Wildcat Football Hosts San Diego in Home Finale

Davidson Wildcats (3-6, 3-4 PFL) vs. San Diego Toreros (4-6, 4-3 PFL)
Nov. 13, 2010 - Davidson, N.C.
Richardson Stadium (5,000) - 1 p.m. - Natural Grass

Full game notes (PDF)

Today's Game
• The Wildcats close out their home slate today with a 1 p.m. contest against San Diego.
• It's Senior Day, and Davidson will honor its 23 seniors prior to the game.
• Davidson is 11-11 in Richardson Stadium in its last 22 contests. The 'Cats have suffered six straight losses at home, dating back to last season.
• The Wildcats own a 13-12 all-time mark in conference games at Richardson Stadium.
• Davidson is 18-19 in its last 37 PFL contests and owns a 24-27 all-time PFL record.
• The Wildcats are coming off a 28-21 road PFL victory at Marist last Saturday.
• San Diego is coming off a 34-0 home win over Morehead State last Saturday. The Toreros are 1-2 on the road in conference play.
• Davidson was picked seventh in the Pioneer Football League, while San Diego was picked fifth.
• Davidson is 3-2 in Senior Day games under head coach Tripp Merritt.

Series Record
• San Diego leads the all-time series, which began in 2000, 5-2, and has won five of the last six.
• The last three games of the series have been decided by a touchdown or less.
• Davidson's two wins in the series have come at San Diego, including a 34-27 decision last season.
• Michael Blanchard gained 180 yards of total offense, and the Davidson defense forced four straight incompletions from its own 31-yard line inside the last minute as the Wildcats hung on for the win last season.
• Blanchard rushed for a career-high 102 yards and completed five passes for 78 yards and a touchdown. Justin Williams rushed 15 times for 72 yards and a score, and Kenny Mantuo rushed for 58 yards and a touchdown.
• The Wildcats rolled up a season-high 282 yards on the ground, while holding the Toreros to 115. Daniel Astrop led the defensive effort with eight stops, while John Behm and Tyler Lemons each had seven hits.
• San Diego running back Matt Jelmini rushed for 133 yards, and defensive back Derek Pilkington had a key interception late in the game to lead the Toreros to a 28-24 victory over Davidson in the last meeting in Richardson Stadium.
• Trailing by four points, Davidson drove 54 yards down to the San Diego 15-yard line, but on 2nd-and-10, Pilkington intercepted a Ryan Alexander pass at the 11 and returned it 45 yards with 3:55 to play.
• Alexander completed 21-of-27 passes for 214 yards and two scores to lead the Wildcats. Andrew Aldrich caught six passes for 68 yards, and Chad Barnes led the squad with 51 yards on the ground.
• Justin Williams took the opening kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown to spark Davidson to a 21-0 lead. The Toreros closed the margin to 21-14 at halftime with the two TDs coming in a total of 2:12 midway through the second quarter.

Scouting the Toreros
• Quarterback Mason Mills leads the Torero offense with 1,920 passing yards and 15 touchdowns.
• Godfrey Smith has 59 receptions for 840 yards and four TDs, and Phil Morelli has rushed for 355 yards and four scores.
• The San Diego defense has forced 21 turnovers, including 13 interceptions. Fred Obi and Al-Rilwan Adeyemi each have five picks.
• Mario Kurn leads the team in tackles with 55 and has 19.5 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks.

Record Breakers
• With 2,551 career yards, senior Justin Williams has set a new Pioneer Football League mark for career kick return yardage. Williams came into the season as Davidson's all-time leader in kick return yards.
• He recorded 57 yards at Drake Oct. 23 to pass Justin Campbell (Butler, 2001-04) who posted 2,512 yards.
• Freshman Jonathan Carkhuff broke a 37-year-old record with 41 completions at Drake as well. He was 41-of-56 for 306 yards. He passed Dave Harper, who posted 37 completions against William & Mary in 1973.
• Carkhuff is the first Wildcat to pass for 300-plus yards since Ryan Alexander threw for 364 against Dayton in 2008.
• Carkhuff also tied Alexander's school mark for completion percentage in a game (77.8 percent) by completing 21-of-27 passes at Marist Nov. 8. Alexander went 21-for-27 against San Diego in 2008.

Academic All-District
• Daniel Astrop, Mark Hanabury, Peter Kidwell and Morgan Popham have been named first-team ESPN Academic All-District III by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The quartet advances to the national ballot for ESPN Academic All-America honors.
• A senior linebacker, Astrop has started all nine games this season and is third on the team in tackles with 50 to go along with three tackles for loss, a sack, four pass breakups and a fumble recovery. The co-captain has started 19-straight games for the Wildcats and is 15 tackles away from reaching 200 for his career. Astrop has a 3.61 grade point average in economics.
• A senior receiver, Hanabury has 24 catches for 221 yards in six games of action as injuries kept him out of the first three contests this season. He carries a 3.39 grade point average in history.
• Kidwell earns the honor for the second straight season and has started all nine games in 2010. The junior defensive back is third on the team in tackles with 50 and has two interceptions, four pass breakups, a blocked kick and 4.5 tackles for loss. He owns a 3.47 grade point average in economics.
• Popham has started all nine games this season and has 36 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and a pass breakup. The junior defensive lineman carries a 3.69 grade point average in sociology.

CFPA Watch List
• Junior John Behm has been named to the College Football Performance Awards FCS Linebacker of the Year Midseason Watch List.
• Behm has started all nine games this season and has 52 tackles, an interception, 8.5 TFLs, three sacks, three pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.

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