Gem City Sports Network

CSU’s opening game shortened due to weather; ECSU wins 19-10

ELIZABETH CITY, North Carolina – The Central State Marauders showed resiliency after falling behind by an early touchdown, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Elizabeth City State’s big-plays in the running game and the lightning in the area, as the Vikings came away with a 19-10 weather-shortened victory in the opening game of the college football season.

ECSU managed to score on the opening kickoff on a wild sequence of events. CSU’s Brandon Stevenson juked oncoming tacklers and returned the ball down to the Viking’s 35-yard line before having the ball stripped. Taeyon Reynolds came up with the recovery and ran it back 65 yards to give ECSU the early 7-0 lead.

On the first possession of the second quarter, CSU manufactured an 11 play, 69-yard drive resulting in a 28-yard field goal by Trevor Teel to cut the deficit down to 7-3. Shutting out the opponent’s offense in the first 30 minutes of play, CSU defensive end Shemar Moss closed the first half of football by sacking ECSU quarterback Kedri Patterson for a 13-yard loss.

ECSU increased the lead to 10 thanks to a 9 play, 70-yard drive. ECSU successfully ran the ball five straight times to generate momentum. Patterson capped the drive off through the air with a 20-yard pass to Jaquari Bellamy. After a failed extra point attempt, CSU trailed 13-3 with 2:47 to go in the third quarter.

The Marauders responded on their next possession. Quarterback Trent Mays connected with tight end Robert Corbin, Jr. for an 11-yard gain to start the drive. CSU then went to its running game as Terraris Saffold and Jerry Laniercombined for 33 yards on the ground to drive the ball down to the ECSU 32-yard line. Mays connected with Saffold for an eight yard gain out of the backfield and then threw a 21-yard strike to Darius Ford for the score to make it a three-point game at the 14:24 mark of the fourth quarter.

With inclement weather loaming in the area, ECSU quickly struck on its next possession thanks to a 71-yard touchdown run by Gregory Bryan. After another missed extra point, the Vikings led 19-10 with 13:21 on the clock.

On the ensuing kickoff, Saffold returned the ball 22-yards to give CSU good field position at their own 40-yard line, Mays completed a pass to Bobby Gist for a gain of eight yards just before lightning struck. Both teams and fans immediately headed for shelter. After multiple weather delays and issues with stadium lighting, it was decided by the officials, coaches and athletic directors record the game as final with 12:29 left in regulation resulting in a win for Elizabeth City State.

In a shortened game, Mays completed 12 of 18 pass attempts for 118 yards and one score. Saffold recorded 49 rushing yards and another 42 yards on kick returns. Kailen Abrams led the CSU defensive efforts with 7 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Bryan led the Vikings with 115 rushing yards. Reynolds led the way for the Vikings defensively with 5 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and 65-yard fumble recovery return for the opening score.
The Marauders will host Clark Atlanta (0-1) at home next Saturday at 1 pm.

Flyers Win First Of The Seasion

DAYTON — The University of Dayton football team defeated Robert Morris 49-28 on Saturday at Welcome Stadium. Redshirt freshman Richie Warfield led the scoring with three touchdowns on the day.

After starting quarterback Alex Jeske left the game with an injury, rushing became the story for the Flyers. Dayton amassed 273 rushing yards, with 139 of them coming from redshirt senior Tucker Yinger. Yinger, Warfield, and quarterback Jack Cook all contributed at least one rushing score on the day, with Warfield contributing two.

SCORING BREAKDOWN

• Tucker Yinger opened the scoring with a 44-yard touchdown run on Dayton’s first possession.
• Robert Morris responded with a 72-yard touchdown drive on their first possession to tie the game at 7-7.
• Adam Trautman’s 31-yard reception and Richie Warfield’s 5-yard rush gave the Flyers touchdowns on their first three possessions and at 21-7 lead before the end of the 1st.
• After a missed Robert Morris field goal, quarterback Jack Cook found Robert Skibinski for a 64-yard catch-and-run touchdown, giving the Flyers a 28-7 lead midway through the second quarter. David Leisring then intercepted Robert Morris quarterback Jimmy Walker on the first play of the ensuing possession.
• Robert Morris cut the lead to 28-14 just before the half with a 3-yard touchdown pass.
• The two sides traded touchdown drives, making the score 35-21 at the 8:46 mark of the third quarter.
• Richie Warfield scored his second rushing and third overall touchdown of the day with a 3-yard rush, padding Dayton’s lead to 42-21.
• After initially fumbling the snap, Cook rushed into the end zone from two yards out for the Flyers’ seventh touchdown of the game. Robert Morris scored in the final minute to finish the scoring.

