GREENSBORO, N.C. – Matt Pawlowski’s 42-yard touchdown pass to Adam Smith with 19.7 seconds left gave Guilford College an improbable 35-31 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) football win over visiting Emory & Henry College Saturday. The Quakers (6-4, 5-2 ODAC) scored 35 unanswered second-half points to record the biggest comeback in school history and post their first winning season since 2007.
Emory & Henry (5-5, 2-5 ODAC) went ahead 31-0 on senior quarterback Kyle Boden’s third touchdown pass of the game, a five-yard strike to tight end Kenton Williams that capped the second-half’s opening drive. Emory & Henry went 75 yards in 13 plays and seemingly had the game in hand with 9:21 left in the third quarter.
However, the Quakers answered with an 11-play, 75-yard drive of their own and got on the scoreboard when Josh Schow plowed into the end zone from one yard out. The Quakers’ Satiir Stevenson picked off a deflected Boden pass near midfield on the ensuing possession. Guilford converted the turnover into points when Pawlowski threw a 10-yard score to Smith, followed by a two-point conversion pass to Trey Dill. With under a minute to play in the third quarter, Guilford was within two touchdowns and momentum was on the Quakers’ side.
After the Wasps’ first third-quarter drive, Guilford’s defense held Emory & Henry without a first down for three straight possessions. The Quakers’ offense kept right on clicking and scored touchdowns on its final five possessions.
Pawlowski connected with Nick Mearite from 15 yards out early in the fourth quarter to make it a 31-21 game. The two-point conversion attempt failed, but the offense returned to the field less than two minutes later. Chad Christopher made a finger-tip catch from Pawlowski in the corner of the end zone, capping an eight-play, 48-yard scoring drive, which pulled Guilford to within, 31-28, with 6:33 left.
Emory & Henry finally picked up a first down on the next possession, on a personal foul penalty on Guilford. The Wasps’ drive stalled, however, and they punted back to the Quakers, who took over at their own 11 with 2:26 remaining. Pawlowski completed four passes and carried twice for 13 yards before finding an open Smith from 42 yards out with the winning score.
The Wasps took over with 14 seconds left, but stalled on Guilford’s 42-yard line with a Boden incompletion under heavy pressure from Jordan Sutton.
Pawlowski completed 37-of-52 passes for 358 yards and four touchdowns to finish with 24 touchdowns and three interceptions in his sophomore campaign. Classmate Hayden Read caught a career-high 12 passes for 102 yards and Smith finished with six grabs for 100 yards and two scores. Schow, Christopher and Nick Mearite all had five catches. Junior Hunter English paced the Quakers’ defense with eight tackles in his first game in six weeks due to a hand injury.
Boden threw for 245 yards and three scores on 20-of-31 passing in his final college game. Lucas Kirby caught five passes for 69 yards and a first-quarter touchdown. Cleo Cooper made four grabs for 114 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter that gave the guests a 24-0 halftime lead. Emory & Henry linebacker Paul Forney led all players with 15 tackles.
