Cougars face off against Greensboro College on Homecoming
The Averett University Cougars, under the guidance of seventh-year head coach Mike Dunlevy, take on conference foe Greensboro College on Saturday during Homecoming weekend. The two teams have split the series 4-4, but the Cougars have won four out of the last five meetings, including the last two played in Danville.

Greensboro (2-4, 0-3 USA South) is coming off a 35-14 loss to Shenandoah University last weekend. Averett (2-4, 1-2 USA South), meanwhile, is coming off a 49-24 loss to N.C. Wesleyan College on the road.

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Last time they met
Greensboro got ahead early and held off an Averett comeback for a 21-19 win in Greensboro.

The Pride scored a pair of touchdowns early — one on a 2-yard Anthony Williams reception from Mike Caparaso in the final seconds of the first quarter and one on a Torrey Lowe 4-yard run at the start of the second quarter.

Trailing 14-0, Averett rallied with a pair of touchdown pass from Shan Fairbanks in the second quarter. The first was a 19-yard pass to Dontavious Watson and the second came on a 13-yard completion to William Varas. The Cougars missed the extra point after Watson's touchdown and couldn't get the two-point conversion after Varas' score, so Averett trailed 14-12 at halftime.

Greensboro extended its lead to 21-12 on another Lowe touchdown run in the third quarter.

Averett's Brian Daniels scored from 1 yard out with 6:36 to play, but the Cougars couldn't find the end zone again before time expired.


How they stack up on offense this season
Both schools have faced one common opponent this season — Guilford College. Averett defeated Guilford 31-21 on Sept. 20, while Greensboro lost to the Quakers 22-12 on Sept. 6.

While Averett's offense is more balanced, Greensboro relies heavily on the pass. Through five games this season, the Pride have only gained 159 net rushing yards. They prefer to get the ball to their wide receiver duo of Torrey Lowe and Charlie Johnson. Lowe has 37 catches for 392 yards and six touchdowns, while Johnson has caught 21 passes for 225 yards. Quarterback Mike Caparaso has completed 91 of his 171 passes for 910 yards and seven touchdowns, but has thrown nine picks.

Averett, meanwhile, has found success on the ground and through the air. The Cougars have rushed for 793 net yards, and running backs Dontavious Watson, John Ellison and Mark Williams have at least 200 yards each. Watson leads the way with 362 yards and five touchdowns.

Averett quarterback Philip Kwiatkowski, who missed two games due to injury, has completed 46 of his 93 pass attempts for 480 yards and four touchdowns. Among the Cougars' favorite targets are Anthony Squillini and Jeremy Dixon. Squillini has 31 receptions for 325 yards and six touchdowns, while Dixon has 20 catches for 264 yards and one score.

Averett is averaging 21.8 points a game, which is a little over five points more than Greensboro's 16.6 points a contest.


Averett and Greensboro have gone down to the wire on several occasions
In addition to their close finish a year ago, the Cougars and Pride have played a few games that have been decided late. Averett came out on top in 2003 and 2005 by a combined margin of three points.
    The Cougars held off the Pride 16-14 in 2003 thanks to a great play on special teams. With Greensboro trailing by two, the Pride set up for what looked like the game-winning field goal with less than a minute to play. Averett's Anthony Morris saved the day, blocking Erik Naglee's attempt.
    In 2005, Averett fell behind early only to battle back for a 21-20 victory. Greensboro went ahead 10-0 early after connecting on a field goal and scoring on a touchdown pass. Special teams got things going for the Cougars, who blocked a punt for a touchdown. The Pride, however, added another touchdown and a field goal to put Averett in a 20-7 hole. The Cougars didn't panic. Quarterback Todd Parsons threw a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to lead Averett from behind, and the Cougars' defense shut down Greensboro the rest of the way to hold on.

For a complete version of the Averett/Greensboro game notes, click here.