Maryville, Tenn. - Freshman Anthony Janezic tallied a career-high 20 tackles and recorded a 68-yard fumble return for a touchdown, but it would be not be enough as his N.C. Wesleyan football team suffered a 42-28 loss to league-leading Maryville College Saturday on the road. The two teams battled frigid, wet conditions throughout the contest, which ended with the Scots out-scoring the Bishops 21-7 in the second half to pull away.
Wesleyan's raced out a to a 14-7 lead with touchdowns on their first two possessions. The opening kickoff featured a 36-yard return by sophomore Malik Adams, and four Jacques Alston rushes later, NCWC was on the board. The Bishops' second possession was highlighed by a 13-yard TD reception by Adams from junior Dustin Midgett.
Maryville reeled off the next 14 points of the contest to go up 21-14, but with less than 15 seconds remaining, the Scots failed on an attempt to spike the ball to stop the clock. The fumble was scooped up by Janezic, and 68 yards later, the freshman was celebrating his second defensive touchdown of the season.
Tied 21-21 at the half, the Scots pulled away in third quarter with a trio of unanswered touchdowns. Midgett would hit Elgin Counts with an 18-yard scoring strike early in the fourth quarter to get Wesleyan to within two scores, but it would be the only points of the period as both teams struggled against freezing temperatures.
Alston finished with 110 rushing yards on the day, while Midgett completed 14 passes for 145 yards. Defensively, freshman Jaylon Johnson joined Janezic in double-digit tackles with 11. With 20 takedowns on the day, Janezic missed the program's single-game record by just one stop.
Wesleyan (4-4, 3-3 USA South) travels to Greensboro next Saturday for a 1:00pm match-up with the Pride.