Wesleyan celebrates Senior Day with 38-28 win over Hornets

Rocky Mount, NC - North Carolina Wesleyan's football team celebrated 2009 Senior Day on Saturday by winning their sixth straight contest, downing Shenandoah University by a 38-28 score at the Northern Nash Football Complex. After being honored prior to kickoff, Wesleyan's seniors responded by having a hand in all six Battling Bishop touchdowns on the day.

With the victory, NCWC moves to 7-2 on the season and remains undefeated in USA South play at 6-0.  Shenandoah drops to 1-8 overall, 0-6 in conference play. The game was the final home contest for the 13 seniors pictured above: Erric Blagmon, Joel Creef, Charles Bailey, Bo Jordan, Teron Bush, Quentin Pope, Scott Cooper, Orlando Webb, Patrick Williams, Alonzo Washington, LeeRon Boykin, Seth Jones, and Bryan Haywood.

The Battling Bishops wasted no time getting on the scoreboard thanks to a failed on-side kick by Shenandoah to open up the game. NCWC had to drive just 39 yards for the score, 33 of which came from Haywood's rushing efforts. The Hornets responded later in the quarter with a 7-play, 55-yard drive that was capped by Vern Lunsford's 7-yard running score.

Tied 7-7, the two teams traded punts on their next two possessions before Jordan found Laqwan Brodie for a 16-yard TD through the air for a 14-7 NCWC lead at the end of the first quarter. Haywood and Bush proceeded to make it a 28-7 game with back-to-back rushing TDs in the second, and the Bishops looked to be pulling away before the break.

A 15-yard run by SU's Keone Kyle with 36 seconds left in the half, however, capped an 80-yard SU drive and made the score 28-14.  The Hornets hoped to ride that momentum into halftime, but a 24-yard kickoff allowed the Bishops to quickly move into field goal range, and Kevin Quicker's 29-yard attempt was good with two ticks left, sending the teams into intermission with NCWC leading 31-14.

The Hornets took the opening drive of the second half 65 yards in eight plays to pull within ten points at 31-21. NCWC again answered as Webb hauled in a 22-yard TD catch to cap a 9-play, 94-yard drive. The points would be Wesleyan's last of the day.

Shenandoah scored its final points on the game's next possession, executing a 73-yard drive that ate up the rest of the third quarter and made the score 38-28 with 14:43 remaining in regulation.  Lunsford again did the honors from four yards out.

It was a defensive battle the rest of the way. Wesleyan was forced to punt twice and turned the ball over on downs once, while three of SU's final four drives saw the Hornets turn the ball over on downs. The other resulted in a fumble recovery by the NCWC's James Carter.

Haywood, the Battling Bishops' all-time leading rusher, finished with 162 yards on the ground.  Jordan was 17-of-26 passing for 202 yards and a pair of TD strikes. Brodie caught five of those passes for 53 yards, and Washington hauled in three receptions. Webb and Bailey had two catches apiece.

Defensively, Antonio Harris tallied a game-high 11 tackles, including a sack and a forced fumble, while freshman James Wallace had 10 takedowns. Boykin, Pope, Jones, Cooper, Blagmon, and Creef combined for 20 total tackles, including a sack and 2.5 tackles-for-a-loss.

For the Hornets, Kyle racked up 182 yards rushing, and Lunsford finished 21-of-27 through the air for 203 yards. Corey Giffing paced the SU defensive effort with 11 takedowns and a forced fumble.

On the day, the Bishops held a slight advantage in total offense with 429 yards to the Hornets' 425.  SU dominated time of possession 38:03 to 21:57 and converted two more first downs than NCWC. The story of the game, therefore, was field position. Six of Wesleyan's drives began on their own 40-yardline or better, including two possessions that starting in SU territory.

Wesleyan wraps up its 2009 regular season slate next Saturday at Averett University.  The Bishops will be attempting to secure their second undefeated USA South championship in the past three years and must beat the Cougars (5-1 in USAC action) to earn the league's automatic NCAA playoff bid.

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