Scots Force Five Turnovers in 42-11 Blitz of Belhaven
JACKSON, Miss. – If Saturday's game ends the short-but-sweet football series history against Belhaven, put it in the books as a three-game Maryville Scots sweep.
The Scots kept their foot on the gas pedal and improved to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the USA South with a 42-11 thumping of Belhaven. It was the largest home league loss for the Blazers in their three-year USA South history and dropped their home USA South record to 9-2.
Both losses have been to Maryville.
The Scots forced five turnovers in the game to offset allowing the most yards by an opponent this season (302). Grant Henderson, Jadon Smith and Manny Palmer picked off passes and Tyler Barrett recovered two fumbles, including one he returned 57 yards for a touchdown.
That was Barrett's third career TD.
"I told the team after the game that we played complimentary football," Maryville head coach Ben Fox said. "You have a defense like ours, it's as good as they've been all year. We gave up some yards we aren't used to doing, but Belhaven had some good individual players.
"They've got a good scheme; they do some different stuff, and they had two weeks to get ready for us. They hit us with some things we hadn't seen, but we just had to rally and tackle."
Quick Pick
On Belhaven's first possession, Henderson intercepted a pass and returned it 40 yards to the Blazers 12-yard line. That set up a two-play drive resulting in Bryson Claiborne's 7-yard TD run.
Claiborne went on to score three rushing touchdowns, carrying 17 times for 92 yards. All three of those figures are career highs for the Hartsville junior.
The Scots rushed for 162 yards and threw for 191 in their most balanced game of the season.
"We did a really good job of attacking the football and forcing turnovers, which led to some short fields," Fox said.
Trio of Two-Play Drives
Fox was right. Maryville had three different two-play scoring drives – two plays! The first one came after Henderson's pick. The second one happened in the third quarter on a pair of pinpoint passes by Bryson Rollins to Devin Sanz for 58 yards and then to Nick Dagel for 22 yards and a 21-3 lead.
The third two-play drive was set up by a Bryce Collins 53-yard punt to the Belhaven 2. Three plays later, Smith intercepted at the Blazers 11. Two plays after that, Claiborne carried 7 yards for his third touchdown and a 35-3 advantage.
"We did a really good job of attacking the football," Fox said. "Our defense forcing turnovers led to a lot of short fields, which led to touchdowns. I was glad about that; glad they turned into points.
"We have to realize sometimes, even if we're backed up, two first downs and a punt can flip the field. And when you have a good defense, you get it back like we did today and you're already in scoring position."
Rollins finished a modest 13-of-24 passing for 191 yards. But he did throw for two touchdowns, giving him TD passes in all seven games this year and 13 games in a row dating to last season. For his career, Rollins has thrown a TD pass in 24 of 27 games played. He also rushed seven times Saturday for 42 yards, including a 20-yarder that was the team's longest rush of the day.
Maryville's tackle leaders were Jake Brock and Tyler Bost with seven apiece. Bost forced the first fumble that Barrett recovered. Henderson in addition to his interception contributed a pair of pass breakups, giving him 12 for the season and pulling him within one of his career high of 13 set two years ago.
At Greensboro Next
Maryville's brief football history against Belhaven began with a 25-22 Scots win in Jackson two years ago, a result that laid the foundation for the success of the last two seasons. A year ago, Maryville knocked off the eventual-league champion Blazers 20-7 in overtime en route to an 8-2 season.
The Scots are two wins from matching those eight victories of 2023. They return to the road next week at Greensboro for a noon start, taking on a Pride team now 1-7 overall after they lost 23-21 Saturday to North Carolina Wesleyan on a late field goal.
Both LaGrange and Brevard won this weekend to stay one game behind the Scots in the USA South standings. LaGrange rallied for a 24-21 triumph at Huntingdon and Brevard knocked off Methodist 44-21.
"This time of year, we've got to find the margins and things we can continue to improve," Fox said. "I don't want us to have played our best game yet."