CLINTON, S.C. (courtesy gobluehose.com) — Redshirt sophomore quarterback Ren Hefley threw for 538 yards and an FCS single-game record 10 touchdowns as the Presbyterian College football team opened the Kevin Kelley era with an 84-43 victory over St. Andrews Sept. 4 at Bailey Memorial Stadium.
OPENING KICK
- Hefley opened his Blue Hose career with a PC DI record 10 touchdowns totaling 538 yards. He added a Blue Hose DI record 38 completions on the afternoon.
- Hefley finished second in the Presbyterian DI record book with 538 passing yards as he was second only to Tim Webb who totaled 648 during a 2007 game against North Greenville.
- Hefley also set an FCS record with his 10 passing scores.
- Freshman Jalyn Witcher paced the Presbyterian receiving core with 156 yards and three touchdowns in his debut. Matthew Rivera added 137 yards on a team-high eight catches with two touchdowns.
- The Blue Hose offense accounted for 12 passing touchdowns, 814 yards of offense, and 84 points all being Blue Hose DI program records on Saturday.
- Witcher (156 yards) & Rivera (137) became the first Blue Hose duo to account for 100+ receiving yards since the spring season finale when Pearson and Bachelder hit the 100+ mark against Drake.
- Witcher’s three touchdowns tied a Presbyterian DI record for most receiving scores in a game.
- The 621 total passing yards by the Blue Hose is second-most as a team in the DI era as 648 is the benchmark against North Greenville.
- The Blue Hose 56 points in the opening half is the most that Presbyterian has recorded in a DI contest and the 84 total is also a DI program record.
- Tyler Huff added a seven-for-nine passing line with a pair of passing scores and also added a receiving score.
- Jayden Martin led the defense with eight stops, while Keegan Halloran added seven tackles.
- Jarrett Nagy and Campbell Watson each totaled 1.5 sacks in Saturday’s contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- PC got out to a fast start with a one-yard reception from Hefley to Bachelder to take the early 6-0 lead.
- Presbyterian kept the momentum with another quick pass pattern to Jalen Jones for a 62-yard connection to take a 14-0 lead.
- St. Andrews got on the board with an 18-yard rush to cut the lead to 14-7 midway through the first quarter.
- The Blue Hose continued the momentum with a 79-yard pass pattern to Witcher to extend the lead to 20-7.
- Hefley and Witcher connected again to push the lead out to 28-7 on a 36-yard reception late in the first quarter.
- The Knights added a late score in the first from 46 yards out to make it 28-14 after one quarter.
- Hefley connected with Huff for a nine-yard reception to make it 35-14 just a minute into the second quarter.
- The Knights took advantage of a PC turnover to cut the deficit to 13, 35-22 with 9:16 to play in the first half.
- Huff and Rivera connected for an eight-yard pass play to make it 41-22.
- St. Andrews recorded a 21-yard rush to cut the lead down to 41-29.
- Hefley closed the first half with a pair of scores connecting with Jones and Witcher to give PC a 56-29 halftime lead.
- Hefley connected on his eighth score of the ballgame to open the second half connecting with Brayden Cash.
- St. Andrews pushed in a four-yard score to make it 63-36. PC responded once again as Hefley connected with Rivera for a 49-yard score.
- The teams traded scores to close out the third and open the fourth giving Hefley his 10th score of the day.
- Huff finished off the Blue Hose scoring with a 14-yard pass play to Jacob Najmabadi to give PC the 84-43 victory.