Reinhardt battles from behind to blast Faulkner 55-27
 WALESKA, Ga. – A game that started out dream-like turned into a nightmare for 10th-ranked Faulkner.
With tailback Joe Jones running wild – having rambled for more than 200 yards and three touchdowns in just over a quarter of play – the Eagles built a 21-3 lead over No. 13 Reinhardt. Over the next 40 minutes of the game, however, the home-standing Eagles scored 52 unanswered points en route to a 55-27 pounding of Charlie Boren’s team here on a misty Saturday afternoon at Ken White Field.
What was expected to be a hard-fought bird fight turned into anything but, as Reinhardt converted on numerous third and fourth down opportunities. The subsequent long drives seemed to wear down the Faulkner defense, and Reinhardt grabbed total control. A late touchdown pass from Clayton Nicholas to Eric Reeves ended the Eagles’ drought in the closing minutes, but did little to brighten the Faulkner spirits.
Jones was in control on the ground in the early going, scoring on runs of 39, 3 and 93 yards to help the Eagles race to a 21-3 lead early in the second quarter. From there, however, Reinhardt took charge as the Faulkner defense couldn’t make a play to get off the field. With Thompson at the helm, Reinhardt put together drives of 73, 52 and 80 yards on a combined 30 plays to grab the lead at halftime. Dennis’s 1-yard dive as the clock hit zero, along with Nick Marquez’s third extra point of the day, sent the hosts to the locker room with a 24-21 advantage.
Reinhardt added a pair of third-quarter touchdowns – Niagel Curtis scoring his second touchdown on a 4-yard run and quarterback Ryan Thompson hitting Austin Beauchamp from 55 yards out – to build the lead to 38-21 after three quarters. Marquez’s 33-yard field goal, along with Sam Jones 9-yard score and Marcus Miler’s 45-yard return of a blocked punt provided the final tallies in the 52-point run.
Jones ended the day with 224 yards on 18 carries, collecting only seven yards after halftime. Nicholas was held under 200 yards passing for the first time this season, finishing with 195 yards on 21 completions in 36 attempts. Faulkner’s 465 yards were far shy of Reinhardt’s 646, with 347 coming from Thompson through the air.
In the game, Reinhardt was 10-of-20 on third down conversions and 3-for-3 on converting fourth downs, numbers that will frequently result in a dominant performance.
“We just couldn’t get off the field in key situations,” Boren said. “That has to change, and we’ll be working on it hard at practice this week.”
Faulkner travels to Columbia, Ky., next Saturday afternoon to face top-ranked and MSC West rival Lindsey Wilson. The game kicks off at1:30.
