I had the opportunity to cover my first college football game the other night. Now I have written articles about a few college sporting events (really, the Virginia Duals wrestling tournament and a couple of cross-country meets) but this was the first shot at football. My initial reaction -- I could get used to this. At the high school games, the press boxes mirror the elements and are either too hot, too cold, too wet, whatever. Also, at the college games, there is food -- three sandwiches for me on Saturday night, thank you very much. And they bring the stats to you -- no compiling by oneself. The sports information folks also make the players available to you, which is much easier than chasing a high school kid halfway across a gridiron.
Deadline was sketchy at the Daily Press on Saturday night, so I don't know if my final version ever ran anywhere. Here's a link to the version on the Internet, which was widely, well..from the looks of the numbers, widely missed.
Just in case, here's my final version, complete with quotes --
NEWPORT NEWS --- Looking to capitalize
on its first 2-0 start in team history, Christopher Newport rediscovered an old
weapon – the right arm of backup quarterback Lyndon Garner – to blast
Shenandoah University 34-6 before a capacity Family Day crowd of 6,192 at
Pomoco Stadium on Saturday night.
The Captains entered
the game ranked 25th nationally, according to D3football.com, but
had trouble hitting all cylinders on their first drive. Quarterback Marcus
Morrast misfired on his first three passes. But Paul Dukes carried the early load,
chugging out 36 yards on five carries as the Captains marched 63 yards down the
field. However, their 13-play drive stalled on the three-yard line when Hornets
defensive end Evan Griffin darted around the right end to level Morrast and
force an incompletion on third-and-goal. Mason Studer’s 20-yard field goal gave
CNU an early 3-0 advantage.
But Morrast suffered a
shoulder injury on the final play and was relegated to the sideline, forcing
Garner, the senior quarterback from Essex H.S. in Tappahannock, into the game.
Garner, who saw limited
action as a junior after starting ten games as a sophomore, had not seen action
this season until Saturday, but was ready when the call came.
“I just had to stay
focused,” said Garner, who finished 9 of 11 for 219 yards and two touchdowns. “The
biggest shift was getting back to game speed after working with the scout team
all week.”
The new signal caller
made an immediate impact on the first play of his second drive, as wide
receiver Rudy Rudolph got behind the safeties and caught a strike from Garner,
outracing the defense to the end zone for an 83-yard score.
The Garner-Rudolph
combination struck again less than two minutes later, this time for a 53 yard
score on the Captains next possession, giving CNU a 17-0 lead. Having found its
rhythm, the Captains poured it on, with Strom Parker adding another score, this
one on a 10-yard blast up the middle. In all, CNU tallied 347 yards in the
opening half.
Having Rudolph as a
target helped Garner in the early going.
“He’s our top target. A
tall guy. I just throw the ball, and he’ll catch it every time.”
The Hornets (1-2) lone scoring opportunity in the first half
fizzled out on the Captain 12 with 2:26 left in the second quarter as a
fourth-and-eight pass from Drew Ferguson to Charles McMillan sailed high into
the end zone and was dropped.
A 26-yard field goal by
Studer provided the only scoring for the third quarter as the Captains switched
to a ball control offense.
The Hornets finally
scored with 8:57 left, as Brandon Adams caught a flare pass from Ferguson and
bounced into the end zone, with the assistance of several missed Captain
tackles.
Daquan Davis added the
Captains final score, bursting through the middle for a 18-yard touchdown.
Coach Matt Kelchner was
pleased with his defense, which held the Hornets to 267 total yards,
particularly after watching Shenandoah play Ferrum last week.
“They were down 21-7,
and just came out and pounded them. With a new coach and a new system, I
thought they had it going.”
Senior linebacker Evan
Moog led the effort with 13 tackles.
“He’s playing as well
as anybody in the country right now,” said Kelchner.
Kelchner also gave
credit to the defensive line.
“Coach Kepa (defensive
line coach) is doing a great job. The front four held up on the line, which
freed up our linebackers.”
With the win, the
Captains raised their record to 3-0, the fastest start in school history.
Shenandoah 0, 0, 0, 6
-- 6
CNU
3, 21, 3, 7 – 34
CNU – Studer 20 FG
CNU – Rudolph 83 pass from Garner (Studer kick)
CNU – Rudolph 53 pass from Garner (Studer kick)
CNU – Parker 10 run (Studer kick)
CNU – Studer 26 FG
Shen – Adams 19 pass from Ferguson (run failed)
CNU – Davis 18 run (Studer kick)
Shenandoah
CNU
First downs; 14,
21
Rushes-yards; 25-54, 44-239
Passing yards; 213, 232
Comp-att-int; 21-37-1, 10-16-0
Penalties-yards; 6-45,
9-85
Punts-avg; 6-28.5, 5-38.2
Fumbles-lost; 0-0,
2-0
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