SEWANEE, Tenn. –
Jacorin Thomas rushed for 157 yards and Thomas and
Jayden Bragg combined for 246 passing yards and five touchdowns, but Guilford outlasted Sewanee, 44-35, in football action Saturday in Greensboro, N.C.
The Tigers (1-2) scored twice in the first eight minutes of the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead, but the Quakers (3-0) posted 17 unanswered points. Sewanee regained the lead with five minutes left in the second quarter only for Guilford to answer again just before the half and then score again to open the third quarter.
From there the Tigers were playing catch-up, pulling within 30-28 and 37-35 in the second half, but each time the Quakers answered with another touchdown, stretching the lead back to nine and eventually holding off Sewanee.
Dyer Barnes made five catches for 64 yards and two touchdowns while
AJ McLemore led the Tigers with six receptions and one TD while
Dawson White caught three balls for 79 yards and one TD.
Jalen Hill caught the other TD pass for Sewanee, which gained 434 yards of total offense in the contest.
Bragg completed 8-of-19 passes for 146 yards and three touchdowns and Thomas was 8-for-17 for 100 yards and two scores.
The Tigers opened the game with a six-play, 78-yard drive for a TD, aided by a fourth down offside penalty on the Quakers and then a personal foul on the home team after a 16-yard run by Thomas. Barnes caught a 25-yard scoring pass and Sewanee led, 7-0, less than three minutes into the game.
Guilford went 3-and-out and the Tigers embarked on a seven-play, 91-yard drive on the ensuing possession, including a 35-yard run by Thomas and a 24-yard completion to Barnes. Thomas carried for four yards on fourth down and three plays later, he hit McLemore for a 30-yard TD, extending the lead to 14-0.
Caleb Robles threw a 70-yard scoring pass to Parker DeHart and Malik Woodard's two-yard TD run on the first play of the second quarter tied the game at 14. Woodard finished with 167 yards on the ground on 19 carries and two scores while Evan Sullivan added 19 attempts for 118 yards for the Quakers, who rushed for 397 yards and four TDs in the contest.
Adriano De Castro connected on a 23-yard field goal to put Guilford ahead, 17-14, with six minutes left in the half, but Hill caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Bragg with 5:00 remaining before intermission. Robles answered with a 29-yard TD pass to Shane Shapiro and Guilford led, 21-17, at the break.
The Quakers extended the lead with a 35-yard run by Woodard in the first minute of the third quarter, though De Castro missed the extra point. Barnes caught a seven-yard scoring pass midway through the period, but Robles extended the lead back to nine with a 16-yard TD run in the first minute of the final quarter.
White caught a pass and raced down the sideline for a 54-yard scoring pass with 10:34 remaining before the Quakers answered with a five-play drive for another TD, this one a seven-yard rush by Josh Campbell.
Brody Sanderson recovered a muffed punt for the Tigers at the Guilford 30 midway through the fourth period, but Sewanee turned the ball over on downs in just four plays. The Quakers ran out the final five minutes of the game, reaching the Tigers' 18-yard line before kneeling on the final play of the game.
Sewanee returns home next Saturday, hosting Millsaps College for a Noon kickoff at McGee Field-Harris Stadium.
