THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee Tech 56, Maryville College 7
TENNESSEE TECH 56, MARYVILLE 7
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech put its Fastest 60 Minutes in Football on display at Tucker Stadium for the first time Thursday night, and the result was a flashy evening of offense in a 56-7 victory over Maryville College.
The Golden Eagles scored 42 first-half points and racked up 566 yards of total offense, entertaining a crowd of 7,232 with plenty of big plays on both sides of the ball.
Quarterback Tre Lamb threw four touchdown passes, going 11-for-14 for 222 yards and running back Dontey Gay notched his second-consecutive 100-yard game, carrying 19 times for 155 yards and a score.
Wide receiver Tim Benford was electric in the earlygoing, scoring two touchdowns on six catches and racking up 131 total receiving yards.
Tennessee Tech set the tone early as Cody Forbes returned the opening kickoff 59 yards to the Maryville 33-yard-line and Lamb found Benford for a 25-yard touchdown pass on the Golden Eagles' second play from scrimmage.
After forcing Maryville three-and-out, Tech turned the ball over to Gay on its second possession, and the running back racked up 66 yards on four carries, including a 19-yard touchdown scamper up the middle.
Then Tech opened up its bag of big plays, first getting a 71-yard touchdown pass when Benford caught a short delivery from Lamb, then reversed field and ran all the way to paydirt.
On the Golden Eagles' next offensive possession, sophomore Doug Page caught a pass over the middle from Lamb at the Maryville eight-yard-line, then absorbed a hit that jarred the ball loose. Fortunately for Tech, freshman receiver Ron Durbin was there to pounce on the ball and take it the rest of the way for a touchdown, putting the Golden Eagles firmly in control with a 28-0 lead.
Tech racked up 342 rushing yards on the night and accumulated 224 yards through the air. Maryville finished with 233 total yards, 159 of which came through the air.
Three Golden Eagles gained more than 50 rushing yards, with backup quarterback Darian Stone racking up 80 yards on just three carries and Cody Forbes carrying for 67 yards on eight rushes.
Tech was impressive on special teams as well - junior Caleb Mitchell returned four punts for 46 yards, averaging 18 per return, and placekicker Zach Sharp was a perfect 8-for-8 on extra points.
Maryville quarterback Tim Conner finished 13-for-22 for 108 yards and two interceptions. Wesley Idlette was his favorite target, hauling in seven passes for 54 yards. The Scots' rushing attack was led by Travis Felder, who carried 11 times for 71 yards.
On defense, Tech was paced by eight tackles from Tra'Darius Goff. Dwight Evans and Blake Adams each notched seven tackles.
Travis Adkins intercepted a second-quarter pass at the Maryville 11-yard-line and ran it into the end zone, putting Tech up 35-0 with just more than 10 minutes left to play in the half.
The Golden Eagles' final score of the half came when Lamb scrambled out of trouble, then hit fullback Charlie Stevens over the middle for a 38-yard touchdown pass as time expired. Stevens bulldozed his way past a defender inside the five-yard-line and dove over the line to give Tech a 42-0 halftime lead.