Late Score Pushes Wingate Past Davidson

Saturday, September 8

Wingate, N.C.

1:30 p.m.

Davidson College

at Wingate

Matt Easton returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown.

9/8/2007 4:43:00 PM | Football

Marc Gignac

Box Score

Wingate, N.C. - Wingate quarterback JD Moore found receiver Gary Tatum for a 41-yard touchdown pass late in the game to push the Bulldogs (3-0) to a 33-30 football victory over Davidson (1-1) at Irwin Belk Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Wildcat senior quarterback Matt McGreevy, making his first career start, threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns. He spread the ball around to seven different receivers with Kirk Konert leading the group with five receptions for 63 yards.

Moore finished with 173 yards and two touchdowns, and Nelson Woods led the Wingate rushing attack with 28 carries for 184 yards and two scores.

Wingate trailed 30-26 when Moore found Tatum for the score with 4:18 left in the game. The Bulldogs forced Davidson to go three-and-out on its next possession and gave the Wildcats a heavy dose of Woods rushing to run out the clock and preserve the win.

Davidson overcame a 10-point halftime deficit and took a 27-26 lead, its first of the game, when McGreevy threw an underneath pass to junior Chad Barnes, who rambled 47 yards for a touchdown with 11:02 left in the contest.

After the Wildcat defense got a three-and-out on the ensuing Wingate possession, the Davidson offense went 46 yards in eight plays, and Cody Elder tacked on his third field goal of the game to make the score 30-26. The drive was keyed by two costly 15-yard personal foul penalties on Wingate and a 16-yard pass from McGreevy to sophomore Andrew Aldrich on 3rd-and-14.

“I'm extremely proud of our kids to face so much adversity and keep fighting back the way they did,” said Davidson coach Tripp Merritt. “What needs to be learned from this is that when you have a team down you have to stick the fork in them and finish them off.”

Trailing 16-6, Davidson went 80 yards on seven plays on its opening possession of the second half and scored its first touchdown of the game on a 17-yard pass from McGreevy to Aldrich. A 49-yard pass on third down from McGreevy to Konert keyed the drive as the 'Cats trimmed the deficit to 16-13.

Wingate regained the 10-point cushion on its next possession when Moore found Tatum for a 27-yard touchdown strike. The Bulldogs stopped Davidson on its next possession, but Matt Easton picked off a Moore pass and went 25 yards for a Wildcat touchdown, making the score 23-20.

The score remained the same on the first play of the fourth quarter as Wingate faced a 4th-and-inches from the Davidson 15-yard-line. The 'Cats defense came up big with the stop to stay within striking distance, but Ed Doughty intercepted a McGreevy pass on the fourth play of the Davidson possession, giving the Bulldogs the ball on the Wildcat 19.

The Davidson defense came up big again, forcing Wingate to settle for a Jonathan Bedford 19-yard field goal to make the score 26-20, and the 'Cats took their first lead of the contest on their next possession.

Field position hurt Davidson in the first half as Wingate started two drives in Wildcat territory, including one from the 35-yard line. Davidson also had trouble finishing off its drives. The Wildcats came away with just two field goals on their three trips in the Red Zone, and Davidson missed a 20-yard field goal after driving down to the Bulldog 3-yard-line late in the first quarter.

Wingate returned the opening kick to the Davidson 48 and promptly went 48 yards in eight plays, capped by Woods' 2-yard touchdown run. The 'Cats had good field position on their first possession of the second quarter and went 21 yards in six plays to set up a 30-yard field goal for Elder which made the margin 7-3.

Wingate came right back with a 56-yard TD run by Woods and took a 13-3 advantage. After a 27-yard field goal by Elder, the Bulldogs added a 33-yard field goal of their own with 42 seconds left in the half and led 16-6 at the break.

Davidson hosts Lenoir-Rhyne Sept. 15, at 1 p.m. on Homecoming.

Notes: Easton's interception return for a touchdown was the first for a Wildcat since 2005… Elder was 3-for-4 on field goal tries, making him 4-for-5 this season… Aldrich and Easton scored their first career touchdowns… Barnes had the first touchdown reception of his career… Davidson falls to 0-4 against Wingate… The Wildcat defense had four sacks and forced two fumbles… Easton also led the team with nine tackles.