Spellman breaks sack record, Bishops
down Cougars 49-24
Rocky
Mount, NC - Senior defensive
end Quinderra Spellman became North
Carolina Wesleyan's career sacks leader
on Saturday afternoon, leading his
Battling Bishop football squad to a
49-24 USA South victory over Averett
University at the Northern Nash Football
Complex. Spellman (pictured) had two
sacks on the day to raise his career
total to 11.5 and his season total to
5.0, both of which are new Bishop
records. Wesleyan's defense limited the
Cougars to just 203 total yards of
offense on the day. With the victory,
NCWC evens its overall record at 3-3 and
moves to 2-1 in league play. AU now
stands at 2-4 on the season, 1-2 in
conference action.
Junior quarterback Bo Jordan also had a
good day for head coach Mark Henninger's
squad. He completed 18-of-27 passes for
250 yards, three touchdowns, and no
interceptions. The Bishop tallied over
500 total yards of offense in the
contest.
The Bishops never
trailed as Jordan completed his first
eight pass attempts en route to a 14-0
lead with 7:13 remaining in the first
quarter. NCWC's first score was helped
by a botched snap on a fourth down punt
by the Cougars, giving the Bishops the
ball deep in AU territory. Three plays
later, freshman tailback Stedman Mathis
found the endzone from two yards out,
and Kevin Quicker's point-after put
Wesleyan on top 7-0. Jordan was 4-of-4
through the air on the Bishops' next
drive, which was capped with a 20-yard
TD strike to Laqwan Brodie.
AU's Philip
Kwiatkowski turned in 29-yard and
32-yard completions on the Cougars'
ensuing drive, the last of which put
Averett on the board with a Jeremy Dixon
TD reception. Chris Ashcraft's PAT cut
the lead in half at 14-7.
Jordan's completion
streak came to an end on NCWC's next
drive, but a 16-yard run by Mathis on
3rd-and-7 allowed him to tally his
second TD pass of the quarter to
freshman Darnel Spears late in the
period. Wesleyan took a 21-7 lead into
the second quarter.
It was then that
Spellman's talent took centerstage.
After a fumbled punt extended an AU
drive midway through the period, the
Cougars looked to swing momentum in
their favor. Spellman, however, tallied
his two record-breaking sacks on
back-to-back plays to force an Averett
punt. His offensive teammates promptly
responded with their fourth TD of the
day when Jordan hit Orlando Webb with a
36-yard TD completion with under two
minutes left in the half.
Averett's Kevin
Blyden later blocked a punt for a safety
to send the two teams into the break
with Wesleyan leading 28-9.
In the second half,
Wesleyan struck first with a 10-play,
85-yard drive that was capped by a
two-yard TD rush by Antonio Harris. The
Cougars countered with a Kwiatkowski
20-yard scoring strike to Anthony
Squillini, and the two connected again
on the two-point conversion to complete
the third quarter scoring.
Up 35-17, Harris
essentially put to rest any thoughts of
an AU comeback with a 31-yard TD scamper
early in the fourth. The two teams
then traded TD runs over the last five
minutes for the 49-24 final. Wesleyan's
final score came on a 25-yard run by
freshman Tyreck McFadden.
In addition to
Spellman and Jordan's performances,
Harris finished with 146 yards on the
ground and Webb hauled in five catches
for 129 yards. Sophomore Devon Whitaker
led all defensive players with eight
tackles on the day.
For AU, Kwiatkowski
was 13-of-30 for 147 yards, two TDs, and
an interception. Dixon tallied six
catches for 65 yards, while Frederick
Reid led the defensive effort with seven
stops.
The game took three
hours and ten minutes to complete as the
two teams combined for 27 penalties and
over 225 penalty yards. The game
also featured eight turnovers, three by
the Cougars (two fumbles, one pick) and
five by the Bishops (all fumbles).
Besides total yards, other stats that
told the story of the contest were first
downs and time of possession, both of
which wed dominated by the Bishops.
Wesleyan travels to Shenandoah
University next Saturday for a 7:00 p.m.
match-up with the Hornets. Live
online coverage will be available.
