Wesleyan football drops season-opening heartbreaker, 21-20

Rocky Mount, NC - The North Carolina Wesleyan College football team kicked off its 2006 slate at home on Saturday, dropping a 21-20 heartbreaker to Newport News Apprentice in front of a crowd of 1,200 at the Rocky Mount Athletic Complex.  Wesleyan, who had led the entire contest and held a 20-15 advantage with 1:19 left in the fourth quarter, saw Apprentice return a blocked punt for a touchdown that gave the Builders their first lead of the game with just over one minute remaining.

Up to that point, it had been all Wesleyan.  The Bishops (0-1) wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the first, taking the opening kick-off and driving 75 yards for the score.  Quarterback Cedric Townsend capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Shelton Leverette, and a Brian Vaughn point-after gave NCWC an early 7-0 lead.

After the Bishop defense held Apprentice (1-0) on its opening drive, Townsend again led an efficient scoring drive that saw Vaughn connect on his first field goal attempt of the season, a 22-yard kick that split the uprights for a 10-0 Wesleyan lead with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter.

The Builders broke through with their first touchdown on the ensuing drive when quarterback Kyle Franklin connected with Travis Reid on a 46-yard TD pass.  A failed two-point conversion made the score 10-6 at the end of the opening period. 

With 3:20 remaining before the break, Apprentice pulled to within one on a Matthew Edelen 30-yard field goal.   The Blue & Gold, however, countered with Vaughn 36-yard field goal just seconds before halftime to send the two teams into intermission with Wesleyan holding a slim 13-9 advantage.

Both defenses held strong in the third quarter as neither offense could find the scoreboard. 

It was Wesleyan who struck first in the fourth quarter.  Tailback Bryan Haywood’s 3-yard touchdown run capped a 73-yard drive that gave the Blue & Gold a 20-9 lead.

The Builders answered with a touchdown of their own with just over eight minutes remaining, but another failed two-point conversion left the Bishops up five at 20-15.

On the ensuing Wesleyan drive, Apprentice’s Thomas Moultrie picked off Townsend’s deflected pass and ran the ball back to the 25-yardline.  The Builders drove down to the one and threatened to take the lead, but a delay-of-game penalty followed by four consecutive Blue & Gold defensive stands gave Wesleyan the ball on downs with 3:45 left on the clock.

The Bishops managed to run the clock down to 1:19 before being forced to punt, setting the stage for the Builders’ late-game heroics.  Apprentice’s Tony Scott blocked the punt that Joseph Bruce scooped up and ran in for the touchdown, giving the Builders their first lead at 21-20 with 1:10 remaining.

Stunned, the Blue & Gold could not mount a threat on their final drive.

Wesleyan’s offense turned in 397 yards on the day compared to the Builders’ 382.  Townsend finished 15-of-30 for 211 yards with one touchdown and one interception.  NNAS’ Franklin was 13-of-24 with a TD and two picks.

Bruce Freeman led the Builders with 134 yards rushing, while Haywood paced the Bishops with 85 yards on the ground.  Townsend added 78 as Wesleyan collected 186 rushing yards as a team.

Defensively, Wesleyan’s Bo Brown had a solid day with 7.5 tackles, one sack, a forced fumble, and an interception.  Quentin Forbes recorded 7.5 stops for Apprentice.

The Blue & Gold will be on the road next weekend when they travel to Southern Virginia University.  Wesleyan defeated SVU 36-15 last season. Kick-off is slated for 1:00 p.m.