Fayetteville, N.C. - Senior wideout Greg Edwards entered Saturday's season finale at Methodist University needing just four catches to break N.C. Wesleyan's career receptions record. The senior from Fredericksburg, Va. wasted little time doing so, hauling in all four in the first half to eclipse former Bishop Orlando Webb's record of 171 receptions from 2006 to 2009. Edwards went on to catch four more passes in the second half to finish with 176 during his career. Unfortunately, the Bishops suffered a 69-62 loss to the host Monarchs in what will go down as the highest scoring game in program history.
With the win, Methodist (8-2, 6-1 USA South) clinched a share of the 2013 USA South regular season title.
Both offenses enjoyed tremendous days, with the Monarchs going up 24-13 early. Edwards' record-tying catch came on a 13-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Robbie Lanier to pull the Bishops to within four points with just over ten minutes left in the second quarter. Lanier's second rushing TD of the half and a 50-yard run by junior Jacques Alston sandwich a Monarch field goal and sent the two teams into the break with NCWC leading 34-27.
In the second half, Methodist knotted the score early in the third quarter after a Bishop fumble gave the Monarchs great field position. The two teams proceeded to trade touchdowns en route to a 48-48 tie heading into the fourth quarter.
Back-to-back TD catches by freshman Devante Batey from QB Dustin Midgett would give the Bishops a 62-55 lead with 8:54 to go, but Methodist countered with yet another score to make it 62-61. A missed PAT looked to haunt the Monarchs late, but MU's defense came up big in the final minutes, forcing a punt with 3:08 to go. Methodist then executed a 95-yard drive that ate up the clock and set up the eventual game-winning score with 14 ticks on the clock.
Lanier and Midgett combined for 455 passing yards and six touchdowns -- three to Batey, two to Edwards and a 45-yarder to freshman Malik Adams. Alston racked up 145 rushing yards and finished the season with a program-record 1,234 yards on the ground.
Defensively, freshman Rakeem Cooper had a season-high 15 tackles, which included two tackles-for-loss, a sack and a fumble recovery. Kenneth Newsome and Chris Hassell chipped in 11 stops apiece.
Wesleyan wraps up its season with a 2-8 overall record.