Saturday, September 6
Pembroke, N.C.
Davidson College
9
at
21
UNC Pembroke
Davidson Drops Season Opener 21-9
9/6/2008 9:05:49 PM | Football
The 'Cats play at Lenoir-Ryne next Saturday.
Pembroke, N.C. – The UNC Pembroke defense forced four Davidson turnovers and pitched a shutout in the second half to lead the Braves to a 21-9 football victory over the Wildcats Saturday evening.
With UNCP leading 14-9 early in the fourth quarter, Caylon Hann intercepted a Ryan Alexander pass on first down, giving the Braves the ball on the Davidson 32-yard line. Cory Smith scrambled 21 yards on 3rd-and-long, and then hit Brandon McLaurin with a TD pass on the next play to make the margin 21-9 with 12:31 to play.
Davidson came right back with a drive of its own, keyed by two third-down conversions on passes from Alexander to Mark Hanabury. On 4th-and-inches from the UNCP 15-yard line, Davidson drew the Braves off sides to keep the drive alive, but on 4th-and-goal from the seven, Alexander's pass to Myles Potter wound up short of the goal line.
“You can't turn the ball over four times and expect to win; I'm not sure anybody can,” said Davidson coach Tripp Merritt. “We've got to look at this game and find out what we can do better. You have to give credit to Pembroke. They played a great game and have really come a long way in a year.”
Alexander finished the game with 237 yards on 28-of-38 passing but had three picked off. Kirk Konert had 10 receptions for 85 yards, and Hanabury had five catches for 47 yards.
Daniel Astrop and Daniel Hauffe each led the Davidson defense with nine tackles and a tackle for loss. Tyler Lemons had eight tackles, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble.
Brandon Giles set up the 'Cats first touchdown of the evening after Konert pinned the Braves on their own 1-yard line with a 49-yard punt. On 3rd-and-6, Giles jumped a route, tipped the ball up and came down with the interception at the 1-yard line.
Chad Barnes punched it in on the next play, and the Wildcats tried some trickery on the extra point. Davidson tried the direct snap to Andrew Aldrich, but he couldn't get into the end zone, leaving the score 6-0.
Sophomore Ben Behrendt capped a 9-play, 40-yard drive with a 47-yard field goal on his first career attempt to make the score 9-0 in the second quarter. The drive was set up by a turnover as Tyler Lemons forced a fumble.
UNC Pembroke got the benefit of some breaks on their first scoring drive, which made the score 9-7 with 21 seconds left in the second quarter. The Braves lined up for a field goal on 4th-and-4, but a bad snap caused Justin Hinson to scramble, which resulted in a 6-yard pickup and a first down.
Later in the drive, the Braves recovered two of their own fumbles on consecutive plays inside the 5-yard line. Then on 3rd-and–goal from the five, the Wildcats were whistled for pass interference on a fade pattern to the corner. Garrett Sutphen found Keith Gore two plays later for the Brave score.
The Braves went ahead 14-9, when Jamal Williams scampered in from seven yards out. That play capped a drive of 49 yards for the Braves and gave them their first lead of the contest with 4:52 left in the third quarter.
The Wildcats drove the ball right down to the Brave 17-yard line, but Alexander had a pass picked off to stall the drive. UNCP drove the other way, but on 3rd-and-13, the Braves tried a statue of liberty play that was sniffed out by Matt Mikrut. UNCP's field goal try went wide left on the next play, leaving the margin at 14-9.
Game Notes: It was the first night game at Grace P. Johnson Stadium in its two-year history… Davidson fell to 54-51-5 in season openers, including 3-6 in this decade… Will Funderburg made his 31st career start, while Alexander made his 28th… It was the least points Davidson has scored since a 16-9 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne at home in 2005.
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