Eagles Stay Perfect with Homecoming Win Over St. Andrews

By Brandon Wright, RU Athletics

Photo Courtesy of Greg Spell/G-RoxPhotos.com

WALESKA, Ga. – The 10^th-ranked Reinhardt Eagles used a 21-point third quarter to overcome the visiting St. Andrews (N.C.) Knights on Homecoming Saturday by a score of 42-14.

The win gives Reinhardt a 5-0 record on the year and a 3-0 record in Appalachian Division play.

"Proud of the kids' effort since we had a lot of distractions this week; had some guys out for various things and we found a way to battle through it and pick up a huge win at home," head coach James Miller said. "I like the way we are being an opportunistic football team. We have to continue to take care of the football and cause turnovers. We've been playing really well on special teams and I hope that continues as well. We got a huge one coming up this week against Faulkner; a very good football team.

"Our kids are playing hard, but we have to play smarter to take this thing to the next level. Still super proud of them, and I love this team, love our school and we will keep getting better as it starts and ends in practice."

The Eagles opened the game by forcing the visitors to punt after only three plays and seven yards.

On the other hand, Billy Hall and Reinhardt started the game off in a huge way as he connected with Dylan Kelly for a 73-yard touchdown on the Eagles' first play of offense. This would be Hall's first of three touchdowns on the day.

After the opening splash from the Eagles, both teams traded punts and were stopped on fourth down as the first quarter closed out with the Eagles on top, 7-0.

The game looked to be heading into the locker room with only one score on the board, but Teon Burroughs had different ideas as he intercepted a St. Andrew's pass on their own 38 and returned it 37 yards to the visitors' one-yard line.

Hall then handed it off to Devyn Collins who took it one yard and put the Eagles up, 14-0, with 5:32 remaining in the first half.

St. Andrew's did its best to put up some points at the end of the half as its quarterback scrambled for 27 yards, but he was tackled on the Reinhardt 13-yard-line, bringing the contest to halftime with the Eagles on top two scores.

Reinhardt received the second-half kickoff and soon found itself in a 3^rd-and-11 hole on their own 35-yard-line, but Hall found Navarie Solomon for 12 yards giving the Eagles a fresh set of downs. Three plays later, Nick Harris stormed 44 yards for the first of three Reinhardt third-quarter touchdowns.

This put the home team on top, 21-0.

On the next drive, the defense put up a score as Keyovione Whitlock scooped up a fumble on the St. Andrews 28-yard line and took it all the way home giving his Eagles a 28-0 lead.

With 4:46 to go in the third, the Knights finally got on the scoreboard after going 79 yards. This narrowed the Reinhardt lead to 21 points.

However, that lead would soon be back to four scores as Hall led a five-play, 67-yard drive capped off by a 36-yard touchdown to Otis Odom – making it, 35-7, with 2:47 to go in the third quarter.

The stout Reinhardt defense forced a St. Andrews turnover on the next drive after stopping the squad on fourth down.

The next Eagle drive was all Hall as he scrambled for 34 yards, threw for 11 on the next play and then found Kelly for his second touchdown of the day – this time from 23 yards out for a 42-7 advantage with just over 11 minutes to play in the final quarter.

St. Andrews got one more score in the quarter and brought the final score to 42-14.

Hall completed nine passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 44 yards on five carries.

Three different running backs put in solid work for Reinhardt as Harris had 77 yards on six carries, Collins had 52 yards on nine carries and Isaiah Blake had 34 yards on 11 carries.

Collins and Harris also pitched in a score apiece.

Eight different receivers caught passes for the Eagles, as Kelly led the way with two catches, 96 yards, and two scores.

Kellen Neal led the charge on defense for the Eagles with four solo tackles and three assisted stops. Jon Perry also had seven total tackles (two solo and five assisted) and a forced fumble.

Whitlock had a nice day with six total tackles, a fumble recovery and a touchdown. Burroughs had six tackles and the interception that he nearly took back for a score.

Twelve other Eagles put up at least three total tackles on the day.

Reinhardt will be back in action on March 20, where it will travel to take on Faulkner (Ala.). The hometown Eagles delivered the Eagles their only loss of the season thus far (3-1 overall), which came in week two at Ken White Field at University Stadium, 34-10.

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