Mike Turk laughed when asked if he called heads or tails to settle the tiebreaker for a berth in the Saturday USA South Athletic Conference Championship game opposite Methodist University.

Kahari McReynolds runs the ball for the Huntingdon Hawks. (Huntingdon Athletics)

“It’s way more complicated than that,” the Huntingdon football coach said. “Bottom line is we’re going to Fayetteville, North Carolina, Saturday. It was kind of a mess, to be honest with you.”

Because of the ramifications caused by the pandemic, as well as the cancellation of the Division III NCAA Football tournament, USA South is holding a championship game after completing a divisionally based regular season league schedule. The Hawks split their two games with Brevard and each team beat Maryville.

“We were tied 2-1 recordwise,” Turk said. “We had our opportunity to not be in that situation when we went up there and played, but we didn’t play well.”

Thus, the Hawks’ fate came down to the tiebreaker system initiated by the conference. Turk now has his attention solidly on Methodist, which is 3-0 on its side of the league and 4-0 overall.

“Our league has not been very high scoring this spring, but they have been scoring and they’re pretty good at what they do defensively as well,” the coach said. “They create turnovers and give their offense opportunities. Their offense has done well with those opportunities.”

The Monarchs averaged nearly 40 points per game in the spring while their defense allowed 16.5 points per game. The Hawks offense scored at a 15-point clip while the defense yielded 19.3 per game.

Kickoff is noon Central Daylight Time. Visiting fans are not allowed at the game.

Jacksonville State at Eastern Illinois: After losing to Florida State Oct. 3, the Gamecocks built a seven-game winning streak, their longest since moving into the Football Championship Subdivision.

However, the final regular-season home game in a season that started seven months ago saw then-No. 7 Jacksonville State’s FCS-best win streak come to an abrupt halt at seven in a ragged 13-10 Ohio Valley Conference loss to Austin Peay.

“We’ve just got to put this one behind us and move forward,” said coach John Grass, whose team dropped to No. 12 nationally. “We’re still playing outstanding defense. We’ve got all our goals still ahead of us if we can beat EIU (at 1 p.m. Saturday) … and then go beat Murray State.” EIU is 1-4 for the season.

The Gamecocks (7-2, 4-1 OVC) committed six turnovers and were penalized a season-high 18 times for 126 yards as the Governors won at Burgess-Snow Field for the first time since 1979. Jacksonville State last lost back-to-back games to Austin Peay during the 1952-53 seasons.

Jacksonville State falls one game behind Ohio Valley Conference-leader Murray State (5-0).

South Carolina State faced Alabama A&M earlier this season in a battle of Bulldogs won by the Alabama team. This week South Carolina State contends with A&M’s arch rival, the Alabama State Hornets. (South Carolina State Athletics)

South Carolina State at Alabama State: The Hornets saw their chance to get a win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff disappear as their game last week was declared no contest because of inclement weather. This week, ASU (2-1 overall, 2-1 conference) steps out of the Southwestern Athletic Conference for a 2 p.m. game on Military Appreciation Day. South Carolina State is 1-1.

Alabama A&M (idle): For the second time in as many weeks, the scheduled battle of SWAC undefeated teams has been placed on hold. The Bulldogs (2-0, 1-0 SWAC) were to have played at Prairie View A&M (2-0, 2-0 SWAC) on Saturday, but that contest has been postponed due to continuing COVID-19 protocols within the PVAMU program.

No makeup date has been announced. This is the fourth time this spring that an Alabama A&M football game has been postponed or canceled, and the second time a game with Prairie View was pushed back.

With the postponement, Alabama A&M will return to the field on Saturday, April 10, traveling to Jackson State for a game slated to be aired on ESPN. As is the case with all programs in spring 2021, the schedule is fluid and may be adjusted as opportunities are presented.

Samford (idle): The Bulldogs amassed 550 yards of offense and the Samford defense caused seven turnovers (six fumbles and one interception) on the way to a dominating 55-7 Southern Conference win at The Citadel last Saturday at Johnson Hagood Stadium. Coach Chris Hatcher’s team had hoped to continue its success on April 10 at Chattanooga. That game was canceled as the Mocs deal with COVID-19 protocols. The Bulldogs (3-3) must wait three weeks to close out their spring campaign, hosting Mercer at noon on April 17.