Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
9-5-15
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College posted the third-highest scoring total in school history in Saturday's 77-13 football victory at Greensboro College in the 19th annual Gate City Soup Bowl game.
Senior Matt Pawlowski completed 17-of-28 passes for 278 yards and five touchdowns in the first half, which staked the Quakers (1-0) to a 49-6 lead. His final strike, a 47-completion to Adam Smith, came on the first half's unusual final play. Guilford's Tyler Hunt had a career-long 48-yard field goal negated by a penalty with one second left in the half. After a Quakers' delay-of-game penalty and with no time remaining on the clock, Pawlowski hit Smith with his fifth passing score of the game. Smith finished with eight catches for 158 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, which earned the Quakers' game Most Valuable Player Award.
Guilford moved the ball at will in the first half and converted all four of its fourth-down attempts, which came in the first half. Pawlowski connected with Smith from 53 yards away on a fourth-and-six on the game's opening possession. The pair also connected on a five-yard strike early in the second quarter for a 21-0 Guilford advantage.
Quakers' sophomore De'Eric Bell compiled 223 all-purpose yards and scored twice in two quarters of work. He ran for a team-high 48 yards and a touchdown and also returned a punt 60 yards for a second-quarter touchdown.
Guilford's defense pressured Greensboro for most of the game and limited the Pride to two-of-11 on third-down conversions. The Quakers forced two turnovers, a fumble recovered by Reggie Bullard and Nathan Campbell's first career interception. Both plays came in the third quarter. Robert Smith made a club-best six tackles.
Despite having his career-long field goal taken off the board, Hunt set Guilford standards for career PATs (118) and most PATs in a game (11). He also averaged 58 yards on two punts and had three touchbacks among 10 kickoffs.
Greensboro quarterback Mac Graham completed 12-of-27 passes for 212 yards with one interception. He also accounted for one of the Pride's touchdowns with a one-yard scoring run in the third quarter. Cortez Vernon tallied Greensboro's first score on a one-yard run with less than a minute left before halftime, which marked the Pride's first points against Guilford since 2013. Micah McMaster made a game-high eight tackles (three solo) for Greensboro and won the team's Most Valuable Player Award.
Guilford also retained the Soup Cup Award, presented to the school that raises the most foodstuffs in a canned-good drive between the two schools. The Quakers collected 5,086 items to the Pride's 2,347. All 7,433 cans benefit the Greensboro Urban Ministry, continuing a tradition started when the rivalry began in 1997.
Coach Chris Rusiewicz, now 4-1 in Soup Bowl games, takes his club to Methodist University next Saturday (9/12) for a 1:00 p.m. contest.