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CLINTON, SC – For the second straight time while competing on their home turf, the Presbyterian College football squad was able to gain a halftime advantage in a decisive PFL game, this time jumping out to a 17-7 lead on Saturday against the league’s only non-conference school. a loss to their resume. However, the visitors from St. Thomas imposed their will during the second half at Bailey Memorial Stadium, ending the game on a 39-0 sprint for a final score of 46-17.
Controlling the final 30 minutes to post their sixth straight W, the Tommies continued their stay at the top of the PFL standings by improving to 4-0 against conference opponents. Despite a career high receiving day by a true freshman Dominic Kibby and 17 points on three of the team’s first four drives, the Blue Hose were unable to put together two complete halves, allowing UST to turn a one-score game at the break into a close decision on the scoreboard when everything settled.
FINAL SCORE: St. Thomas, 46 – Presbyterian, 17
RECORDS: Presbyterian (1-7, 0-5 PFL) – St. Thomas (6-1, 4-0 PFL)
LOCATION: Bailey Memorial Stadium (Clinton, SC)
Opening kick:
– Next to Kibby’s season-best performance of 129 yards (collecting five catches on six targets), including a 53-yard carry to the end zone midway through the 2n.d quarter, a number of computer performers fed off the high energy of the weekend’s Homecoming audience. Kibby added four kick returns to his repertoire for 71 extra yards, making for 200 all-purpose. Freshman Jordan Irizarry dropped all three of his targets for another individual-high 51 yards, while a redshirt junior Jalen Jones added 39 more.
– Combining for 69 of the team’s 79 rushing yards over the opening half, the running combo of Delvecchio Powell II and JB Seay finished the afternoon with 56 and 29 yards on the ground, respectively. Nate Hayden and Tyler Wesley split time at QB evenly in the PFL duel, syncing up for 252 passing yards (143 for first).
– Keegan Halloran, AJ Seayand Sebastian Conwell recorded 21 stops between them at seven each, helping deny the Tommies a single point over the first frame. Their presence helped the Blue Hose to a three-point edge after 30 minutes before the change occurred at the halfway point of the game.
– Successfully moving the chains on 50% of their third-down situations (in addition to a five-for-six effort in that section during the first half), Presbyterian was boosted to their second-highest yardage total over a 30-minute window with 236. after two chapters. Unfortunately, St. Thomas’ stiffened defense held PC down with just 66 yards the rest of the way to preserve the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
– Freshman wideouts and special teams standouts Shawn Lodge punctuated a sign of things to come for the Blue Hose with a season-long 27-yard kickoff return to start the day’s proceedings. From there, PC steadily moved 61 yards on 11 snaps, with 47 of them by either Powell or Seay, which led to a 21-yard chip shot by a kicker. Parker Maddrey. The 3-0 lead confirmed the junior’s perfect mark in field goal attempts moving to 4-4 personally.
– Only just started on 1St quarter that almost completely went their way, PC forced a turnover on downs when backed up at their own 24-yard line, crowding the middle of the field for an incomplete pass to avoid St. Thomas answer.
– From there, the Blue Hose built their largest lead in a 2022 PFL contest with a six-play, 76-yard touchdown drive that featured a handful of clutch moments. Against 3rd and 4 from their own 41, Wesley fired a pass to a tight end Dylan Boone right at the line to score to keep the drive going. Two plays later, Wesley’s freshman-to-freshman connection to Kibby delivered on the aforementioned 53-yard lob to provide PC with a 10-0 advantage over the hottest team in the league.
– Holding that deficit until the opening moments of the 2n.d when UST plunged in for a four-yard score on the second play of the quarter, Presbyterian’s defense held tight after fumbling into an interception with just over 10 minutes left in the period. AJ Seay threw himself into a small space for a well-timed break on 3rd down, not allowing the Tommies to capitalize on the mistake.
– After a UST punt from deep in their own territory, PC settled at the St. Thomas 44-yard line, head coach Steve Englehart‘s group again stretched the deficit out to 10 with a six-play drive that ended on Powell’s two-yard TD. Wesley’s arm was the main catalyst to that score, sending in a 28-yard gain to Jones and another 20-yarder into the arms of Kibby who brought the ball inside the five-yard line.
– Using 3:57 of the final 4:50 to cut into the Blue Hose’s lead on a short score from the 2-yard line, the visitors were able to trim the hole to three approaching halftime. From that point, the Tommies outgained the blue and white by 132 yards to run away with the win.
TRAINING ENGLEHART’S THOUGHT:
“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to put two halves together in most of these conference matches, although you could see us compete extremely hard against some of the best the PFL has to offer, which is encouraging for our guys. We really I have a feeling that there will come a time when all these battle-testing experiences pile on top of each other for our younger players, and that will hopefully lead to them being able to take from their lessons and turn it into better results. Regardless of today, myself and the staff are still very proud of the team and the way they fight.”
NEXT:
– The last bout of October awaits the Blue Hose in a week in another road environment, this one up in Poughkeepsie, New York to meet Marist at 12:00 noon. In a similar background to today’s matchup with St. Thomas, the two programs have only met once in each other’s history. Said occasion came last fall in Clinton, a 57-32 shootout that favored the Red Foxes in the ’21 home finale.
– Since a 45-31 win over Stetson in the Sunshine State, Marist has taken back-to-back losses to Dayton and Butler, falling by a 31-10 clip to the Bulldogs on Saturday in Indianapolis. The Red Foxes now sit at 2-5, with both of those triumphs coming over PFL competition.
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