October 14, 2006
Methodist Wins 24-14 Over Rival Ferrum
Offensive line holds strong to give Monarchs 296 yards rushing

FAYETTEVILLE, NC-  The Monarchs found themselves down at halftime 14-7, but came back in the second to shutout the Ferrum Panthers and score 17 unanswered points of their own to win 24-14.  The Monarchs move to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the USA South while Ferrum falls to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the conference.

Methodist came out strong putting a stop to the Panthers on their first possession and then starting their first drive on their own 48 yard line, moved the ball with runs from quarterback Brandon Parks, Mike Hill and Clarence Baker to reach the 2 yard line.  It took two attempts, but Parks got in over the goal line to give the Monarchs the early lead.  Patrick Larkin's extra point was good.

Ferrum received the ball on the kickoff and when Panther quarterback Jermaine Pitts was roughed up on a play, James Terrell came in and threw a 49-yard pass to tight end Chris Silk to advance to the Methodist 26 yard line.  Ferrum gained some additional yards from Cedrik Reaves and Terrell's running game to reach the 19.  The Panthers were on third down with three yards to go when Monarchs Blake Farrell and Chris Gauntlett drove Panther Kerry Dudley back a yard to force
a 37 yard field goal attempt.  Clint Sappey's kick was blocked allowing the Monarchs to takeover
from their own 20.

On Ferrum's next possession, they received the ball on the Methodist 43 and Terrell had two carries for 15 yards and Dudley added 2 more, before Terrell found Silk in the end zone for the touchdown.  Sappey's extra point was good to even the score 7-7.  The quarter ended with the score still tied.  Both teams had chances, but could not score until Ferrum intercepted Parks' pass at their own 20 yard line to take over with 9:27 remaining in the half.  Runs by Leon Glover, Cedrik Reaves and Terrell gave Ferrum the first down on the Ferrum 48 yard line before Terrell launched a 52-yard touchdown pass to Silk.  The Panthers went up 14-7 with Sappey's extra point.

Neither team was able to score during the remainder of the quarter.  Ferrum ended the half leading 14-7, but the Monarchs came back in the third quarter ready to go.  Chris Peebles kicked off for Ferrum to John Northern who picked up 11 yards on the return.  The Monarchs started their drive on their own 32 yard line, but on the first play the Monarch offense made the big blocks creating a wide open field for Mike Hill to score his first touchdown of the game on a 68 yard run.  Hill's run gave him 2,018 yards in his career, making him only the second player in Monarch history to surpass the 2,000 yard mark.  Larkin's extra point tied the game 14-14.

The Monarch defense stopped the Panthers giving the ball back to Methodist.  The Monarchs kept running the ball and set up a 31 yard field goal attempt, but the referees ruled it wide left.  Ferrum was stopped again without a first down and the Monarchs moved it back down to Ferrum's 25-yard line before the quarter ended with the score tied 14-14.  The fourth quarter started with the Monarchs gaining ground, but another field goal attempt was ruled wide left from 41 yards out.  Both teams had another possession with little offense before Ferrum quarterback Terrell fumbled the ball on their own 25 yard line creating great field position for the Monarchs recovery by Sean Merritt.  Joe Matthews had two carries for 20 yards before Hill grabbed 2 more to reach the 3 yard line and get the first down.  Parks kept it as he dove into the end zone to give the Monarchs the lead.  Larkin's third extra point of the day was good.

Another fumble by Terrell set the Monarchs up for another field goal attempt.  Larkin converted the 28 yard kick to give the Monarchs the 24-14 lead.  Larkin kicked off to Terrell who ran for a 10 yard return and set up the offense on their own 17 yard line.  They found a first down on a 22-yard pass to Silk and then moved the chains again on a 12 yard run by Terrell.  Terrell had another 11 yard carry to reach the Methodist 42 yard line and secure the first down.  Ferrum called timeout with 30 seconds remaining in the game, but Terrell's long pass towards the end zone was bobbled around by the Monarchs before Jonathan Douglass grabbed the interception.  The Monarchs ran the clock out to win their first conference game of the season 24-14.

After a big passing day last week, the Monarchs stuck to running against Ferrum creating 296 yards rushing.  Hill led the way with 187 of his own.  Parks finished 3-10 passing with 42 yards rushing.  Daryl Lawrence led the defense with 10 tackles, 8 of them unassisted.  Terrell finished with 239 yards offense out of his team's 293. 

The Monarchs will travel to Christopher Newport next week before hosting Maryville October 28th at 1 pm.