GREENSBORO, N.C. – Maryville opened USA South Conference play on Saturday with a big 37-17 win over Greensboro, bringing home the Scots first victory of the season.
Maryville made it 12 straight wins against the Pride, including the last seven in Greensboro.
Freshman quarterback
Bryson Rollins, who has earned USA South Rookie of the Week honors in two of the first three weeks of the season, made his case to grab those honors again. Rollins completed 22-of-36 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns while adding a rushing TD. The first-year signal-caller contributed to four of the five Maryville touchdowns in this game.
Throwing and Catching
"We played really well," Scots head coach
Ben Fox said. "We threw the ball and caught it, and we made some big plays early in the game that got us in front. We also rushed their quarterback and forced some turnovers that were big.
"Bryson played pretty well. There were a couple of plays we would like to have back, but he had a nice afternoon getting the ball to his playmakers."
The Scots stormed out of the gate, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter with Rollins throwing touchdown passes to three different receivers. He found
Danner Hill for a 2-yard TD, connected with
Hunter Burke on a 25-yard score, and hit
Kevon Samuels for 22 yards and a 20-3 lead.
The Scots extended their advantage in the second quarter, pushing the score to 27-3 by halftime. Rollins scored from 1 yard out to cap a 12-play, 93-yard drive that shaved 6 minutes and 21 seconds off the clock.
Pick-Six Seals It
In the third quarter, Greensboro found the end zone for the first time, putting six on the board for the Pride and cutting the Scots lead to 27-10. But Maryville's
Tyler Barrett would spoil Greensboro's next drive by returning an interception 50 yards for a touchdown. Maryville led 34-10.
"Tyler is a really talented player and a really talented kid," Fox said. "We are glad he's playing for us and settling into that role as a hybrid safety/linebacker. It suits him very well and we are seeing the results."
The Scots scored one more time in the game, driving the ball 65 yards before
Trey Hampton booted a 38-yard field goal late in the third quarter. Maryville's first-half dominance held up and the Scots were 1-0 in conference play.
Maryville is back at home next week against rival Huntingdon. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.
"We've got a great challenge with what is in my opinion the best small college rivalry game in the South," said Fox, who was an assistant coach at Huntingdon from 2012-16. "I hope our guys are as excited about practicing on Monday as they are about playing next Saturday. We've got to take care of our preparation so that we can be ready to play a really good football team."
