NCWC football celebrates Senior Day with 35-3 win over Pride

Rocky Mount, NC - The Battling Bishop football team of North Carolina Wesleyan celebrated its 2008 Senior Day on Saturday afternoon with a dominating 35-3 win over Greensboro College in the regular season finale for both squads. The Bishops, who led 14-3 at the break, scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to secure the Homecoming victory. NCWC ends the season at 6-4 overall, 5-2 in the USA South.

Prior to the start of the game, head coach Mark Henninger and his squad honored their 14 seniors:
Nigel Rodgers, Damian Hopkins, Matt Bass, Cliff Edmundson, Reshard Patterson, Micke'l Cahoon, Carlos Railey, Aaron Durant, Russell Rouse, Joseph Stutts, Reggie Wells, Travis Kivett, Quinderra Spellman, and Richie Wiggins.

The Bishops never trailed as they took the opening kickoff 67 yards in 11 plays to go up 6-0. The drive was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by freshman Tyreck McFadden, and Kevin Quicker's successful point-after attempt gave NCWC an early 7-0 advantage.

Both teams fought extremely wet conditions throughout the first quarter, but the Pride (2-8, 0-7 USAC) capitalized on NCWC quarterback Bo Jordan's lone interception of the day (by GC's Andreas Platt) with a Caleb Shelton 25-yard field goal early in the second quarter.

Up 7-3, Wesleyan managed another score before the break for a 14-3 halftime lead. Freshman Stedman Mathis did the honors with 1-yard TD rush of his own.

In the second half, sophomore wideout Laqwan Brodie hauled in a 14-yard touchdown pass early in the third to extend Wesleyan's lead to 21-3.  McFadden later added another rushing TD to complete the period's scoring.

The fourth quarter saw the Bishops' lone score come on McFadden's second touchdown of the day, this time from four yards out. Quicker's PAT secured the 35-3 final.

Jordan finished 14-of-26 for 220 yards, one touchdown, and one pick. McFadden racked up 109 yards on the ground, while Devon Whitaker anchored the defensive efforts with 11 tackles.

The Bishops recorded 414 total yards on the day and held the Pride to 198. The wet conditions led to a combined 10 fumbles, five of which resulted in turnovers.

The win wraps up the third straight winning season for the Bishops, who tied for second in the league standings with Ferrum College.