GEORGETOWN, Ky. – The Faulkner defense stood tall, holding Georgetown out of the endzone on three trips inside the Eagle 10-yard line, intercepting two long passes off backup quarterback Gehrig Slunaker and forcing two turnovers on downs. However, a defensive susceptibility to the chunk play, a 3-of-11 mark on third down conversions and four turnovers was too much to overcome for the Eagles in a 23-13 loss to the Tigers to open Mid-South Conference play for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Toyota Stadium.
Faulkner continued its two-quarterback system as
Ben Anderson and
Raequan Beal combined to go 14-of-24 for 209 yards.
Satyler Wilson was the team's leading receiver by far in making three receptions for 102 yards.
Jaiveyon Tucker added a pair of catches for 51 yards, and
Shaun Vincent gained 25 yards and a touchdown on his first two collegiate catches. QB Drew Hartz led the Georgetown aerial attack by way of a 16-of-25 outing for 229 yards and two scores, while Darius Neal was the team's chief weapon on the ground with 58 yards on 15 carries. Aaron Maggard hauled in six passes for 107 yards and both of his team's touchdowns, and Josh Gary caught four for 86 yards.
Samaj Washington headed the D with 10 tackles, nine of them solo and two for loss, along with a pass breakup.
Jerrell Williamson tallied nine tackles with only two assisted, and
Kordell King six with just one assisted.
JaMichael Morgan included two for loss and a sack in his five total takedowns, and
Chris Thompson added a pick and two pass breakups along with his five tackles.
Terry Brown picked up Faulkner's other two sacks. Buffalo transfer
Tra Wilkins registered four tackles in his first game with the Eagles, and
Jailen Clemons followed up his Mid-South Conference Defensive Player of the Week performance against Point with three tackles and his team's other interception.
Faulkner claimed a three-and-out on the first drive of the game, but after Chris Cline's punt traveled 60 yards to the visitors' 8-yard line,
John Bolton put the ball on the ground on his team's first play from scrimmage and Chad Holleran recovered at the Eagle nine. The defense promptly registered another three-and-out, forcing the Tigers to settle for a 28-yard field goal from Cline. The Eagles had to start their next drive inside their own 10 as well after an illegal block on the kickoff return and could not gain a first down themselves. Georgetown received the punt at their 48 and moved the ball 37 yards but ultimately required another field goal, a 32-yarder this time.
The Eagles moved the chains for the first time on the next-to-last play of the first quarter and got into Tiger territory to begin the second. On the period's first play, Payton Standifer picked off a Beal throw on the tip drill. The resulting possession covered 53 yards in nine plays and Hartz completed all of his passes on it. It ended when Hartz rolled to his right and found an uncovered Maggard in the back of the endzone from 15 yards out to put his team up 13-0.
Kaleb Jones lined up in the Wildcat formation on the third play of the ensuing drive and fumbled on the carry. Zyan Bethel came up with it at Faulkner's 30-yard line to put Georgetown in business again, and it was up to a point as Slunaker hit Gary for a gain of 18 yards to begin the drive. The team had to call on Cline again, though, and he made his third field goal of the day for a 16-0 advantage.
Three plays into the following drive, Faulkner came back to life as Beal hit Tucker on a dime down the sideline for a gain of 27 to get across midfield. Facing 3rd-and-10 at the Tiger 19-yard line, Anderson checked into the game, rolled left and converted on a 12-yard pass to
Drexlan Allen. The former then shook off an unforgiving tackle right off the play action by DJ White and found Vincent in double coverage on the post route to put Faulkner on the board with three minutes left in the half, though
Caden Davis missed the PAT. Hartz responded, however, by picking the Eagles apart with another four-of-four drive and finding a wide-open Maggard down the seam for a 27-yard score to ultimately set the halftime score at 23-6.
With 4:58 left in the third quarter, another turnover killed an Eagle drive, this time an eight-play, 70-yard possession as Wilson got the handoff and five yards before the ball popped out of his hands at the Tiger 19. Jacob Harmon recovered, and three plays later, Hartz hit Gary on a 60-yard bomb after the pump fake and the wideout might have gone the distance if not for King taking him down from behind at the Faulkner 10. The defense held the Tigers to fourth down again, and Cline missed a 24-yard attempt.
Facing 2nd-and-21 after the stop, Anderson stepped up in the pocket and delivered a strike to Wilson about 35 yards downfield. The wideout turned on the jets and got all the way down to the two before being tackled for an 89-yard gain. Anderson opened the final period by sneaking and pushing the pile from inside the one to get his team within ten. Three plays later, Clemons ran in front of his receiver and came down with the pick at his own 22. However, Anderson would be pulled down by Kyren Simpson on a scramble short of the line to gain on the third play of the drive, forcing a punt. Georgetown milked 6:53 off the clock with a 12-play drive before a turnover on downs gave Faulkner one more bite of the apple that also ended in a punt at the 4:11 mark. Neal converted a 4th-and-one at the Faulkner 47 to set up victory formation.
Faulkner (1-2, 0-1 MSC) returns home to face University of the Cumberlands next Saturday as part of Parents and Family Weekend on campus.
