Hickory, N.C. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Football Team (2-6, 2-2) suffered a 49-0 shutout loss to Mars Hill (3-5, 1-3) Saturday afternoon in a South Atlantic Conference game at Moretz Stadium.

The Lions' Malik Prescott (Screven, Ga.) rushed for 244 yards and two touchdowns as Mars Hill finished with 373 yards on the ground in handing the Bears their second shutout defeat of the season.

Prescott scored on a one-yard run to open the scoring in the first quarter and added a 74-yard touchdown run in the third stanza as the Lions rolled up 478 yards of total offense in the victory.

Mars Hill quarterback Austin Brown (Asheville, N.C.) threw three touchdown passes – one to Keshaun Taylor (Homestead, Fla.) and two to Craig Rucker (Leesburg, Fla.) in the second half – as the Lions snapped a four-game losing streak.  Taylor's touchdown catch from 25 yards out with 1:35 left in the second quarter gave Mars Hill a 21-0 advantage heading into halftime.

Lenoir-Rhyne freshman running back Darnell Jackson (Piedmont, Ala.) finished with 59 yards rushing and redshirt freshman defensive back Sherrod Williams (Edison, Ga.) totaled nine tackles in the loss.  Lenoir-Rhyne finished with 243 yards of total offense including 149 on the ground but turned the ball over four times.

Mars Hill's Robert Morgan (North Augusta, S.C.) returned an interception 76 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to ice the game.

Lenoir-Rhyne hits the road to take on Newberry in a South Atlantic Conference game next Saturday at 4:00 p.m., in Newberry, S.C.  Mars Hill hosts Tusculum next Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.