SOUTH HILL, Va. – Visiting and 17th-ranked UNCP used a pair of long touchdown passes from Cory Smith to take a 21-0 lead into the intermission, and then tallied a trio of rushing touchdowns in the second half to put the caps on a 42-14 rout of St. Pauls on Saturday afternoon at Park View High School in South Hill, Va.

Cory Smith threw for 283 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 14-of-26 passing to lead the UNCP (2-0) offense, while three different running backs provided scores as well, including two from junior Travis Daniels. All told, the Braves amassed 446 yards of total offense to encore last week's 450-yard performance against Fayetteville State. St. Anthony Lloyd led the receiving corps with four catches for 68 yards, with freshman Te'vell Williams hauling in a pair of passes for 70 yards. Daniels ran for 74 yards and 13 carries to pace the ground assault.

The Black and Gold defense sacked Tigers quarterback Steffen Miller-Colon five times to bring its 2010 sack total up to 12, while all-American safety Caylon Hann registered the third multi-interception game of his career with a pair of picks. Morris McLaughlin and Josh Pless both grabbed a pair of sacks in the dominating effort as well, with McLaughlin posting two other tackles for loss as well.

"I thought the defense played very well today," said UNCP head coach Pete Shinnick. "We gave up some long returns and gave them good field position on one of their touchdowns, but we got after their quarterback extremely well. Obviously, I am pleased with how things turned out. Offensively, St. Paul's really crowded the box on us and we were able to hit some deep passes and get the scoring done that way.

"We know we're going to get people crowding us (in the box) and seeing if we can get it done through the air. Our receivers worked hard this week though and Cory Smith really took it to them."

It did not take the Braves long to get the offense going, driving 59 yards on eight plays in its opening possession of the contest before Keith Gore's 1-yard plunge gave the Braves a lead they would never relinquish. A 53-yard scoring strike to newcomer Joe Burnett midway through the first quarter, as well as a 63-yard touchdown pass to freshman Te'vell Williams in the second period, would give UNCP a 21-0 advantage heading into the break.

Despite the seemingly insurmountable deficit, the Tigers would not go away without a fight, cutting the margin to just 14 points on a 4-yard run by Albert Tinsley with just more than seven minutes gone in the third quarter, but the Braves answered with a 12-play, 59-yard drive that was capped on the first of a pair of one-yard touchdown runs by Daniels.

A 75-yard return by Tinsley on the ensuing kickoff would set the hosts up with good field position moments later, and Saint Paul's cut the lead back to two touchdowns again when it converted a 4th-and-goal situation from the 10-yard line on a touchdown pass from Colon-Miller to Osmund Brown.

That would be all the scoring the Tigers would muster, however, as the UNCP defense held the hosts to just two yards on their next two possessions, while the visitors made good on 60- and a 44-yard scoring drives with rushing touchdowns by Kennedy and Daniels, respectively.

UNCP will be back in action next Saturday when the Braves make the short trek up U.S. 84 to battle red hot Wingate (1-1) at Irwin Belk Stadium and John R. Martin Field. Kickoff has been set for 1:30 p.m.