EMORY, Va. – The Randolph-Macon College Football Team (3-1, 1-0 ODAC) handed Emory & Henry College (3-1, 1-0 ODAC) its first loss of the season, 22-10, Saturday afternoon at Fred Selfe Stadium.
After a nearly scoreless first quarter, Randolph-Macon put together a 10-play, 50-yard drive that resulted in a 43-yard field goal by Josh Storm. The Yellow Jackets made the score 10-0 on their next possession on a one-yard rush by Dan Crouch. The drive was highlighted by a 21-yard pass from Zac Naccarato to Christian Cook.
Emory & Henry got on the board with 7:29 remaining before halftime on a 32-yard field goal by senior Matt Turchin (Salisbury, N.C.) to make the score 10-3.
R-MC would get a second field goal from Storm from 39 yards out with just over a minute to go, extending its lead back to 10 points (13-3). The Wasps would drive down to the Yellow Jackets' goal line, but ran out of time before they could put more points on the board.
Randolph-Macon pushed its lead to 16-3 after its first possession of the third quarter on Storm's third field goal of the contest, this time a 42-yarder. The Yellow Jackets scored a touchdown with 7:27 left to go in the game to go up 22-3, but the two-point conversion that would make the contest a three possession game was unsuccessful.
The Wasps responded to cut the lead to 22-10 on their next drive. Junior quarterback Kyle Boden (Knoxville, Tenn.) completed five passes on the strike that went 67 yards on seven plays. Senior wide receiver Adam Pugh (Norwalk, Ohio) caught two passes during the stretch including a 14-yard catch in the right corner of the end zone. Turchin's extra point was good.
Both teams had opportunities to score in the last five minutes of the contest, but neither would be able to add to their score.
For the game, Randolph-Macon had 376 yards of total offense compared to 366 yards of offense for E&H and won the first down battle, 22-20. The Yellow Jackets held the ball for 35:20 of the game, balancing their offensive attack (233 passing, 143 rushing).
Naccarato was 15-for-19 through the air for 233 yards while Drake Sanders (80 yards) and Will Harris (64 yards) led R-MC rushing. Cook caught six balls for 98 yards while Luke Sellers had four receptions for 98 yards as well.
Emory & Henry was led offensively by Boden with 359 yards passing as he completed 31 of his 55 pass attempts. Senior Corey Ware (Buchanan, Va.) caught six passes for 65 yards while freshman Deion George (Galax, Va.) had 63 yards receiving on five catches. Pugh and sophomore Lucas Kirby (Covington, Va.) each had 67 yards, with Pugh catching the Wasps touchdown.
Defensively, Danny Hunt led the Yellow Jackets with nine tackles and one pass broken up. Akeem Hardy and Ian Candelaria had eight and seven stops, respectively, while Cross Trued had six tackles including 2.5 sacks for 22 yards.
The Wasps defensive unit was led by senior linebacker Devan Sproles (Norton, Va.) as he had 11 tackles. Senior linebacker Ross Ellis (Abingdon, Va.) made eight tackles on the day while safetys senior Daniel Woods (Bristol, Va.) and junior Jason Hill (Hickory, N.C.) had eight stops apiece.
Emory & Henry will travel to Lexington, Va. next week to face Washington and Lee University. Kickoff between the Wasps and Generals is set for 1:30 p.m.
---E&H---