Gem City Sports Network

Local stories from Central State, Dayton, Earlham, Urbana and Wilmington

Marauders power through mud to beat Clark Atlanta

WILBERFORCE, Ohio – The Central State football team battled through the rain and mud to beat Clark Atlanta, 7-0, on Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, the Marauders improve to 1-1 overall with a 1-0 ledger in the Southern Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference (SIAC). The Panthers of CAU fall to 0-2 on the season and 1-0 in the SIAC.

Playing on a severely muddy field where good footing was difficult to come by, both offenses struggled to gain any ground. CAU managed to march its way down to the Central State 21-yard line midway through the first half. The Panthers opted to try and convert on fourth down with two yards to go. CSU’s Shemar Moss and Samy Jean clogged up the running lane and took down CAU runner Roger Thomas end the only legitimate CAU scoring threat in the first half.

While the CSU offense struggled to navigate the mud, punter Isaiah Smith successfully fielded a slippery ball while delivering six punts for 221 total yards in the first half to help keep the CAU offense away from the red zone.

At the end of the first half, both teams were coated in mud while the scoreboard remained unblemished at 0-0.

The CSU defense came up with another big stop midway through the third quarter when the Panthers failed to convert on a fourth down attempt from their own 34-yard line.

With excellent field position, CSU quarterback Trent Mays found tight end Robert Corbin, Jr. for a 30-yard gain. On the next play, running back Jerry Lanier ran in for the score to give CSU the lead with 12:10 left in the third quarter.

CAU threatened to score late in the third after regaining possession on the CSU 39-yard line. The Panthers drove down to the 20-yard line but the Marauder defense held its ground again as Eric-Michael Smith recorded a sack for a loss of seven yards on third down. CAU proceeded to turn the ball over on fourth down after a Charles Saffor pass slipped through Jerry Drakar’s hands for what would have been a first down.

The slick state of the game balls plagued the CAU offense throughout the remainder of the game, which included multiple fumbles on the snap. With points at a premium, the Marauders were able to burn off much of the remaining time in the fourth quarter thanks to the secure hands of Lanier and Mays. On CAU’s last possession of the game, the Marauders forced a three and out sequence to seal the victory.

Other than a lost fumble in the early stages of the game, the Marauders minimized their mistakes while the Panthers put the ball on the ground 12 times, turning it over three times.

The Marauder defense held CAU to 155 total yards of offense. Rashuan Searles led CSU’s defensive prowess with 13 tackles, one sack and three tackles for a loss. Kailen Abrams finished the afternoon with 11 tackles, three tackles for a loss and one forced fumble. Javion Williams recorded 10 tackles, three tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and recovery.

Lanier was the highlight for the CSU offense with 24 total yards on 11 carries and the game-winning score.

Kameron Rogers led the CAU defense with 9 tackles and a forced fumble. Thomas paced the Panther running game with 47 total yards on 15 attempts.

The Marauders will travel to Atlanta to play Morehouse College next Saturday at 5 pm.

Notes
CSU recorded its first home victory since Oct. 15 of 2016 (Lane)

The defense recorded its first shutout since Oct. 17 of 2015 (Lane)

With the win, CSU avenged a 55-14 loss to CAU from a season ago

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Southeast Missouri Pulls Away From @DaytonFootball 40-21

SEMO Scores The Final 20 Points Of The Game

 

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — The University of Dayton Flyers came from behind three times to take leads, but Southeast Missouri scored the last three touchdowns of the contest in the game’s final 12 minutes to pull away 40-21 Saturday afternoon in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Tucker Yinger carried the ball 22 times for 115 yards and a touchdown to lead UD.  Redshirt freshman quarterback Jack Cook, making his first career start, was 22 for 45 passing for 281 yards with a touchdown and an interception.  Cook also ran 14 times for 83 yards and another score. Kyle Butz led Flyer receivers with seven catches for 73 yards.  A.J. Foster led the Dayton defense with 12 tackles.

Both teams are now 1-1 on the season.

FIRST QUARTER

• Both teams scored on their first possession.
• SEMO went 55 yards, the bulk coming on Marquis Terry’s 40-yard run, to set up a 37-yard field goal.
• Dayton responded with an 85-yard drive, to grad the lead after Cook ran it in from 21 yards out.

SECOND QUARTER

• The Redhawks drove 65 yards to a first-and-goal from the five, but the Dayton defense turned them away, forcing another field goal, this one from 35 yards.
• A blocked punt gave Southeast Missouri the ball at the Dayton 11, and two plays later SEMO scored its first touchdown of the game, a nine-yard quarterback draw by Daniel Santacaterina to make the score SEMO 13, Dayton 7 at the half.

THIRD QUARTER

• Both teams scored on their first possessions of the second half.
• The Flyers were held scoreless in the second quarter but took the third quarter kickoff and drove 75 yards in nine plays to regain the lead.  Richie Warfield scored on a 19-yard pass from Cook.
• But it was short-lived because the Redhawks came back with a 12-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a Santacaterina four-yard pass to Kristian Wilkerson.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Three plays into the final period, Dayton took its final lead (21-20), when Tucker Yinger scored on a 34-yard run.
• But eight plays into the fourth quarter, the Redhawks took it from there. Santacaterina hit Wilkinson from 18 yards out to go up 26-21.
• And then SEMO hit two long ones, a 73-yard swing pass that was originally ruled a run from Santacaterina to Zack Smith with 5:32 left, and a 95-yard TD run by Terry at the 2:02 mark to make the final score 40-21.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Even with the two long SEMO touchdowns, Dayton out-gained the Redhalwks 495-481.
• Cook’s 22 completions were spread among six different receivers.  In addition to Butz’s seven catches, Adam Trautman and J.P. Forcucci both had four, while Matt Tunnacliffe and Ryan Skibinski each added three.
• David Leisring led with seven solo tackles, and was second in total hits with nine.
• Nick Surges and true freshman Mike Stodola each had sacks.
• Sean Smith averaged 41.2 yards per punt, with two inside the 20.
• Dayton extended its NCAA all-division record by scoring in its 467th consecutive game
• Tucker Yinger rushed for over 100 yards for the second time in as many games this season and his 13th time as a Flyer.

