Davidson Football Rally Stalls; 'Cats Fall 27-21 at Jacksonville

Box score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Davidson receiver Mark Hanabury had a career day with nine receptions for 146 yards and a touchdown, but the Wildcats' comeback bid came up short in a 27-21 Pioneer Football League loss at Jacksonville Saturday afternoon.

Trailing 27-7 with 4:19 left in the third quarter, Davidson was in a familiar spot against the Dolphins. Last season, Davidson erased a 35-14 deficit at with 4:04 left in the third and came away with a 38-35 home win. In 2007, the 'Cats trailed the Dolphins 10-0 at the half and won 21-10.

So when Davidson (1-3, 1-1 PFL) had the ball on the Jacksonville 36-yard line on 4th-and-6 trailing by six points with 1:42 to go, Wildcat fans had to like their chances.

But this time, it wasn't to be. Sophomore quarterback Matt Heavner dropped back to pass and hit Hanabury over the middle, and it looked like a first down was foregone conclusion and he was going to break a big play. But when the junior planted to cut up field, his foot slipped out from under him, and he landed just shy of the first down marker. Jacksonville (2-2, 1-0) killed the last 1:35 to hang onto the win.

“When he went to cut, he planted, and it looked like his right foot just came out from under him,” said Davidson coach Tripp Merritt. “We had a great play called on that play and a great call on the play before. When I saw that one develop I was thinking touchdown.”

The play before was a screen pass to Kenny Mantuo on 3rd-and-7, which looked like it was set up perfectly, but Jacksonville's Oscar Johnson blew up his block and tackled Mantuo for just a 1-yard gain.

Mantuo finished the game with 66 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. Heavner came off the bench to complete 7-of-10 passes for 66 yards and a score, and Michael Blanchard threw for 73 yards.

Alex Griswold led the defense with a career-high 10 tackles, including two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. Daniel Astrop had nine tackles and a sack in a game with no turnovers.

Rudell Small had 18 carries for 110 yards and a TD, and Josh McGregor completed 18-of-28 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns for the Dolphins.

The defense ignited the rally when Jacksonville was getting ready to add to a 27-7 cushion late in the third quarter. McGregor hooked up with Christopher Kuck for a 40-yard pass to set up 1st-and-10 at the Davidson 14-yard line. The Wildcats dug in, and a Griswold sack on second down helped make the Dolphins settle for a field goal try, which went wide right.

The Wildcat offense used the momentum to open up the playbook, and a halfback pass from Andrew Aldrich to Hanabury went for 36 yards down to the Jacksonville 39. Heavner threw to Hanabury for a 20-yard gain down to the 1-yard line later in the drive, and Mantuo punched it in on the next play, making the margin 27-14 early in the fourth.

Following the kickoff, the Davidson defense rose to the occasion again with three straight tackles for loss that set up a 4th-and-39 from the Dolphin 2-yard line. Malcolm Moses-Hampton ignited the stretch by tackling Small for an 11-yard loss, and Griswold and Astrop came up with consecutive sacks to force a punt.

Justin Williams returned the kick 22 yards to the Jacksonville 24, and two plays later, Heavner threw to Hanabury for 12 yards to set up 1st-and-goal at the 4-yard line. The pair hooked up again for a touchdown on 3rd-and-goal, and Ben Behrendt added the point after to trim the lead to 27-21 with 7:41 remaining.

The Dolphins went down to the Davidson 29-yard line on their next possession, but the Wildcat defense came up big again. Peter Kidwell stopped McGregor for a 6-yard loss on second down, eventually forcing the Dolphins into 4th-and-15. Donavan Curry's 51-yard field-goal try sailed wide.

“I was really proud of our defense, especially in the second half,” said Merritt. “We made some adjustments at halftime, and once we got into the right coverages and calls, we really settled in.”

McGregor capped the Dolphins' game-opening, 81-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jarvis Williams for a 7-0 lead. Davidson got on the board on its second possession when Mantuo plunged in from a yard out 15 seconds into the second quarter to tie the score. The key play in the 76-yard drive came on 3rd-and-7, when Blanchard dropped back to pass, made a few Dolphin rushers miss and kept the play alive to find Hanabury all alone for a 33-yard gain.

The Dolphins regained the lead when McGregor hit Josh Philpart in the middle of the field for a 20-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter. The scoring drive started after a Davidson drive stalled on 4th-and-6 from the Dolphin 29-yard line. Small made the lead 21-7 with an 11-yard touchdown run with 1:04 left in the first half.

After the teams traded punts to start the second half, the 'Cats got the ball on the Jacksonville 35-yard line after the Dolphins were flagged for a 15-yard facemask during Williams' punt return. But the Davidson offense couldn't get anything going and turned the ball over on downs when Mike Mayoral sacked Blanchard on 4th-and-5. Jacksonville scored on the ensuing possession on a McGregor 11-yard run. The Dolphins missed the extra point but the touchdown opened the 20-point cushion.

The Wildcats return home to take on Morehead State next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Richardson Stadium.

Game Notes: Hanabury's 146 receiving yards were the most for Davidson since Kirk Konert had 153 against Dayton last season… The Dolphins broke a three-game losing skid against the Wildcats… Davidson is the only team Jacksonville has played every season since the Dolphins began their football program in 1998… It was Davidson's first game with out a turnover since defeating Butler 46-34 in the 2008 finale… That was also the last time Davidson played a game in which neither team had a turnover.

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