Defense Carries UC past ECSU
By Rick Ryan
The Charleston Gazette
The University of Charleston leaned on its defense Saturday, and the defense delivered.
Josh Culbertson had two 1-yard touchdown runs in the second half and the Golden Eagles rebuffed several scoring opportunities for Elizabeth City State in earning a 17-8 victory at UC Stadium.
The Vikings (0-2) didn’t score a touchdown until less than three minutes remained, and came up empty on five other possessions that reached inside the UC 25-yard line.
“Our defense played a great game,’’ said Eagles coach Tony DeMeo.
“We felt the game plan going in was if we could play hard for three quarters, we could overtake them in the fourth because we felt like we’d be in better shape. We have a young quarterback [DeRante Hunter] and he’s developing, and we definitely take a lot of pressure off him by playing good defense like this. They came to the rescue numerous times.’’
UC (2-1) managed only 192 yards of total offense, with just 56 passing, and had three turnovers. The Golden Eagles, who led 3-2 at halftime, had second-half touchdown drives that traveled just 32 and 53 yards.
But it didn’t seem to matter on a day when the Golden Eagles’ defense made several clutch stands. UC safety Xavier Drakeford intercepted a pass at his own 7 in the second quarter and linebacker Antonio Smith recovered a fumble at the Vikes 32 after he and nose tackle Dominick Iacovone sandwiched quarterback Rayburn Morris for a 13-yard loss. It was one of three sacks for UC.
“For me, this gives us the juice we need,’’ said Smith, who led UC with nine total tackles. “It gives us the confidence, it gives us the faith to keep it rolling.
“Just having faith in the team [is important]. We have faith that our offense will get it rolling, and they got it rolling and we came out with this win.’’
Each of UC’s touchdown drives, which ended in Culbertson 1-yard runs, was aided by personal-foul penalties against Elizabeth City. The Vikings, after an errorless first quarter, wound up with two turnovers and were flagged 13 times for 104 yards. Six of those were personal fouls and starting strong safety Shawn Dickerson was ejected late in the game.
That was part of a long day for the Vikings (0-2), an NCAA Division II playoff team a year ago that included four shutouts and a 12-7 win over UC.
Three promising drives for ECSU ended in missed field goals by Daniel Mendez (41, 39, 25 yards), although two bad snaps and a bad hold were also to blame. Another possession died at the UC 2 on downs and another reached the 17 before Drakeford’s pick.
Even the one time the Vikings looked like they didn’t self-destruct — Morris heaved a 65-yard TD pass to Casey Owens with 2:53 left — they did. Mendez missed an extra point that could have brought them within 17-9, or one possession of forcing overtime.
The Vikings’ only other points came when Rod Jones blocked a UC punt out of the zone 1:01 into the game. That 2-0 lead held up until UC’s Wes Sherrill booted a 22-yard field goal with five seconds left in the first half.
UC finally shook off its own offensive lethargy late in the game with two short scoring drives. Many of the tough yards came from Culbertson (24 carries, 74 yards) running behind bunch formations that included blocks from defensive end T.L. Asbury of Winfield and linebacker Joey Lindamood of Parkersburg.
“They were tough,’’ said Culbertson, the former Kennedy Award winner from Nitro. “We stuck to our game plan to try and grind it out. We kind of wore them down at the end of the game, and started going at them when they got tired.
“This feels a lot better than getting shut out like we did last week [at Findlay]. Hopefully, it will bring our confidence back up and make us work harder instead of getting our spirits down.’’
The Charleston Gazette
The University of Charleston leaned on its defense Saturday, and the defense delivered.
Josh Culbertson had two 1-yard touchdown runs in the second half and the Golden Eagles rebuffed several scoring opportunities for Elizabeth City State in earning a 17-8 victory at UC Stadium.
The Vikings (0-2) didn’t score a touchdown until less than three minutes remained, and came up empty on five other possessions that reached inside the UC 25-yard line.
“Our defense played a great game,’’ said Eagles coach Tony DeMeo.
“We felt the game plan going in was if we could play hard for three quarters, we could overtake them in the fourth because we felt like we’d be in better shape. We have a young quarterback [DeRante Hunter] and he’s developing, and we definitely take a lot of pressure off him by playing good defense like this. They came to the rescue numerous times.’’
UC (2-1) managed only 192 yards of total offense, with just 56 passing, and had three turnovers. The Golden Eagles, who led 3-2 at halftime, had second-half touchdown drives that traveled just 32 and 53 yards.
But it didn’t seem to matter on a day when the Golden Eagles’ defense made several clutch stands. UC safety Xavier Drakeford intercepted a pass at his own 7 in the second quarter and linebacker Antonio Smith recovered a fumble at the Vikes 32 after he and nose tackle Dominick Iacovone sandwiched quarterback Rayburn Morris for a 13-yard loss. It was one of three sacks for UC.
“For me, this gives us the juice we need,’’ said Smith, who led UC with nine total tackles. “It gives us the confidence, it gives us the faith to keep it rolling.
“Just having faith in the team [is important]. We have faith that our offense will get it rolling, and they got it rolling and we came out with this win.’’
Each of UC’s touchdown drives, which ended in Culbertson 1-yard runs, was aided by personal-foul penalties against Elizabeth City. The Vikings, after an errorless first quarter, wound up with two turnovers and were flagged 13 times for 104 yards. Six of those were personal fouls and starting strong safety Shawn Dickerson was ejected late in the game.
That was part of a long day for the Vikings (0-2), an NCAA Division II playoff team a year ago that included four shutouts and a 12-7 win over UC.
Three promising drives for ECSU ended in missed field goals by Daniel Mendez (41, 39, 25 yards), although two bad snaps and a bad hold were also to blame. Another possession died at the UC 2 on downs and another reached the 17 before Drakeford’s pick.
Even the one time the Vikings looked like they didn’t self-destruct — Morris heaved a 65-yard TD pass to Casey Owens with 2:53 left — they did. Mendez missed an extra point that could have brought them within 17-9, or one possession of forcing overtime.
The Vikings’ only other points came when Rod Jones blocked a UC punt out of the zone 1:01 into the game. That 2-0 lead held up until UC’s Wes Sherrill booted a 22-yard field goal with five seconds left in the first half.
UC finally shook off its own offensive lethargy late in the game with two short scoring drives. Many of the tough yards came from Culbertson (24 carries, 74 yards) running behind bunch formations that included blocks from defensive end T.L. Asbury of Winfield and linebacker Joey Lindamood of Parkersburg.
“They were tough,’’ said Culbertson, the former Kennedy Award winner from Nitro. “We stuck to our game plan to try and grind it out. We kind of wore them down at the end of the game, and started going at them when they got tired.
“This feels a lot better than getting shut out like we did last week [at Findlay]. Hopefully, it will bring our confidence back up and make us work harder instead of getting our spirits down.’’