UP NEXT

• The Flyers travel to Pittsburgh to visit Duquesne of the Northeast Conference on Saturday, Sept. 15 for a 12 noon ET kickoff.  That will be the final non-conference game of the season for UD.
• Dayton opens the Pioneer Football League schedule on Saturday, Spt. 22 at home against Davidson

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Hiram Topples Quakers

RICHMOND, Ind. – Earlham Football pulled to within a touchdown of visiting Hiram College at the end of the first quarter, before the Terriers pulled away to a 47-13 win over the Quakers on Saturday at a rain-soaked Darrell Beane Stadium.

Earlham (0-2) managed 70 yards of total offense on the afternoon, with first year running back Melvin Davis accounting for 63 yards on his 20 carries.

Davis’ longest rush of the day was a 27-yard scamper on 2nd-and-5 from the Earlham 45 late in the first quarter, which moved the Quaker offense into the Terrier end of the field for the first time and all the way to the Hiram 28. He followed that up with a 23-yard run down to the Hiram five-yard line, and two plays later first year quarterback Collin Hauschild connected with Malcolm Jones on a 10-yard pass in the endzone for the Quakers’ first touchdown of the day to cut the Terrier lead to 14-7.

Hiram answered with touchdowns in each of their first two drives in the second quarter, and the Terriers held a 27-7 lead heading into the locker room at the intermission.

The Terriers opened the second half with a 15-play, 63-yard drive all the way down to the Earlham one-yard line, where the Quakers stopped Hiram’s Randy Tucker on a 4th-and-goal run play.

Earlham took over on downs, but Hauschild was tackled in the endzone for a safety on the first play from scrimmage – one of three safeties recorded in the game.

Hiram tacked on another touchdown and a second safety by the end of the third quarter, and went into the final frame with a 38-7 lead.

The Quakers put up their second TD of the day at the 2:35 mark of the fourth quarter, taking full advantage of a Terrier fumble at their own one-yard line. Earlham’s Will Bradley recovered, and first year running back Morgan Dinwiddie carried it over the goal line on the next play for the touchdown for the final 47-13 score.

Hauschild finished the day 5-of-14 through the air for 29 yards, with Jones hauling in three catches for 18 yards. Davis had a pair of receptions for 16 yards.

Defensively, linebacker Kobe Walker amassed 19 total tackles, five of those unassisted, including 3.5 tackles for a loss of 10 yards with one forced fumble. Rance Albert charted 14 total tackles with three solo stops.

Hiram recorded 538 yards of total offense, with the majority of that – 347 yards – coming on the ground. Isaiah Jones finished with 110 yards on 14 carries, while Marquithias Joh logged 100 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

Earlham is at home again next Saturday, Sept. 15, when it hosts Bluffton University at 2:30 p.m. at Darrell Beane Stadium.

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Urbana Falls To Fairmont State

FAIRMONT, W. Va. — The Urbana University football team suffered a 45-7 road defeat against Fairmont State Saturday at Duvall-Rosier Field.

UU drops to 1-1 (1-1 MEC) on the season and will return home for back-to-back home games over the next two weeks. FSU improved to 2-0 (1-0 MEC) overall.

A few bright spots came on offense, led by junior running back Isaiah Young who recorded his first 100-yard game as a Blue Knight. The Columbus native ran for 107 yards on 22 carries.

Junior quarterback Eddie Stockett finished 10-of-21 passing for 160 yards and a touchdown to cap a nice scoring drive in the second quarter. But, the Falcons also had two interceptions.

On defense, linebackers Duray Hall and L.A. Kelly led the way with seven tackles each. Defensive backs DeVontae McKee and Tobias Hailey Jr. each produced five stops.

The Blue Knights could not catch a break in their first road test of the season.

In the first half, UU surrendered a punt return touchdown, had a field goal blocked and gave the ball away twice. On the flipside, FSU scored points on 5 of 6 drives during the opening 30 minutes.

The UU offense did show flashes of life in the first half with three trips to the red zone. Three different receivers made big grabs, including a 31-yarder by Hooks and 63-yard gain from Kahliq Muhammad. Then, Stockett found Jesse Bray on back-to-back completions including a 10-yard touchdown to make it 17-7 with 10:45 until halftime.

However, the Falcons had all the momentum while playing in front of their home crowd for the first time this season. FSU eventually scored 28 unanswered points and cruised through the second half to remain undefeated.

//  TEAM STATS
UU out-gained FSU in the ground game 191-155, but the host Falcons were much more efficient with the ball. FSU’s quarterbacks finished 18-of-23 passing for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Overall, FSU produced 396 yards of total offense with just one turnover, a fumble recovered by UU at the goal line to prevent another FSU score. The Blue Knights racked up 351 yards and had the ball for over 33 minutes, but finished just 4 for 14 on third downs.

//  UP NEXT
UU will have a short week to get ready for Thursday night’s home game against Lake Erie College (0-1). The non-conference matchup is slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff at UU Stadium and will be the first of back-to-back Thursday night home games for the Blue Knights. UU defeated the Storm in last year’s meeting, 37-10, in Painesville, Ohio.