Late Touchdown Lifts Davidson Over Lenoir-Rhyne

Box Score

Hickory, N.C. – Davidson sophomore Justin Williams scored on a 1-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-goal with 18 seconds left to lift the Wildcats to a 20-16 football victory at Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday night.

# Ben Behrendt# hit the point after, and Peter Bakke intercepted a pass at the Davidson 18-yard line on the first play after the kickoff to seal the victory.

Trailing 16-13, Davidson took over on their own 20-yard line with 3:53 to go, and senior Ryan Alexander engineered a 12-play, 80-yard drive by completing three passes for 54 yards. Senior Kirk Konert started the drive with an 18-yard reception, and classmate Chad Barnes ran for 15 yards on the next two plays.

Two key plays helped keep the Wildcats alive as they made their way down the field. Alexander hit sophomore Mark Hanabury for a 16 -yard pass on 4th-and-6, and the Bears were whistled for pass interference on Andrew Aldrich on 3rd-and-7 from their own 9 to set up Williams' game-winning TD.

“We were going to throw the ball on third down,” said Davidson coach Tripp Merritt of Williams' run. “But our guys said no way. They said if we run the ball, we'll score and that's what we did.”

Alexander finished the game with 218 yards, and Konert had six catches for 100 yards. Kirk Benedict led the rushing attack with six carries for 42 yards and also caught two passes for 22 markers.

Defense was the story for Davidson all night long. The Wildcats forced five turnovers and allowed 282 yards, including 72 yards of total offense and four first downs in the first half. Daniel Hauffe led the way with 13 tackles, including four for loss.

“What a job our defense did tonight,” said Merritt. “We limited the big plays, which was a key to the game, and played good assignment football and a great job of tackling.”

Lenoir-Rhyne went to their third quarterback of the night and a no-huddle offense in the second half and started clicking. The Bears scored on their first two possessions of the frame and were methodically working the ball down the field early in the fourth quarter with a 10-7 lead.

But the Davidson defense came up with its fourth takeaway of the game as Brandon Wright forced a fumble and Brandon Yeargan jumped on it at the Wildcat 38-yard line.

A 21-yard pass from Alexander to Barnes, and a 30-yard completion from Alexander to Konert set up a 62-yard touchdown drive. Mantuo carried twice inside the LRU 10-yard line, and his second touch resulted in a 1-yard touchdown. But the Bears blocked the extra point, holding the Davidson advantage to 13-10.

The Wildcat defense got a stop, and Williams gave Davidson great field position after a 40-yard punt return. Davidson could not convert on 4th-and-6 from the LRU 30, giving the ball back to the Bears.

The LRU offense took over from there, amassing a 14-play, 70-yard drive and converting a fourth down and two third downs along the way. On 3rd-and-7 from the Davidson 13, the 'Cats got a tackle for loss, but a facemask penalty gave LRU an automatic first down at the 7-yard line. Andrew Courman ran it in from there, but Colin Corpe missed the extra point, making the score 16-13.

The Wildcat defense forced three consecutive 3-and-outs to start the game and came up with a takeaway on the Bears' fourth possession. Yeargan forced a Jeremy Buchanan fumble and recovered it at the LRU 17.

On 3rd-and-6, Alexander hit Konert for a 13-yard pass in the corner of the end zone, and Behrendt added the PAT on the last play of the quarter for a 7-0 Davidson lead.

Matt Mikrut gave the 'Cats great field position midway through the second quarter, when the senior intercepted a pass in Davidson territory and returned it 35 yards to the LRU 45. A 20-yard completion on third down gave the Wildcats 1st-and-goal at the Bear 8-yard line, but Lenoir-Rhyne recovered a fumble on the next play to stop the drive.

The Bears got within striking distance late in the second quarter after Buchanan hit Nick Stutts with a 27-yard pass that took them down to the Davidson 27-yard line. But the Wildcat defense came up big again two plays later when freshman Gianni Ricci picked off a Buchanan pass at the 5-yard line with 1:53 remaining. Davidson ran out the clock and went into the locker room with the 7-0 cushion.

Lenoir-Rhyne took the opening kickoff 36 yards in seven plays, but on 3rd-and-4, Alex Griswold and Daniel Hauffe combine to tackle Justin Sanders behind the line of scrimmage. Colin Corpe hit a 43-yard field goal despite a low snap on fourth down to trim the margin to 7-3.

The Bears took their first lead of the game with 6:40 left in the third quarter on a Justin Sanders 2-yard sneak. The score was set up by a 22-yard run around the left side by James Pone and made the margin 10-7.

The Wildcats are off next week before playing Pioneer Football League opponent Jacksonville in their home opener Sept. 27, at Richardson Stadium.

Game Notes: Mikrut logged his third career interception, and the 35-yard return was his longest… It was the first career interception for Ricci and the second for Bakke… It was Davidson's second win at Lenoir-Rhyne.

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