College Football Final – Guilford 52, Methodist 20

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Junior Matt Pawlowski (Greensboro, N.C./Northwest Guilford) threw for a career-high 418 yards and six touchdowns in Guilford College’s 52-20 football win over visiting Methodist University Saturday night.

The Quakers (2-0) scored on their first eight possessions and snapped a five-game losing skid to the Monarchs (1-1). Their second straight game with 52 points marked just the second time in school history they have scored 50 or more points in consecutive games. The other time was in 2007.

Guilford’s defense picked off Methodist quarterback Max Reber three times and limited the speedy senior signal-caller to 64 rushing yards and 226 passing yards. In last year’s meeting between the two teams, he torched the Quakers for 418 total offensive yards and four touchdowns in the Monarchs’ 41-34 home win.

Pawlowski threw three scoring strikes to classmate Adam Smith (Mocksville, N.C./Davie County), including a 34-yard completion on Guilford’s first possession that capped the longest scoring drive in school history. The Quakers started on their one-yard line and marched 99 yards in 11 plays before Pawlowski hit Smith with the game’s first score. A roughing the punter penalty, one of 10 Monarchs’ infractions, kept the Quakers’ drive alive after it stalled near midfield.

Pawlowski and Smith hooked up for touchdowns twice in the Quakers’ 31-point second quarter. After Reber’s two-yard touchdown run brought Methodist to with 10-6 early in the second quarter, Pawlowski hit Smith on a quick slant on a third-down play from near midfield. Smith’s defender tried to anticipate the pass, but missed. Smith sprinted into the end zone untouched for a 55-yard score.
The pair’s final touchdown ended a well-executed two-minute drill as the Quakers moved 51 yards in 70 seconds on seven plays. A crafty lateral from Satiir Stevenson to De’Eric Bell on a kickoff return put the Quakers on their own 49-yard line after Methodist scored its second touchdown. Lacking a time out, Pawlowski moved Guilford successfully through the air before finding Smith in the corner of the end zone from 20 yards away. Tyler Hunt’s (Gibsonville, N.C./Eastern Guilford) extra point sent Guilford into halftime with a 38-13 edge.

Guilford received the second-half kickoff and resumed the rout. The Quakers marched 85 yards in 11 plays before Pawlowski’s eight-yard scoring toss to Ke’Desh Edwards (Greensboro, N.C./Western Guilford) for the first sophomore’s college score.

Junior running back Josh Schow carried eight times for 57 yards on Guilford’s next possession, capping the 13-play, 75-yard drive with a one-yard plunge on fourth down. He finished with a game-high 133 yards on 27 carries.

Pawlowski completed 28 passes to 10 different receivers in 39 attempts. Sophomore C.J. Hobbs (Sanford, N.C./Western Harnett) had seven catches for 101 yards and a touchdown, all career highs. Austen Thompson (Greensboro, N.C./Southern Guilford) made seven receptions for 86 yards and Smith finished with 140 receiving yards on five grabs, including the career-high three touchdowns.
Quakers’ linebacker Daytwyn Rascoe picked off his second pass in as many games and also had a sack among seven tackles. Stevenson paced the defense with nine stops and picked off his first interception of 2014, which was immediately followed by a 47-yard touchdown pass from Pawlowski to Hobbs. Jaylan Martin also had a theft that led to a Guilford score and registered seven tackles.

Reber was the Monarchs’ top rusher with 64 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. He also completed 19-of-28 passes for 226 yards and two scores with three interceptions. Patrick Jacobs was his favorite target as the senior made five receptions for 96 yards. Bryan Bing’s 15 tackles (7 solo) led both teams.

The Quakers play Southern Virginia University next Saturday (9/20) in Salem, Va., at Salem Stadium, site of the 2014 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, NCAA Division III’s football championship game. Kickoff is 7:00 p.m. Guilford seeks its first 3-0 start since 2007.