Final Stats | Season Stats
HOOVER, Ala. – Rhodes College capitalized on a special teams miscue late in the fourth quarter to earn a 10-7 come from behind victory over Birmingham-Southern in front of 2,214 fans at Regions Park on Saturday.
Chris Catalanotto kicked a 31-yard field goal to give Rhodes the lead with :22 left in the game. Art Quinn's low knuckle ball punt deflected off a BSC return team player and was recovered with 2:27 remaining in the contest to set up the field goal.
"I thought the effort and intensity were no doubt there," said BSC Head Coach Joey Jones. "I knew we were going to be out manned on the line of scrimmage especially with our young offensive line going against their juniors and seniors. The defense played admirably. They just kept getting after it. I was real pleased with this effort. It tells me that Rhodes is going to be a second or third place team in the conference in my opinion. For us to be able to do that in our second game, I am extremely proud of these guys."
The Panthers had a chance to take the lead early in the second quarter. BSC's drive stalled at the Rhodes' College 14-yard line only to see Jonah Fryfogle's 31-yard field goal attempt push wide right.
BSC special teams would produce the only score of the afternoon after RC's drive stalled at the BSC 49. Jasper Barnett blocked Art Quinn's and Trae Strain picked up the loose ball at the Rhodes' 26 and returned for the touchdown. Fryfogle's extra point was good and BSC led 7-0 with 3:24 left in the second quarter.
The Panthers' lead held up until the 5:26 mark of the final quarter. Ty Lake caught a 13-yard pass from Mark Oliver to cap a seven-play, 39-yard drive that used 2:53 of the clock to tie the game at 7-7.
Rhodes College led BSC with 322 yards of offense to 77 yards despite losing three fumbles on the afternoon.
Justin Dunn led the BSC defense with 15 tackles followed by 12 tackles and three sacks for Baxter Anderson.
Birmingham-Southern returns to action on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. against LaGrange College (JV) in LaGrange, Ga.
