Bishops take down #24 Salisbury in home opener, 24-17

Rocky Mount, NC - Senior safety Quentin Pope tallied nine tackles, a fumble recovery, and an interception (pictured) on Saturday afternoon, leading his Blue & Gold football squad to an impressive 24-17 victory over 24th-ranked Salisbury in the Bishops' 2009 home opener. Quarterback Bo Jordan led the offensive effort by rushing for one touchdown and throwing for another as he finished 22-of-31 through the air for 222 yards. Wesleyan, ranked #18 in the preseason, even its record at 1-1 on the season with the victory.

Despite a missed field-goal attempt on the game's opening drive, Salisbury (1-1) still managed to get on the board first as the Sea Gulls took the ball 85 yards on seven plays in their second possession. Quarterback Bobby Sheahin capped the drive with an eight-yard TD run, and Tommy Kowalick's point-after gave SU a 7-0 lead with just over three minutes left in the first quarter.

The Bishops pulled to within 7-3 on their next drive when Kevin Quicker booted home a 36-yard field goal attempt as time expired in the opening period. Jordan completed three passes for over ten yards on the drive to Alonzo Washington, Dewey Gatling, and Bryan Haywood, respectively.

The second quarter saw Wesleyan take a 10-7 lead on a one-yard TD rush by Jordan. The drive was started by the defense as senior LeeRon Boykin forced a Sheahin fumble that was recovered by Pope at the Salisbury 38-yardline. 

Salibury answered with a 63-yard drive on the Sea Gulls' next possession. Kowalick's successful
37-yarder forced a 10-10 tie at the half.

Wesleyan got the ball first to open the second half, and Jordan wasted no time hitting senior wideout Orlando Webb with a 44-yard touchdown pass less than two minutes in. The two teams then traded punts before Pope hauled in a key interception near midfield. Jordan proceeded to complete passes to five different receivers before senior tailback Bryan Haywood took the ball in from two yards out for a 24-10 NCWC advantage.

After a 57-yard kickoff return by the Sea Gulls, Wesleyan made one of several defensive stands to take back over on downs.  Unfortunately, a crucial fumble gave the ball back to SU just two plays later, which resulted in a 23-yard touchdown run that cut the Bishop lead to 24-17.

On the game's next play, sophomore Tyreck McFadden set up Wesleyan with great field position thanks to a 63-yard kickoff return, but a bad snap on the Bishops' field goal attempt later in the drive gave the ball back to Salisbury going into the final period.

The fourth quarter opened with punts by both squads, the latter of which saw Salisbury take over at the 9:06 mark on the NCWC 49-yardline. The ensuing drive proved to be a game-clincher as the Sea Gulls coughed up the would-be game-tying touchdown on the Wesleyan one-yardline. Junior Antonio Harris recovered in the endzone for a touchback, and neither team would mount another signficant scoring threat en route to the 24-17 final.

As a team, the Bishops tallied 318 yards to SU's 292.  Majority of Wesleyan's yardage came through the air, while Salisbury's came by way of the ground.  Sheahin led all players with 88 net rushing yards.  Haywood paced Wesleyan with 66 net yards on 14 carries. 

NCWC's Dewey Gatling led all receivers with five catches for 59 yards, while Devontae Atkins and Laqwan Brodie tallied four receptions apiece.

Defensively, Pope was complimented by Harris and Boykin with eight stops each. Boykin's day included a sack and 3.5 tackles-for-loss. Brandon Hudson led SU with nine takedowns of his own.

Wesleyan returns to action next weekend when the Bishops travel to Emory & Henry College. Game time is slated for 1:00 p.m. in Emory, VA.