On a beautiful Saturday afternoon for football, the Mars Hill College Lions host Senior Day for its home finale against the Pioneers of Tusculum College. Both teams enter today's game with identical 6-3 overall record and 3-2 records in South Atlantic Conference play.Today is the final home game for former Avery Viking standout and current Lions quarterback Ricky Spradling (son of Stan and Marty Spradling of Roan Mountain), as well as 17 other seniors for the Mars Hill ballclub. Ricky is 91 for 178 overall with 1,607 yards on the season with 13 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Also playing today will be redshirt sophomore Zach Johnson, who leads the Lions with 78 tackles, in addition to three sacks and an interception this season.
Mars Hill leads the overall series 14-8-2, but lost the last two contests to the Pioneers by a score of 15-12 a season ago and 24-17 in 2006.
A number of local Avery representatives are in attendance at today's game, including Avery Vikings head football coach Darrell Brewer and head baseball coach Benny Wellborn. Also in attendance today is Appalachian State junior wide receiver Josh Johnson, whose team is fresh off last evening's shellacking of the Wofford Terriers.
We'll be here all afternoon with updates on today's game, as well as photos, details, and commentary.
1:35 PM: Tusculum is on the board with a 53-yard touchdown run by quarterback Corey Russell on the third play of the game. The PAT is no good, but the Pioneers take the early 6-0 lead.
1:45 PM: Mars Hill was forced into a three-and-out and punted on its first drive. Zach Johnson makes a sack on the ensuing Tusculum drive, but the Pioneers get back on the board again with a quick scoring drive. A five play, 68 yard drive results in a touchdown pass from Russell to wide receiver Jarrell NeSmith. The extra point gives the Pioneers a 13-0 advantage at the 10:20 mark of the opening period.
Mars Hill was unable to move the football with its second possession, but a personal foul roughing the punter penalty resulted in a Lions first down. Mars Hill could not move the ball further however, forcing another Lions punt with 5:30 left in the opening period and the Pioneers up by a baker's dozen.
2:00 PM Tusculum is held for the first time today by the Lions defense to get the football back via punt. Mars Hill moves downfield, as Spradling becomes a pass receiver on a throwback pass from receiver McDowell to Ricky for a 17-yard gain. The Lions cap the drive with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Spradling to receiver Tyrea Allen. The PAT by Pinkerton is good, cutting the Tusculum lead to 13-7 at the conclusion of the first quarter of action.
2:20 PM -- Tusculum punted the ball back away to the Lions, who have driven to the Pioneers 25-yard line. Once down 13 points early, Mars Hill has made a fast comeback as Spradling just fired a 25 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver John Brown. The Pinkerton PAT gives the Lions the lead at 14-13 with 9:34 left in the opening half.
Tusculum doesn't waste time in answering the Lions score. A 21 yard touchdown pass from Russell to WR Calvin Britt caps off a 5-play, 55 yard scoring drive, helping the Pioneers regain the lead at 20-14 with 7:56 left in the half.
2:35 PM - Mars Hill drove to the Tusculum 26, but a fourth down pass into the end zone by Spradling to Allen was incomplete. The Mars Hill crowd, coaches, and players contended for a pass interference penalty against the Pioneers DB, but no flag was thrown, giving possession to the Pioneers with four minutes left before halftime.
Tusculum takes advantage of the opportunity with a 67 yard touchdown pass from Russell to wide receiver Nate Binder. The point after try is good, and the Pioneers extend their lead to 27-14 with 2:30 left before halftime.
2:50 PM - The Lions take the ensuing drive into Tusculum territory, but the drive stalls, forcing the Lions into fourth down. Tusculum takes a time out to ensure they get the ball back with a little over a minute remaining on the clock. A great punt pins back the Pioneers at their own 3 yard line with 1:18 left before intermission. Tusculum decides to kneel on the football with the poor field position, protecting its 27-14 lead going into halftime.Halftime stats:
Ricky Spradling -- 8 for 17, 121 yards, 2 TD
Zach Johnson - 3 tackles and a sack
Tusculum leads 27-14 at the half. Back for second half action in a bit!
3:15 PM - Mars Hill takes the second half kickoff and drives inside Pioneers territory. Spradling rushed for 24 yards on the drive which culminated with a two yard plunge by fullback Elroy Harris at the 9:09 mark of the third period. The successful PAT cut the lead to 27-21 Tusculum in the third quarter.
Tusculum drove with the ensuing drive but was held to a field goal attempt by the Lions "D". The field goal attempt by Tusculum was wide left, keeping the lead only at six points at 27-21 at the six minute mark of the third.
3:55 PM - Mars Hill moved the football to near midfield but was forced to punt. The Tusculum defense made a big play as Tagon Richard blocked the Mars Hill punt attempt at the Lions 31 yard line. Tusculum drives to the 22 yard line and face a 2nd and 7 at the end of the third quarter. Tusculum leads 27-21 after three complete.
4:00 PM - Lots of action has ensued as the fourth quarter begins. A Tusculum pass play was intercepted by Deshun Nesbitt in the end zone to prevent a Pioneer score. Mars Hill fumbled the football back to the Pioneers only two plays into the subsequent possession. Tusculum capitalized as Russell found wide receiver NeSmith for a 10-yard touchdown pass. The PAT failed, leaving the Pioneers ahead 33-21 with 12:00 remaining.
Mars Hill moves the football following the touchdown with the help of a pass interference as well as a personal foul penalty assessed against Tusculum. A pitch play to Tyrea Allen is good enough for a three yard touchdown run, drawing the Lions back to within single digits. The PAT is good, making the score 33-28 with 7:02 left in the game.
On the ensuing kickoff the Lions forced a fumble by the ball returner. The Lions' Jermaine Johnson recovered the fumble to give Mars Hill the ball at the Pioneers 20 yard line. Big break for the Lions. Mars Hill is unable to advance the football on its first three plays and are faced with a fourth and nine call from the 20 yard line. The Lions appear set to go for it on fourth down, but call a timeout to talk it over. Mars Hill trails 33-28 with 5:20 to go.
Jeremy Thompson intercepts Spradling's pass near the end zone and returns it to the 27 yard line. Tusculum makes the defensive play of the game thus far to preserve its lead. Mars Hill is out of timeouts and Tusculum looks to run out the clock. The team picks up a first down on a QB sneak by Russell and continue to churn out yardage. Russell sneaks for a second first down, which effectively will allow the Pioneers to run out the clock and take a hard fought win over Mars Hill by the final score of 33-28.
Ricky Spradling was 12 of 27 for 157 yards and two touchdowns and one interception for the contest. Zach Johnson finished the contest with a team-high 7 tackles.
Thanks for following the Blog for this afternoon's game.
