GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Freshman D.J. Haney rushed for 171 yards and three touchdowns and senior quarterback Kyle Dickey also accounted for three touchdowns as Tusculum College defeated Brevard College 49-10 in South Atlantic Conference football action Thursday night at Pioneer Field.
The Pioneers (5-5, 3-3 SAC) have rebounded from a 1-4 start to the season as TC has won its last three games and four of its last five and will be playing for a winning season next Saturday (Nov. 15) when they travel to cross-mountain rival Mars Hill University.
Tusculum racked up 420 yards offensively, including 261 on the ground. The Pioneer defense limited the Tornados (0-10, 0-7 SAC) to 200 totals yards and BC's lowest point production of the 2014. The TC defense also forced three turnovers, which the Pioneers converted into three touchdowns.
Tusculum, who went 0-for-11 on third down conversions last weekend against UNC Pembroke, converted 10 of its 12 third down tries Thursday night.
Dickey went 16-for-20 for 159 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for a career-high 83 yards and a touchdown. Haney's 171 yards is tied for the 10th-best rushing performance in school history and the most by a Pioneer this century.
Tusculum junior wideout Justin Houston became the program's all-time receptions leader with his four catches on Thursday, giving him 215 for his career, surpassing former TC All-American Ryan Tallent (214, 2006-2009).
There were also two more offensive milestones as junior Ken Funnye and senior Johnathan Diliberto each joined the 1,000-yard club for receiving. Funnye posted six grabs for 30 yards, giving him 1,027 yards. Dilberto posted two receptions for 36 yards and a touchdown as he has 1,022 receiving yards in his career.
Brevard took the opening kickoff and marched 65 yards in 14 plays, in a drive that took 8:31 off the clock, capped off by a Kelvin Jeter seven-yard touchdown run. TC fumbled on its opening offensive play at the TC 40 setting up the Tornados with great field position. But the TC defense held Brevard to a three-and-out as the Tornado were forced to punt.
Haney opened the ensuing possession with his 52-yard run down the near sideline into BC territory at the 36-yard line. Haney would complete the scoring drive with his 12-yard TD run at the 2:05 mark of the quarter. Logan Cornelius' kick tied the game at 7-7.
Two plays later, BC's Kevin Herbst was hit by senior defensive end Caushaud Lyons, who caused and recovered a fumble at the BC 41. Dickey completed a 26-yard pass to Justin Houston to the BC 15. Three plays into the second quarter, Haney capped off the drive with a one-yard plunge to give the Pioneers the lead for good.
Later in the second quarter, Dickey ran into the end zone from five yards out to increase the Tusculum lead to 21-7.
Brevard added a score just before halftime when Alex Noboa drilled a 34-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 21-10 at the intermission.
Tusculum outscored Brevard 28-0 in the second half as the Pioneers as Dickey threw touchdown passes to senior tight end Wesley Powell (3 yards) and Diliberto (29 yards). Haney scored his third TD of the game and fifth of the season, while Justin Ware posted a 12-yard touchdown run late in the game to provide the final victory margin.
Herbst led the Tornados with his 75 rushing yards on 16 carries, while also passing for 21 yards, going 2-for-7 on the evening.
BC linebacker Michael Gruber added to the SAC leading tackle-tally with his game-high 11 tackles.
Tusculum's L'Keith Brown led the Pioneers with eight tackles, including one behind the line of scrimmage, while Akeem Peoples made seven stops. Lyons tallied six tackles and two quarterback hurries in the Tusculum win.
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