MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - The Berry College Vikings dominated against their first conference opponent, closing out the Alumni game by defeating the Rhodes College Lynx 54-14.
Andrew Hunter had a phenomenal game, outscoring the Lynx by himself with five touchdowns. John Turner had an amazing day on the ground, racking up 120 yards on six attempts.
Rhodes kicked off the ball to give the Vikings the first possession of the game and pinned them back near their own 20.
Colby Sikes had an 8-yard rush to get things going for the Vikings' offense. Third and Seven at the 38, the Lynx looked to get off the field, but
Christian Lewis found
Nate Lyons for a 28-yard pass up the middle to keep the drive alive.
Andrew Hunter finished the drive for the Vikings, fooling Rhodes on an option play and taking the remaining 15 yards himself. The Alabama native continued to have himself a quarter, finding
Colby Sikes out of the backfield for his second touchdown and securing another rushing touchdown following a seven-yard run. The Vikings' defense played phenomenally in the first. They were stifling, applying pressure to prevent the Lynx from sustaining any offense, resulting in a shutout. The score at the end of the first was 19-0.
Rhodes wrapped up their first drive with a punt to begin the second quarter, giving the Vikings offense the ball on their own six. For the first time, the Lynx defense was able to get off the field early, forcing the Vikings to punt. Their offense capitalized on the opportunity, ending the shutout to cut the deficit to two scores. Rhodes couldn't maintain this momentum, however, as on the next drive,
Christian Lewis cut up their defense to set the Vikings up at the Lynx's 25. To finish the drive, the offensive line created a hole for John Turner to run through and find the end zone. Adding insult to injury,
Christian Lewis found a lane and ran it into the endzone to convert a two-point play, making the lead 20. The next Viking drive, they kept the ball on the ground and
Colby Sikes muscled his way free for another Berry touchdown, making the score 33-7. Rhodes looked to make up some ground before the end of the half, but the Vikings' defense hit the Lynx QB on his release, and
Carver Cole was on top of it, diving for an interception to give Berry the ball to close the half.
The story for the third quarter was the Vikings' defense. They completely shut down the Lynx and put the offense in excellent position by forcing Rhodes to commit three turnovers. The Vikings ran up the score behind the play of
Andrew Hunter, the Alabama native punching in two more touchdowns to bring his total to five at the end of the quarter.
The game was all but over entering the fourth with the score 54-7, but the Lynx put together a drive to earn a touchdown at the beginning of the fourth. Rhodes needed everything to go right to have a chance, but the odds were not in their favor. The Vikings didn't need to score at all in the fourth closing out the game 54-14.
The Vikings remain at Berry next week, looking to defeat the Trinity University Tigers on Mountain Day on Saturday, October 11, at 6:00 p.m.
