Canes Win Thriller Over ASA Miami

Louisburg, NC – The Louisburg Hurricanesrattled off their third straight win on Saturday when they defeated ASA College Miami, 23-17, in Louisburg. With the victory, the Hurricanes moved to 4-2 on the season and dropped the Silver Storm to 3-4. 

Freshman quarterback Nathan Harden was an efficient 16-22 and threw for 158 yards. He also led the Hurricanes in rushing with 60 yards on the ground. The Greenville, Virginia product threw touchdown strikes to wide receivers Elijah Rice and Ivoree Atkinson and on the season is completing passes at a 62.8% clip. 

On the ground, Harden led all Hurricanes' rushers and was trailed by sophomore Jacobi Emery, who had 51 yards on just eight carries. 

Louisburg opened the game's scoring on two field goals from freshman kicker Vincent Burlingame. With five games reported, Burlingame is a perfect 6-6 on the season on field goals, and 10-12 on PATs. ASA Miami answered with a field goal of their own in the second quarter to send the teams to the locker room with the Hurricanes up, 6-3. 

With 4:40 on the clock in the third Harden hit Atkinson from 40 yards out to put Louisburg up, 13-3. A third field goal from Burlington in the fourth had the Hurricanes leading, 16-3. ASA Miami scored on a 15-yard TD pass and added the PAT to trail by six midway through the fourth. 

A 55-yard score from Harden to Rice ultimately proved the winning margin with 3:12 left in the game. The Silver Storm responded with a 58-yard touchdown pass from Matt Winzelerwith just 1:58 left but the Hurricanes held on for the six-point victory.

The Louisburg defense picked off four Silver Storm passes on the afternoon, including two interceptions by Devon Beckford. Austin Richardson and Tahmir Anderson had the other interceptions for the Hurricanes. 

Louisburg sacked Winzeler four times and helped pressure him into his four turnovers through the air. Leading the rush for the Hurricanes was sophomore linebacker Prentice Murphy, who had two sacks and three TFLs. He also had nine tackles on the afternoon to lead Louisburg along with freshman backerDai'quan Baker. On the year, Murphy leads the squad with 27 total tackles. 

Hurricanes Notes: Sophomore punter Jacob Benjamin helped Louisburg win the field position game by averaging 43.5 yards per punt. He placed one kick inside the ASA Miami 20 and booted another 52 yards. 

Richardson, Beckford, and Anderson returned their interceptions for a combined 93 yards, good for an average of just over 23 yards per pick. The Hurricanes are second in the nation with 14 interceptions returned for 328 yards this season.

Devonta Davis had six tackles for the Hurricanes on defense on Saturday, followed by four apiece from Brian Smith, Marco Depaz, and Milton Mosley.  

Next Up: The Hurricanes host Hocking College (Ohio)(1-6) at noon on October 27 as part of Louisburg's Homecoming Weekend. The Hurricanes closed out their perfect 2017 regular season with a 45-28 victory on October 28 of last year.