Shorter University rushed for 343 yards and forced three turnovers as part of a 21-point second quarter in a 44-21 defeat of Edward Waters College on Saturday.
EWC tied the game 7-7 in the first quarter on QB Brandon Turman's 31-yard TD strike to Suwayne Hilton following a Shorter fumble, but that was all for the Tigers in the first half. EWC turned the ball over three times and had one field goal attempt blocked.
Kenny Foster ran for 89 yards and two touchdowns and T.J. Telfair chipped in with 66 yards and a score for the Hawks (5-3), who scored on three plays of 20 yards or more. Shorter set the tone early with a 10-play, 63-yard drive capped by Foster's three-yard run on the first possession of the game.
The Tigers scored the first 14 points of the second half to pull within one score on touchdown runs from Antonio Bellamy and Phillip Teamer, but Shorter responded with more big plays to close out EWC (2-6) on Senior Day at Raines High School.
"We have to have big plays," said Shorter head coach Phil Jones. "When you run the ball as much as we do, you have to take advantage of big play opportunities when they present themselves. We did that today.
Teamer ran for 97 yards on nine carries and Turman, who came into the day averaging nearly 170 yards of total offense per game, was held to 92 yards through the air and 39 yards on the ground.
With the game tied at 7, the Tigers ventured deep into Shorter territory and had first and goal inside the Shorter five. Shorter's Demery Hawkins stood up EWC fullback Cleve Williams on second and third down from the one and Mason Strickland blocked the Tigers' 18-yard field goal attempt on the next play.
On Shorter's next drive, Telfair ripped off a 37-yard run on third down to the Tigers’ 47 and Foster took it the remaining 47 yards for a score on Shorter's next play from scrimmage, putting the visitors s ahead 14-7 with 3:04 until halftime.
Shorter QB David Byrd engineered a four-play, 51-yard drive capped by his 24-yard TD strike to Kareem Hawkins with 54 seconds left. Byrd's 1-yard plunge with seven seconds remaining in the half to put Shorter up 28-7.
David Guilford connected on a 42-yard field goal five minutes into the final quarter to put Shorter ahead 37-21, Caleb Collins ran for a 40-yard touchdown run with 4:37 left in the game for the final score.
Tony Goodman led the Tigers with seven solo tackles. Bernard Dawson recorded five solo tackles and EWC’s only sack of the game.
Hawkins paced Shorter's defense with 12 tackles, two of which were for loss. Jamey Rice had nine tackles and 1.5 sacks and Eric Stallworth had an interception in addition to his fumble recovery.
The Tigers now go on the road to face Ava Maria University on Saturday at noon in Naples, Fla.
(Thanks to Matt Green of Shorter University for contributing to this report.)
