MARS HILL, N.C. --- Jimmy Urzua threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns and Jervon Newton added a pair of rushing scores as Mars Hill University defeated Tusculum University 34-27 in South Atlantic Conference action Saturday afternoon from Meares Stadium.
With the win, the Lions (7-2, 7-1 SAC) won the outright SAC Mountain Division championship and advanced to next Saturday's SAC Championship game. The Pioneers (8-2, 6-2 SAC), who were ranked sixth in the NCAA Super Region 2, saw their six-game winning streak come to an end by allowing season highs in points (34) and total yards (418).
Urzua was just 10-for-14 passing, but had three completions of 50 yards in more including an 84-yard touchdown to Malik Laurent that eventually stood as the game-winner late in the third quarter. Laurent had four catches for 185 yards and two scores.
Mekhai Johnson ran for a season-high 104 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns for the Pioneers, while Tyler Burke had six receptions for 89 yards and a score and Mydreon Vines had four grabs for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Tusculum quarterback Tre Simmons was 16-for-32 for 187 yards and two touchdowns, along with two interceptions and a lost fumble. Simmons also ran the ball 16 times for 49 yards as the Pioneers rolled up 156 yards on the ground in the game.
Newton had 29 carries for the Lions and finished with 94 yards, scoring on a 1-yard run in the first quarter and a 14-yard rush in the third. Mars Hill had 155 yards rushing as a team on 47 carries.
Tusculum went three-and-out on its first possession, but a roughing the punter penalty gave the Pioneers an automatic first down. However, Tusculum could not take advantage and was forced to punt from midfield. The Pioneer defense would come through, stopping the Lions for loss on third-and-short and regaining possession at its 41 on the punt.
Follwoing another Tusculum punt, Mars Hill would spring the first big play of the game with a 55-yard pass from Urzua to Laurent to the Pioneer 15. Three plays later, Newton would plow in from a yard out to give Mars Hill a 7-0 lead with 6:15 left in the opening quarter, capping a 7-play, 81-yard drive.
A 26-yard pass from Simmons to Mydreon Vines on third-and-5 put the Pioneers in Mars Hill territory for the first time. On the next play, Johnson broke two tackles at the line of scrimmage and another in the secondary and raced 44 yards for a touchdown. However, the extra point was wide and Mars Hill retained a 7-6 lead with 4:35 left in the opening quarter.
The Lions would come back with a 7-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a 34-yard scoring pass on third-and-8 from Urzua to a leaping Laurent in the end zone, which gave Mars Hill a 14-6 lead with 56.2 seconds left in the opening quarter.
A career-long 70-yard punt from the Pioneers' Andrew Cantrell, sixth-longest in program history, would pin the Lions at their own 3 at the start of the second quarter. The Tusculum defense would come up with its Division II-leading 19th interception of the season by Jermaine Witherspoon at the Mars Hill 23.
Tusculum would convert on a fourth-and-2 from the Mars Hill 5 on a run out of the wildcat formation by Johnson, and a pass interference call on Mars Hill set up the Pioneers to score on a 2-yard sweep by Johnson with 8:01 left in the first half. The extra point from Juan Villasenor capped the 10-play, 23-yard drive that covered 5:37 and cut the Mars Hill lead to 14-13.
A pair of 12-yard completions from Urzua, one to Ty Snelson and the other to Laurent, would move the Lions to the Tusculum 17. However, the drive would stall and led to a 35-yard field-goal attempt from Andre Labat into the wind that was good, pushing Mars Hill's lead to 17-13 with 2:03 to go in the opening half.
Tusculum drove to the Mars Hill 24 in the final minute of the half, but a strip-sack of Simmons by Jabril Norman led to a recovery from Mars Hill's Tarshawn Reed at the Lions 37 with 32 seconds remaining.
In the second half, Mars Hill would punt on its first possession and Tusculum would drive down field to take its first lead of the game as Simmons hit Burke in stride down the middle for 41 yards and a touchdown. The PAT from Villasenor would give the Pioneers a 20-17 lead with 10:03 left in the third quarter.
Mars Hill came right back as a 50-yard completion from Urzua to Keith Coffee set up the Lions at the Tusculum 25. Newton would carry the ball the next three plays, including a 14-yard jaunt up the middle for a touchdown and a 24-20 Lions lead with 8:43 left in the quarter. The touchdown was the first allowed by the Pioneers in the third quarter this season, and the first in their last 13 games since Oct. 23, 2021 against Barton.
Following a Tusculum punt, Mars Hill broke the game open as Urzua hit Laurent in stride down the right sideline for 84 yards and a 31-20 Lions lead with 3:42 to play in the third quarter.
Tusculum's next drive went inside the Mars Hill 40, but an interception by Nick Jackson and 27-yard return gave the Lions the ball at the Pioneer 47. Mars Hill would drive to the Tusculum 8, but settled for a 25-yard field goal from Labat to take a 34-20 lead with 11:14 remaining.
The Pioneers would cut the deficit in half as Simmons capped a 6-play, 51-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Mydreon Vines with 6:57 left. An 18-yard completion from Simmons to Burke and a face-mask penalty against the Lions helped the Pioneers moved down the field in just 1:24.
Tusculum's defense would force a Mars Hill punt with just over four minutes left, and the Pioneers took over at their own 11 with 4:08 remaining. Facing fourth-and-1 at their own 20, Johnson ran out of the wildcat for five yards to keep the drive alive. A sack on third-and-1 left the Pioneers facing fourth-and-11 from their 24, and a desperation pass from Simmons toward Vines was picked off by Lovelle Williams with 57 seconds left to seal the Mars Hill win.
Wesley Scott led the Tusculum defense with 13 tackles, including two for loss, while Earnest Johnson III had 10 stops. Ryan Dolce added eight tackles for the Pioneers, while Trejen Fox-Birdwell had the lone sack of the game for Tusculum. The Pioneer defense limited the Lions to 4-for-12 on third downs.
Mars Hill's defense was paced by Landon Honeycutt with 11 tackles, with seven apiece for Williams and Norman. The Lions held Tusculum to 5-for-16 on third-down conversions.
Cantrell averaged 45.4 yards on five punts, with all five inside the 20 to match his season and career high set at Chowan on Sept. 10. Cantrell also tied his brother Hunter (2014-17) for the Tusculum career record with 241 punts and moved within 71 yards of Hunter's record of 9,504 career punt yards.
Tusculum will play at Lenoir-Rhyne (7-3, 6-2 SAC) in their regular-season finale next Saturday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m.
