GREENWOOD, S.C – The Erskine College football team (0-4) was defeated by North Greenville University (3-1) by a score of 38-7 as the Crusaders scored the final 38 points of the game to knock off the Fleet on Saturday afternoon at J.W. Babb Stadium.
 
THE BASICS
Final | North Greenville 38, Erskine 7
Records | Erskine 0-4, North Greenville 3-1
Location | Greenwood, S.C. (J.W. Babb Stadium)
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

• North Greenville RB Dre' Williams had 169 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the way for the Crusaders, who totaled 427 yards on the ground.
• Erskine QB Bryce Jeffcoat earned his first start of the season and went 21-for-36 for 229 yards and a touchdown.
• Erskine WR Javian Bellamy had a team-high 10 catches for 148 yards including a 67-yard touchdown reception that opened the scoring.
• The Fleet's defense was led by Brandon Lane (14 tackles) and Joshua Kamoto (11 tackles) as both teams played turnover-free football.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter:
Two negative plays made by the Erskine defense forced a North Greenville three-and-out to open the game, but despite a few first downs on the Fleet's opening drive, they were forced to punt the ball back to NGU. The Crusaders moved the ball into Erskine territory but a failed fourth-down attempt gave the Fleet offense the ball back. On the first play of the drive, Jeffcoat found a streaking Bellamy down the middle of the field, who caught the pass in stride and ran it all the way in for a 67-yard touchdown to give Erskine an early 7-0 lead. Both offenses were forced to punt on their next possession, but an 84-yard rushing touchdown by the Crusaders on third down tied the game at seven after the first quarter.

Second Quarter:
The defenses took control of the game, and following another short Erskine drive, NGU took back over, but on their own two-yard line after a 64-yard punt from Bennett Caldwell. The Crusaders got a 59-yard carry on the first play of the drive, and ran the ball the length of the field over just five plays before punching it in from seven yards out to take their first lead of the afternoon, 14-7. The Fleet offense went three-and-out and a 10-play drive from North Greenville on the ensuing possession ran almost all of the remaining five minutes left in the half off the clock before a 24-yard catch and run put the Crusaders ahead 21-7 at the halftime break.
 
Third Quarter:
The Fleet again were forced to punt after going three-and-out to open the second half and NGU added another rushing touchdown to extend their lead to 28-7. That scored remained the same as the Erskine offense was stymied by the Crusaders following some early success. 
 
Fourth Quarter:
A nine-play drive from North Greenville that carried over into the early moments of the fourth quarter ended with a 45-yard field goal to make it a 31-7 game. On the next drive, Jeffcoat found Bellamy 31-yard reception as Erskine moved the ball into the redzone, but the drive stalled as Erskine turned the ball over on downs. North Greenville built on that momentum with a 9-play, 71-yard drive that took almost five and a half minutes off the clock as they delivered the final blow in a 38-7 victory over the Fleet.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Fleet's 2021 fall season continues as Erskine is back at home next Saturday, October 2 when they take on Virginia University - Lynchburg at 2:00 p.m. for homecoming.
 
Follow the Flying Fleet all season long to get schedule updates, scores, highlights, photo galleries, game notes and more at www.erskinesports.com.
 
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