tackles."
Longer Run Than Pass
How different was this day for the Maryville offense? The longest Bryson Rollins run was six yards farther than his longest pass completion.
Rollins scrambled for a 46-yard touchdown that put the Scots in front 14-6 in the second quarter. His longest pass play went for 40 yards to Steph Carter Jr., who finished with three catches for 66 yards. Zae Richardson caught the only Rollins TD toss of 23 yards in the third quarter.
The Scots finished with four rushing touchdowns for the first time since 2022. Teddy Orton scampered 22 yards on an end-around to get the scoring started, and Jermaine Abner carried 18 yards up the middle to cap the scoring.
Bryson Claiborne had game-rushing honors with 66 yards on 14 carries. Rollins added 61 yards on the ground, Swinea 47, Abner 37 and Orton and Mac McCovery IV 22 yards apiece.
Rollins, through the air, was 9-of-16 for 152 yards and had one touchdown against zero interceptions. In addition to Carter, Nick Dagel caught three for 47 yards.
Defensive Leaders
Joining Carter with five tackles were Kial Cottingham, Justin King and Devon White. Jordan Lacey had a 13-yard sack and forced a fumble, while Jacob Berven and Aaron Meadows both contributed 3-yard sacks. It appeared Meadows blocked a Methodist PAT in the first half – coaches will have to confirm. Peyton Cooper had his first career interception, which he returned 14 yards.
Maryville entered Saturday's action leading the country in pass efficiency defense (83.3 rating) and ranking second nationally in total defense (187.0 yards pg). Methodist gained 225 yards against the Scots, lifting the Maryville total defense average to 193.3. But the Monarchs were not very efficient throwing the ball, going 23-of-43 for 170 yards and three interceptions.
Maryville's pass efficiency rating dropped to 80.99.
Maryville at 4-0 leads Brevard at 4-1 and LaGrange 4-1 in the race for the USA South title. Brevard on Saturday rallied past Huntingdon 25-21, while LaGrange was too much for Greensboro 52-16.
Next Saturday, Maryville travels to Mississippi for a game against Belhaven. The Blazers had an open week and are 3-4 overall, 3-2 in the USA South.
Kickoff is 1 p.m.
"Yeah, next week, we've got another championship game," Fox said. "Every week we play the championship game, so we are excited to play another one next week."
