Football News
Colonels win home-opener 24-17 under the lights
Playing on the new turf surface at Farris Stadium for the first time, the Centre College football team jumped out to a 17-0 lead and withstood a second half rally to win 24-17 over visiting Maryville College Saturday, Sept. 12 in Danville, Ky.
With the win, the Colonels improve to 2-0 on the season for the third time in the last five seasons, while Maryville falls to 0-2 on the year.
Centre scored on its first three possessions, including two receiving touchdowns by sophomore tight end John Coomer (Somerset, Ky.) on the first two drives. Sophomore quarterback Tyler Osterman (Monroe, Ohio) found Coomer for 39 yards on on the first score and from four yards out to cap the second drive.
Senior kicker John Starks (Russellville, Ky.) hit a 27-yard field goal on Centre's third drive to give the Colonels a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The score remained that way until the first drive of the second half when Maryville scored its first points of the game on a 10-play, 79-yard drive to cut the lead to 17-7.
The Colonels wasted little time answering as sophomore Jordan Albright (Cincinnati, Ohio) returned the ensuing kick-off 78 yards to the Maryville 12-yard line. Three plays later, sophomore running back Jonathan Pinque (Athens, Ala.) crossed the goal-line for the first time this year to give Centre a 24-7 lead.
The Scots added a field goal later in the quarter to make it 24-10 and then scored their second touchdown with 8:08 left in the game to cut the lead to seven, but that is all they would get as Centre was able to run out the clock and preserve the victory, the first against Maryville since the 2006 season.
Osterman finished the day 10 of 17 for 121 yards with two touchdowns. Pinque, who missed the season-opening game due to injury, returned to gain 92 yards on 28 carries, while Coomer led the receivers with 43 yards on his two touchdown receptions.
Defensively, the Colonels intercepted two passes to run their consecutive game streak of forcing at least one turnover to 43 straight games. Senior linebacker Brian Sneed (Hendersonville, Tenn.) posted 9 tackles on the night. Senior defensive end Tim Groh (Lebanon, Ohio) added 8 stops, including a sack and senior cornerback Zack Sloan (Lebanon, Ind.) recorded three tackles, two interceptions and a pass break-up.
Centre will open Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) play Saturday, Sept. 19 against DePauw University. Kick-off is set for 1 p.m. in Greencastle, Ind. |
