EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry University Football Team (3-0, 1-0 SAC) got South Atlantic Conference play started with a convincing 41-0 win against Barton College (1-2, 0-1 SAC) Saturday afternoon at home.
E&H moves to 3-0 on the year for the first time since the "COVID Spring" season of 2020-21, its final season as a member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
The Basics
FINAL SCORE – Emory & Henry 41, Barton 0
LOCATION – Emory, Virginia
VENUE – Nicewonder Field at Fred Selfe Stadium
RECORDS – Emory & Henry (3-0, 1-0 SAC); Barton (1-2, 0-1 SAC)
How It Happened
Both teams struggled to get started as the first three drives of the game went for negative yardage. After interceptions by both teams including a pick by junior defensive back Chendrick Cann (Pinellas Park, Fla.) that gave E&H the ball on its own two yardline, the Wasps went down the field 98 yards in 11 plays for the first score of the contest. Junior quarterback Charles Mutter, III (King George, Va.) found sophomore wide receiver Cam Abshire (Roanoke, Va.) in the right corner of the end zone from 26 yards out. The resulting PAT attempt was blocked giving Emory & Henry a 6-0 lead with 9:19 left in the second quarter.
Following another Barton punt, the Wasps went down the field 80 yards in eight plays for a 13-0 lead. Junior wide receiver Cam Peoples (Reidsville, N.C.) got the call on a jet sweep to the left corner of the end zone for a two-yard score.
Returning to action in the third, Emory & Henry put another two touchdowns on the board to press its margin to 27-0. The Wasps struck quickly after receiving the kickoff as Mutter hit Peoples with a 26-yard touchdown pass. Later in the period, Abshire got his second receiving touchdown of the day, this time a 58-yard bomb from Mutter with 7:42 on the clock.
E&H continued to pull away in the final 15 minutes. On the first play of the fourth quarter, junior Jordan Jackson (Richmond, Va.) rushed through the middle for 12 yards and a touchdown. The Wasps capped the scoring with 5:04 to play when sophomore running back Rudolph Paul (Douglasville, Ga.) found paydirt with a three-yard plunge up the middle for the 41-0 final margin.
Emory & Henry Individual Leaders
Mutter finished the game 11-for-19 through the air for 274 yards and three touchdowns. He added 30 yards on the ground on seven carries.
Jordan rushed for 125 yards and a score while senior running back Cade Snotherly (Asheboro, N.C.) had 42 rushing yards and Paul finished with 13 yards and a score.
Peoples caught three passes for 67 yards and a touchdown while Abshire scored on both of his receptions, gaining 84 yards. Redshirt freshman wideout Kaleb Harper (Knoxville, Tenn.) had a pair of catches for 58 yards.
Senior linebacker Kaleb Lundy (Winston-Salem, N.C.) led the squad with eight tackles including 1.5 for loss, a pass defended and a quarterback hurry. Cann finished with four tackles, two interceptions for 27 yards, a forced fumble and an additional pass defended.
Senior defensive lineman Andre Crawley, Jr. (North Chesterfield, Va.) posted five tackles with two tackles for loss, while fifth-year defensive back Addison Knicely (Mount Crawford, Va.) went for four tackles and two passes defended.
Barton Individual Leaders
Trevor Nored threw for 92 yards on 9-for-23 passing. He found seven different receivers on the afternoon including Jay Flood-Brown three times for 14 yards. Devon Adams had the most receiving yardage with one catch for 28 yards.
Dakauri Davis had seven rushing yards to lead the Bulldogs' running backs while Jackson Parrish notched six yards on the ground. The top Barton rusher was punter Andrew Bontekoe who had a pair of scrambled twice for 45 yards.
Bailey Carraway, Sam Brady and Derec Barringer finished with eight tackles apiece to lead BC. Carraway posted 1.5 tackles for loss while Brady had one stop behind the line and a blocked extra-point. Connor Stanley put up seven tackles and an interception which he returned 14 yards.
A Deeper Look
Emory & Henry finished with 536 yards of total offense, passing for 315 and rushing for 221. The Wasps averaged 7.9 yards per play and 4.9 yards per rush.
Barton had just 149 yards of offense on the afternoon, averaging just 3.0 yards per play. The Bulldogs managed just 12 rushing yards on plays from scrimmage with Bontekoe finishing as the top player in all-purpose yards at 45 with his rushes on broken punt plays.
E&H racked up 29 first downs, and went 4-for-9 (44%) on third downs compared to just seven first downs for BC, which was 3-for-12 (25%) on third down.
Emory & Henry's defense lived in the Barton backfield with 12 tackles for loss compared to just four for the Bulldogs.
The Wasps won the time-of-possession battle, holding the ball for 33:22, as well as the turnover margin, with three takeaways compared to two for the Bulldogs.
Emory & Henry was penalized seven times for 74 yards compared to 11 penalties for 88 yards for Barton.
Notes of Interest
Emory & Henry came into today's game leading NCAA Division II in turnover margin (+7) and tied for the lead in interceptions (seven).
It was the first shutout for Emory & Henry since defeating Erskine College by a 32-0 score on November 5, 2022, and the first home shutout since a 30-0 victory over Greensboro College on September 10, 2011.
It was the most one-sided home shutout for E&H since a 48-0 victory over Maryville (Tenn.) College on November 14, 1998.
The 41-point margin of victory is the largest since a 56-14 (42 points) victory over Erskine on November 4, 2023.
Up Next
Emory & Henry will play its first road game of the year next week when it visits Limestone University. Kickoff between the Wasps and Saints is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
---E&H---