There is an old sports adage that says “It’s is not how you start, but how you finish” and on Saturday afternoon, the Blue Hose proved it to be true knocking off Brevard 42-24 in front of an announced crowd of 4,027 fans in Bailey Memorial Stadium. PC struggled early in the game giving up some big plays on defense, but after some halftime adjustments held the Tornadoes to only 3 points in the second half.

Brevard jumped on PC early taking a 7-0 lead in the first quarter via a 3-yard run by Jordan Ollis. However, the Blue Hose responded later in the quarter when Jeremiah McKie returned a punt 50 yards to tie the game. Brevard put together another successful drive on the next possession. Andre Overholt found a hole in the PC secondary and jogged into the end zone on a 36 yard TD pass from Tanner Wright to take the 14-7 lead with 2:55 left in the first quarter.

Arthur Williams recorded his first touchdown of the season taking the ball on an end-around making some nice moves to elude defenders and trotted into the end zone for a 20 yard touchdown run tying up the score at 14-14. A three and out gave the ball back to PC and they went back to work and put together a 4-play 50 yard drive ending with a 5 yard TD run by LaQua Mayes for PC ‘s first lead of the game, 21-14. PC and Brevard exchanged TD passes on the next two possessions and the Blue Hose took a 21-28 lead into the locker-room for halftime.

Demarcus Rouse scored the only touchdown of the 3rd quarter capping off a 12-play 87 yard drive that extended PC’s lead to 35-21 and ultimately putting the game out of reach for the Tornadoes. A 3 yard TD run by Seth Moreland would close out the scoring for PC and a late fourth quarter FG was all Brevard could put together as they fell to the Blue Hose 42-24.

Overall it was a great day for the PC offense which accumulated 376 yards of total offense. The Blue Hose were a perfect 3-3 in the red zone, only gave up one sack, and didn’t commit a turnover. In addition, PC did a solid job of spreading the ball around as six different players scored a touchdown for the Blue Hose. The offense was led by QB Kaleb Griffin. The redshirt sophomore from Florence, SC was 13-18 for 174 yards and 1 touchdown. Demarcus Rouse and LaQua Mayes combined for 155 yards on the ground and 2 touchdowns to lead PC’s rushing attack. Defensively, Fred Marshall, Isaiah Lynn, DaRon Dickey, and Cory White all had five tackles on the day and freshman defensive linemen Curtis Bey recorded a sack pinning Brevard deep in their own territory. With the win, PC improved to 1-1 overall and is preparing for today’s game against Furman. The Paladins got the best of PC last year winning 31-21 so the Blue Hose will definitely be looking for revenge. Brevard falls to 0-1 and is playing College of Faith today.