BOILING SPRINGS – Lucas Beatty threw for 362 yards to lead
the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs to a 27-24 victory over the Charlotte 49ers on
Saturday afternoon at Ernest W. Spangler Stadium.
Charlotte moved down the field on its first drive, settling
for a Blake Brewer (Cannon School) 25 yard field goal to open the day' scoring.
But, the lead was shortly celebrated as Gardner-Webb's J.J. Hubbard raced ninety-five
yards for a touchdown on the ensuing return.
After forcing a three and out on the next possession,
Gardner-Webb and quarterback Lucas Beatty (Olympic) went to work, carving apart
the 49er defense with four quick passes before handing off to Juanne Blount
(Forest Hills) for the twenty-one yard rushing score.
Charlotte would not let the Bulldogs run away from them in
the first quarter, though. After a missed Gardner-Webb field goal attempt,
quarterback Matt Johnson (Maiden) and Kalif Phillips (A.L. Brown) found some
success in the running game before Johnson found a streaking Dmarjai Devine for
a fifty-nine yard touchdown.
Coach Brad Lambert challenged his defense to come up with a big
play and Branden Dozier responded, intercepting Bulldog quarterback Beatty and
returning it thirty-nine yards for the pick-6.
When Gardner-Webb found itself at its own 20 with less than
a minute to play, it looked like the Bulldogs were going to have to go into the
half down 17-14, but someone forget to tell Lucas Beatty. Beatty completed five
passes for fifty-six yards, including a thirty-four yard strike to Willie
Jackson IV, to get Gardner-Webb in field goal range. Paul Schumacher's
thirty-four yard kick was true as time expired and the two teams entered the
half tied at 17. "Hitting that
field goal at the horn gave the entire team a lift. I thought it was a key play,”
Gardner-Webb head coach Carroll McCray commented after the game.
The only action of the third quarter was the two teams
trading interceptions with Gardner-Webb's Bradley Taylor (Bartlett Yancey) picking
off Charlotte only to see the 49ers' Dustin Crouser return the favor two plays
later. The teams traded punts for every other possession in the quarter.
The calm didn't last for long, though, as Lucas Beatty hit
Deonte Swinton for a seventy-one yard score to start the fourth quarter and
allow the Bulldogs to take the lead for good. A bad snap on a Charlotte punt
led to great field position and a twenty-one yard Paul Schumacher field goal to
push the lead to ten.
Charlotte would not go away quietly, though, as Matt Johnson
hit Austin Duke (Independence) for an eighty yard score with a little over two
minutes left in the game. The onside kick was recovered by Gardner-Webb and the
Bulldogs were able to run out the clock, securing a 27-24 victory.
| Score by Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Charlotte | 10 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| Gardner-Webb | 14 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 27 |
| Qtr | Time | Scoring Play | V-H |
| 1st | 10:23 | CHA - BREWER, Blake 25 yd FG 12-57 4:37 | 3-0 |
| 1st | 10:09 | GWU - HUBBARD, J.J. 95 yd TD KO (KICK by GREGORY, G.), | 3-7 |
| 1st | 06:37 | GWU - BLOUNT, J. 21 yd TD RUSH (KICK by GREGORY, G.), 5-68 1:54 | 3-14 |
| 1st | 00:11 | CHA - DEVINE, Dmarjai 59 yd TD PASS from JOHNSON, Matt (KICK by BREWER, Blake), 7-80 2:19 | 10-14 |
| 2nd | 03:59 | CHA - DOZIER, Branden 39 yd TD INT (KICK by BREWER, Blake) | 17-14 |
| 2nd | 00:00 | GWU - SCHUMACHER, P. 35 yd FG 7-0 6:53 | 17-17 |
| 4th | 13:08 | GWU - SWINTON, D. 71 yd TD PASS from BEATTY, L. (KICK by SCHUMACHER, P.), 5-84 1:33 | 17-24 |
| 4th | 08:25 | GWU - SCHUMACHER, P. 21 yd FG 4-3 1:28 | 17-27 |
| 4th | 02:21 | CHA - DUKE, Austin 80 yd TD PASS from JOHNSON, Matt (KICK by BREWER, Blake), 1-80 0:13 | 24-27 |
| CHA | GWU | |
| FIRST DOWNS | 13 | 21 |
| Rushing | 6 | 5 |
| Passing | 6 | 14 |
| Penalty | 1 | 2 |
| NET YARDS RUSHING | 162 | 79 |
| Rushing Attempts | 35 | 31 |
| Average Per Rush | 4.6 | 2.5 |
| Rushing Touchdowns | 0 | 1 |
| Yards Gained Rushing | 181 | 105 |
| Yards Lost Rushing | 19 | 26 |
| NET YARDS PASSING | 255 | 362 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int | 12-27-2 | 32-48-2 |
| Average Per Attempt | 9.4 | 7.5 |
| Average Per Completion | 21.3 | 11.3 |
| Passing Touchdowns | 2 | 1 |
| TOTAL OFFENSIVE YARDS | 417 | 441 |
| Total offensive plays | 62 | 79 |
| Average Gain Per Play | 6.7 | 5.6 |
| Fumbles: Number-Lost | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| Penalties: Number-Yards | 10-90 | 7-46 |
| PUNTS-YARDS | 6-210 | 6-219 |
| Average Yards Per Punt | 35.0 | 36.5 |
| Net Yards Per Punt | 34.5 | 35.5 |
| Inside 20 | 1 | 4 |
| 50+ Yards | 0 | 0 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 1 |
| Fair catch | 3 | 0 |
| KICKOFFS-YARDS | 4-237 | 5-258 |
| Average Yards Per Kickoff | 59.3 | 51.6 |
| Net Yards Per Kickoff | 37 | 18.4 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 0 |
| Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD | 3-3-0 | 1-6-0 |
| Average Per Return | 1 | 6 |
| Kickoff returns: Number-Yards-TD | 4-89-0 | 4-166-1 |
| Average Per Return | 22.3 | 41.5 |
| Interceptions: Number-Yards-TD | 2-44-1 | 2-0-0 |
| Fumble Returns: Number-Yards - | 1-0 | |
| Miscellaneous Yards | 0 | 0 |
| Possession Time | 23:11 | 36:49 |
| 1st Quarter | 09:25 | 05:35 |
| 2nd Quarter | 04:44 | 10:16 |
| 3rd Quarter | 05:09 | 09:51 |
| 4th Quarter | 03:53 | 11:07 |
| Third-Down Conversions | 2 of 14 | 7 of 17 |
| Fourth-Down Conversions | 1 of 2 | 0 of 1 |
| Red Zone Scores-Chances | 1 of 1 | 2 of 5 |
| Touchdowns | 0 | 0 |
| Field Goals | 1 of 1 | 2 of 4 |
| Sacks By: Number-Yards | 2-11 | 1-3 |
| PAT Kicks | 3-3 | 3-3 |
| Field Goals | 1 of 3 | 2 of 4 |
.png)