Box Score (Final)
Emory & Henry vs Guilford (Nov 16, 2013 at Greensboro, NC)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Emory & Henry....... 10 14 7 0 - 31 Record: (5-5,2-5)
Guilford............ 0 0 15 20 - 35 Record: (6-4,5-2)
1st 10:15 E&H - Lucas Kirby 11 yd pass from Kyle Boden (Austin Breed kick), 6-55 2:58, E&H 7 - GC 0
04:36 E&H - Austin Breed 19 yd field goal, 7-42 3:44, E&H 10 - GC 0
2nd 12:52 E&H - Joe Lewis 39 yd fumble recovery (Austin Breed kick), , E&H 17 - GC 0
07:23 E&H - Cleo Cooper 57 yd pass from Kyle Boden (Austin Breed kick), 5-80 3:10, E&H 24 - GC 0
3rd 09:21 E&H - Kenton Williams 5 yd pass from Kyle Boden (Austin Breed kick), 13-75 5:39, E&H 31 - GC 0
04:22 GC - Josh Schow 1 yd run (Tyler Hunt kick), 11-75 4:59, E&H 31 - GC 7
00:59 GC - Adam Smith 10 yd pass from Matt Pawlowski (Trey Dill pass from Matt Pawlowski), 5-47 1:51, E&H 31 - GC 15
4th 11:01 GC - Nick Mearite 15 yd pass from Matt Pawlowski (Josh Schow rush failed), 8-66 3:06, E&H 31 - GC 21
06:33 GC - Chad Christopher 14 yd pass from Matt Pawlowski (Tyler Hunt kick), 8-48 2:42, E&H 31 - GC 28
00:19 GC - Adam Smith 42 yd pass from Matt Pawlowski (Tyler Hunt kick), 9-89 2:07, E&H 31 - GC 35
E&H GC
FIRST DOWNS................... 16 26
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 30-108 20-26
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 245 358
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 31-20-1 54-37-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 61-353 74-384
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 1-39 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 3-67 3-20
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 4-77 4-93
Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 1-2
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 6-39.3 6-52.7
Fumbles-Lost.................. 0-0 3-1
Penalties-Yards............... 12-101 7-80
Possession Time............... 30:28 29:32
Third-Down Conversions........ 7 of 15 5 of 14
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 0 1 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 3-3 4-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-8 1-3
RUSHING: Emory & Henry-Joe Vaughn 13-48; Kasey Jones 7-30; Kyle Boden 6-15; Chris Edwards 2-13; Jacob Hess 1-2; Jonathan Turpin 1-0. Guilford-Matt Pawlowski 7-22; Josh Schow 12-17; Team 1-minus 13.
PASSING: Emory & Henry-Kyle Boden 20-31-1-245. Guilford-Matt Pawlowski 37-52-0-358; Team 0-1-0-0; Adam Smith 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING: Emory & Henry-Lucas Kirby 5-69; Jacob Hess 5-33; Cleo Cooper 4-114; Joe Vaughn 2-15; Kasey Jones 2-minus 1; Chad Williams 1-10; Kenton Williams 1-5. Guilford-Hayden Read 12-102; Adam Smith 6-100; Josh Schow 5-42; Chad Christopher 5-40; Nick Mearite 5-32; C.J. Hobbs 2-18; Donnie Alexander Jr. 1-14; Trey Dill
INTERCEPTIONS: Emory & Henry-None. Guilford-Satiir Stevenson 1-2.
FUMBLES: Emory & Henry-None. Guilford-C.J. Hobbs 1-1; Satiir Stevenson 1-0; Team Emory & Henry vs Guilford (Nov 16, 2013 at Greensboro, NC)
SACKS (UA-A): Emory & Henry-Scott Hill 1-0. Guilford-Marcus Williams 0-1;
TACKLES (UA-A): Emory & Henry-Paul Forney 8-7; DeMikael Burse 5-0; Rennel Marshall 3-1; Sami Khabir 3-1; Chuck Harris 3-0; Matt Kardulis 3-0; David Crouch 2-1; Joe Lewis 1-2; Randall Conley 1-2; Hunter Tolley 2-0; Clint Peregoy 2-0; Cole Beyeler 1-1; Cody Williams 1-0; Anthony Jones 1-0; Donovan Sudderth 1-0; Scott Hill 1-0; Garrett Neal 1-0; Mitchell Carter 1-0; Chris Kernisky 0-1; Leroy Strickland 0-1; Kenton Williams 0-1; Ryan Byrd 0-1; Evan Williamson 0-1. Guilford-Hunter English 2-6; Satiir Stevenson 4-3; Robert Smith 2-5; Daytwyn Rascoe 4-2; Reggie Bullard 2-4; JerMario Gooch 4-1; Marcus Williams 3-2; Jordan Sutton 3-1; Tyler Eller 3-0; Karl Roberts 1-1; Josh Williams 1-1; Mitchell Skidmore 1-1; Shelton Watson 1-1; Ricky Douglas 0-2; Mitch Stratton 0-2; Joe Able 1-0; Jordan Farmer 1-0; Chris Campolieta 1-0; Alex Smith 0-1; Drew Milot