STATS

• The Flyers had 182 total yards in the first quarter with 100 via the rush.
• Alex Jeske completed 6 of 7 passes including a touchdown in the first quarter.
• David Leisring recorded the first interception of the year in the second quarter.  It is his 11th career interception.
• Robert Morris enjoyed the majority of the possession in the first half, with 16:32 time of possession compared to Dayton’s 13:28.
• Richie Warfield recorded two touchdown runs and a touchdown catch on the day.
• Each of Dayton’s first four touchdown drives were under three minutes long.
• The Flyers averaged 8.2 yards per play compared to 5.5 for Robert Morris.

NOTES

• Dayton extended its NCAA all-division record by scoring in its 466th consecutive game
• Tucker Yinger rushed for over 100 yards for the first time this season and his 12th time as a Flyer.
• Dayton’s 49 points is the most scored in a season opener since 2003, when they scored 76 against St. Joseph’s.

UP NEXT

The Flyers travel to Southeast Missouri for a 2:00 ET game on September 8th. Dayton defeated SEMO 25-23 last season at Welcome Stadium.

Earlham Drops Opener To Wilmington

RICHMOND, Ind. – Earlham football opened the 2018 season at home against Wilmington College (Ohio) and dropped a 49-7 decision to the visiting Ohio Quakers, Saturday afternoon at Darrell Beane Stadium.

Earlham (0-1) tallied 168 yards offensively, paced by first year running back Melvin Davis who accounted for the bulk of the Quakers’ 75 yards rushing with 65 yards on the ground on 17 carries. Morgan Dinwiddiecarried six times for 30 yards.

First year quarterback Collin Hauschild was eight of 22 through the air for 28 yards while senior Joe Enwright connected on all six of his passing attempts for 65 yards.

Enwright hooked up with first year wideout Zachary Baker for Earlham’s only scoring play of the game – a 12-yard TD pass with 1:40 showing on the game clock.

The reception was one of two on the day for Baker, with his 34-yard pass reception from Enwright on the play immediately preceding the touchdown going as Earlham’s longest play of the day. Both plays keyed a four-play, 71-yard drive that produced Baker’s first collegiate TD catch.

Junior linebacker Kobe Walker amassed 15 total tackles, including 12 solo stops, to pace the Earlham defense. Sophomore linebacker Hogan Modirzadeh charted seven total tackles, three of those unassisted.

Wilmington finished the game with 496 yards of total offense on 58 plays. WC’s 234 rushing yards came largely off the work of DJ Chambers, who carries seven times for 73 yards. QB Kyle Barrett was 11-of-14 passing, with 10 different receivers each recording one catch but none more than two.

Earlham continues the four-game stretch of home contests to open the 2018 season next Saturday, Sept. 8, when it hosts Hiram College at Darrell Beane Stadium. Kick-off is slated for 3:00 p.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Wittenberg was able to keep the Titans off the board for almost all of the first half, taking a 20-7 lead into the break. Westminster was able to chip away at the Wittenberg advantage with the only points of the third quarter. The momentum swing for the Tigers came at the beginning of the fourth quarter when Jake Kennedyconnected with Bryce Bailey on a 52-yard catch and run crossing into Westminster territory and setting up the 40-yard Adam Acquista field goal conversion. Thaddeus Snodgrass opened the scoring effort in the first quarter hauling in the 42-yard pass from Kennedy to give the Tigers the early lead in the first quarter. After a shovel-pass from Kennedy to Kendall at the end of the first quarter extended the lead out to 13-0. Kennedy would take the ball in himself for the score with just of thirteen minutes remaining in the second quarter to give the Tigers the 20-0 advantage. Wittenberg would never surrender the lead to Westminster, although allowing the Titans to pull the game to within a score with just under 10 minutes in the fourth quarter.

WHO STOOD OUT: The Wittenberg receiving core or Bailey (64), Snodgrass (63) and Tiffner (50) would all finish with 50+ yards through the air and long receptions of over 20-yards each. The Tigers got many skill players involved, as three running backs racked up 15+ yards on the day, including Tristan Davis, Troy Clay, and Sam Kayser. Kennedywould finish the day with 230 yards 22 completions on 34 attempts and three TDs. The Tiger defense came up with three takeaways by way of interception from Terrance Crowe, Thomas Scholl, and Trevor Good. Jonathon Seay led the Wittenberg defense with 14 tackles, including two for a loss of eight yards. Crowe was the second Tiger defender to rack up double-digit tackles with 12, along with a sack.

UP NEXT: Wittenberg will have a bye during the second week of the season, but will return to action on Saturday, September 15 at 2:30 PM as they travel to Oberlin to kickoff NCAC action