By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media
LAURINBURG, N.C. – Trevae Cain had four touchdowns on 11 carries to help Reinhardt overcome a slow start and put away another road victory on Saturday afternoon in a 48-28 win at St. Andrews (N.C.) in Appalachian Division play.
The lead Eagle on the ground helped the squad stay perfect in conference action and improve to 7-2 on the year after earning its fourth-straight win thanks to 41 points in just the second and third quarters combined.
"Thought we played well in all three phases of the game, and we executed on offense and ran the ball really well," head coach James Miller said. "We were physical at the point of contact and ran the ball hard. I Thought Billy played one of his better games; threw the ball well and ran violent. Coach Jones did a great job preparing us on offense along with the rest of the staff. Defensively, we made them one dimensional and we really put pressure on the quarterback.
In the secondary, we need to play the ball better on some deep balls because we can't give up big plays. But, we held a team in check that had been scoring a lot of points. I thought our kickoff return team performed really well as Otis had some great returns. We have to kick-off the ball better, but, as a whole, I am really proud of our kids to get a win on the road for sixth time in last seven weeks. Also, for our seniors, it was the 50th win of that class; what an accomplishment for them – super proud."
The hometown team would struggle out of the gate offensively and not find the board until after the Knights owned a 7-0 advantage. Cain would rumble in from three yards out to tie the score early in the second quarter, and then Alex Hardy put his squad up, 10-7, with a 31-yard field goal with just over two minutes remaining until half.
St. Andrews would regain the lead on the very next play with a 70-yard touchdown pass. The scoring before the break wouldn't be done there, either, as the Eagles would go down the field in less than two minutes and get in the paint on another Cain run.
A 17-14 advantage at halftime would jump to 10 points in the opening seconds of the third quarter, as Otis Odom set up the squad with great field position on the opening kickoff. Cain wouldn't waste any time getting back into the end zone by running through the defense en route to a 55-yard score.
Billy Hall – who had 90 yards on the ground and 122 in the air – put the Eagles ahead by 17 points on a 3-yard run.
St. Andrews would get back within 10 at 31-21, but another field goal, a M'Calun Lanier 1-yard touchdown and the final score of Cain's night (three yards) would follow to blow the game open at 48-21.
The hosts would inch closer after another touchdown run, but it would be too little, too late.
Reinhardt ran for 371 yards and tallied 493 in total.
Defensively, Kenneth Lowery had a half-dozen tackles for a squad that tallied three sacks and a pair of forced fumbles.
Odom earned 108 return yards as well.
Reinhardt now closes the season with back-to-back contests at home, beginning with a Homecoming matchup against Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) at 1:30 p.m. next Saturday.
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