Oct. 25, 2007

Rome, Ga. - The number four team in the NAIA, Bethel College, beat the Shorter College Hawks football team (5-4, 2-3) at Barron Stadium 44-21 on Thursday night. Bethel (8-1, 6-0) outscored the Hawks 28-7 in the second half and extended its winning streak to seven games.

"I'm real proud of our kids because they just kept fighting and fighting and keeping it going," Jones said. "I can't say anything bad about them in regards to that."

After the teams traded punts on their first two possessions, Shorter picked up on the momentum first with a drive that started on the Bethel five-yard line.

On third-and-four near midfield, Raymone Nesbitt made a trail around to the left and ran for 32 yards to pump new life into Shorter's offense.

Quarterback Drew Elrod ran the ball in from seven yards out four plays later and the PAT by Lukas Gonzalez put the Hawks up 7-0 with 1:27 left in the opening quarter.

The Wildcats marched right back down the field and scored on Terrence Bell's six-yard run while Wininger's kick tied the game in the first minutes of the second quarter.

Bethel recovered the first of two Shorter fumbles and turned it into a touchdown before the Hawks capitalized on Bethel's mistake as defensive lineman Curtis John tipped a pass and brought it down on the Wildcats' 19.

Elrod made a clutch pass to a waiting Kevin Cone in the end zone with 31 seconds left in the first half.

After a costly penalty as the clock ran out in the second half, the Bethel Wldcats scored a field goal before halftime to go into the lockers, up 16-14.

Shorter's only other score came with 12:57 left in the game as freshman running back Nick Dodson ran 12 yards to record his first touchdown of his college career.

Gonzalez, who was 3-for-3 in PAT's, made the extra point to make it 31-21 before Bethel went on to score two more times.

The Hawks had 401 yards of total offense in the game, with Elrod finishing the night as the leading rusher for Shorter with 106 yards on 20 carries. He also went 15-of-23 in the air with 148 yards passing and six points.

The Hawks will travel to Cumberland University in Lebenon, Tenn., next Saturday before finishing the season at home on Nov. 10 hosting Lambuth.