FINAL SCORE: Louisburg College 35, Apprentice School 2

RECORDS: Louisburg College 5-0, Apprentice School 0-5

LOCATION: Franklinton, N.C.

IN BRIEF: The Builders kept the Hurricanes to 14 points in the first half, but couldn't find success in the redzone. Louisburg would score another 15 points in the 3rd quarter to put the game out of reach.

HOW THEY SCORED

• After a Brenden O'Neil punt pinned Louisburg on its own 14-yard line, Darron Downing broke free on the first play of the drive, rushing for 86 yards and the score. The touchdown took up 21 seconds and gave the Hurricanes an early 7-0 lead with 3:33 to play in the opening quarter.
• The Builders responded by driving 33 yards to the Louisburg 37-yard line, but a 3rd-and-12 pass was picked off at the Louisburg 15 and returned 5 yards.
• Backed up to its own 15-yard line, Louisburg took over on offense with 7:36 to play in the 2nd quarter. On 2nd and 8, the Builders' defense got to Downing in the backfield as I. Gordon forced a fumble and recovered it at the Hurricanes' 14-yard line. However, on 2nd and 10, Louisburg's defense would force another interception, this time resulting in a touchback.
• With 2:33 remaining in the first half, Louisburg started its drive on its own 35-yard line. A 38-yard Downing pass to Brooks Cunningham and a 12-yard run by Nehemiah Harris helped set up a 1-yard rushing touchdown for RJ George. The score capped off a 6-play, 65-yard drive by the Hurricanes that ate up 1:35 and gave Louisburg a 14-0 lead.
• The Builders found themselves near midfield with 0:51 left in the opening half. After a 9-yard O'Neil pass to Dustin Hiner, the Apprentice School called a timeout with 0:40 on the clock. The Hurricanes would get their 3rd pick on the next play, however, and would run out the remaining 0:18 to take a 14-0 lead into the locker room.
• Both teams punted on their first drives of the 3rd quarter, but Louisburg's Thomas Jones would return O'Neil's punt 75 yards for a score. The Hurricanes mishandled the snap on the point after try, but were still able to get into the endzone for a 2-point conversion, giving them a 22-0 lead with 9:16 left in the 3rd quarter.
• The Apprentice School started its next drive on its own 25-yard line. The Builders marched 46 yards on 13 plays to the Louisburg 24-yard line, but the Hurricane defense sacked O'Neil on 4th-and-9 to force a turnover on downs.
• On the ensuing drive, Farrell Murchison broke off for a 52-yard rushing touchdown to put the Hurricanes up 29-0. The run capped off a 4-play, 71-yard drive that left 2:21 to play in the 3rd quarter.
• On its first drive of the 4th quarter, Louisburg picked up 58 yards on 7 plays as George found the endzone for a second time with a 6-yard rushing score. But on the extra point attempt, M. Scott broke up the middle of the Hurricane offensive line to block the kick. The freshman linebacker picked up the ball and raced 98 yards to put the Builders on the scoreboard, 35-2.
• Taking over at their own 8-yard line and with 7:34 to play, the Builders drove 81 yards on 14 plays to find themselves on the Louisburg 11-yard line. The highlight of the drive came on 3rd-and-5 from the Louisburg 45-yard line as James Green went full-extension down the right sideline to haul in a 28-yard strike from O'Neil. The Builders were knocking on the Hurricanes' doorstep, but O'Neil couldn't connect with his receivers on 3rd and 4th downs. Louisburg would take over with 0:11 remaining in the game, running one play to end it.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

• The Apprentice School picked up 18 first downs, compared to just 12 for Louisburg College.
• The Builders committed two more penalties (8-for-55 yards), but the Hurricanes gave up more yardage (6-for-132 yards).
• The Builders dominated possession, holding the ball for 41:16. The Hurricanes controlled the ball for only 18:44.
• The Apprentice School defense recovered both of the fumbles they caused. However, Louisburg's pass rush totaled 4 sacks for 48 yards and forced 3 interceptions.
• The Builders threw for more yards (68-to-36), but the Hurricanes picked up more yards on the ground (323-to-152).
• Hiner led the Builders' rush attack with 60 yards on 13 attempts, including a long of 20 yards.
• O'Neil punted 7 times for 234 yards, including two kicks that pinned the Hurricanes within their own 20-yard line.
• Lou Picolo, who was named USCAA Special Teams Player of the Week for his effort in the loss to Washington & Lee, returned 5 kickoffs for 125 yards, including a long of 34 yards.
• Louisburg had two running backs break 100 yards on the day. Murchison carried the ball 9 times for 126 yards, while Downing ran 8 times for 105 yards.

NEXT UP

The Builders travel to Alfred, NY next Saturday, October 17, for a 12 p.m. conference game against Alfred State at Pioneer Stadium. The Apprentice School hosted the Pioneers last season on November 1st, with the 39-34 Builder victory the lone win of the season. The teams were tied 20-20 at the half and the Apprentice School used a 13-point 4th quarter to hold off Alfred State for the win.