No. 1 MGSC Beats No. 11 Rollins 54-13

WINTER PARK, Florida (MGSC RELEASE) – The number 1 ranked Middle Georgia State College Knights travelled to Winter Park, Florida to take on number 11 Rollins College Tars on Saturday. After arriving early and waiting around due to some delays in games scheduled prior to the kickoff of the NCFA matchup, the Knights wasted no time in getting the scoring started.

After a three and out by the Tars, the Knights scored on the fourth play on offense with a 29 yard touchdown run by Rico Lyons. The extra point was added by Brayton Smith to make the score 7-0 and that is the closest it would be the rest of the game. The Knights scored on a punt return of 35 yards by Rico Ogletree just 4 plays later and another kick by Smith made it 14-0. After another three and out, the Knights only took five plays to score again on a 32 yard touchdown run by Lyons, but the PAT was blocked by Rollins.

With a little momentum off the block and a great kick return, the Tars would score on a pass play and miss the PAT to make it 20-6. Two plays later, the Knights scored on a 70 yard pass from Ken Hughes to Jamarious Wright making it 26-6 after the failed two point conversion. The Tars would add another touchdown pass after some defensive miscues and penalties by the Knights kept the drive alive.

Another punt return was added of 45 yards for a touchdown by Ogletree. Coach Dustan Jump called for an onside kick which was mishandled by Rollins and recovered by the Knights. A toss sweep to Lyons then went for a 50 yard touchdown and the two point conversion was added with Button to Outlaw to take the score to 40-13 and it would remain that way until halftime.

The second half saw the Knights open up with four straight runs and a 21 yard touchdown by Lyons. The Knights scored on their next possession with a 53 yard touchdown pass from Jovan Smith to Quez Mahoganey then added the two point conversion to take the score to 54-13.

The Knights put in backups and ran the ball quite a bit from that point forward and played hard defense getting four of their six sacks the rest of the game while not allowing any more points to the Tars and running the clock out to head home with a big win and hold on to the number one ranking.

Rico Lyons finished the game with 8 rushes for 169 yards and 4 touchdowns while Rico Ogletree added two punt return touchdowns on 4 returns for 138 yards to go with two tackles and an interception. Monty Wright had 8 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 4 tackles for loss while Miguel Carmona, III had 2 sacks. Hughes and Jovan Smith each added touchdown passes to complete scoring.

The Knights move on to a showdown with number 4 Columbus State University on 10/19 at 1pm at Bleckley County High School in Cochran, GA. This game has big implications as it is for the South Atlantic Conference Championship and will have an impact on the National Championship hopes for both teams in the NCFA.