BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—After opening the season with an exciting come-from-behind victory at LaGrange last weekend, the Birmingham-Southern football team opens its home slate this Saturday, Sept. 12, hosting in-state rival Huntingdon in a 6 p.m. game on Battle Field at Panther Stadium.
BSC is 3-2 against the Hawks in what has been named the Wesley Cup Game. The game gets its name from John Wesley, one of the principle founders of the United Methodist Church; both BSC and Huntingdon are Methodist-affiliated colleges.
The Panthers, who return only six starters from last season's team, trailed for nearly the entire game against LaGrange this past Saturday. With 2:42 left in the game, trailing 28-22, sophomore cornerback Kerrigan Pennington snagged his first career interception and ran the ball back 37 yards to tie things up at 28-28. Freshman kicker Ryder Andrews came through with the extra point to put the Panthers up 29-28 for the victory.
Sophomore quarterback Mickey Courtney started and threw for 110 yards, going 8-20 with one interception. Junior Austin Martin came in in the third quarter and recorded 58 yards on 4-9 passing.
Junior tailback Samir Usman led the rushing effort with 166 yards on 22 carries, including one touchdown. Sophomore tailback Justin Woolfolk also scored a touchdown, the first of his career, posting 37 yards on six carries.
Andrews was 2/2 on both field goals and extra points. Junior defensive back Christian Burlock led the defense with eight tackles, seven of those solo efforts.
The Hawks also enter Saturday's game at 1-0 after defeating Louisiana College, 56-35, at home this past weekend. Junior running back John Iwaniec led with a career-high 179 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. Junior quarterback Luke Bailey finished with 260 yards and four touchdowns on 13-of-19 passing, and junior wide receiver Nick Haas led the receivers with 96 yards on four catches. Huntingdon had a huge offensive game, finishing with 652 offensive yards.
Saturday's game at Panther Stadium will feature a live game tracker as well as live streaming video, both available at bscsports.net.
