Saturday, September 3
Washington, D.C.
1:00 p.m.

Davidson College

0-1

14
at
38

Georgetown

1-0

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Davidson
0
7
0
7
14
Georgetown
0
17
21
0
38
Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

'Cats Downed At Georgetown In Season Opener, 38-14

9/3/2016 9:12:00 PM | Football

DavidsonPhotos.com
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Davidson football team showed promise in a 38-14 non-conference loss at Georgetown Saturday afternoon in the 2016 opener at Cooper Field.
 
Junior wide receiver Jaris Scott posted a career day for the 'Cats. The Jacksonville, Fla., native made a career-high five catches for 149 yards and notched his second career touchdown. Scott's scoring grab in the second quarter was a 56-yard strike, while he nearly did it again in the fourth frame as he came up just shy of the goal line on a 69-yard reception.
 
Prior to the game, Davidson Head Coach Paul Nichols empathized that the team come out strong on both side of the balls, and did his squad just that.
 
On the opening drive of the 2016 season, the 'Cats marched down the field on a lengthy 15-play, 72-yard drive that burned nearly 10 minutes of game clock. The drive setup junior placekicker Trevor Smith for a shot at a 24-yard field goal, but the kick sailed just right and clanged off the far post.
 
The 'Cats fulfilled Nichols hopes on the first defensive possession, as well, forcing the Hoyas to punt after just three plays.
 
Davidson moved the ball well in the first two series. On the second drive, junior Giftson Bornelus got a pitch from starting quarterback Taylor Mitchell and took it 20 yards into Hoya territory for the second time in as many tries.
 
After a scoreless first frame, the Hoyas went hurry up in the second and capped a 10-play, 59-yard drive with an 18-yard Justin Hill touchdown grab from Tim Barnes to break the scoreless tie and take a 7-0 lead early in the second stanza.
 
On the next Hoya drive with the home team back in the redzone, a Davidson defender hit Barnes as he released the ball and took some power off of it, allowing senior safety Jaylen Mize to come to the ball and make his first interception of the season, preventing another Georgetown score.
 
The 'Cats took over deep in their own territory, but were unable to get out of the hole and were forced to punt after a three-and-out.
 
Georgetown received a short field and capitalized with a 27-yard field goal from Henry Darmstadter.
 
On the ensuing Davidson drive, the 'Cats subbed in freshman quarterback Stockton McGuire who immediately showed off his arm with a bomb into Georgetown territory that sailed just over the hands of receiver William Wicks. McGuire then quickly changed gears, showing his speed as he read the field and ran down the middle, sliding just before the chains.
 
It took McGuire just two passing attempts before he connected with Scott for his first career touchdown pass, a 56-yarder that broke the shutout. Mitchell's extra point cut the Hoya lead to three late in half, 10-7.
 
On the ensuing Georgetown possession, tailback Alex Valles broke free with under a minute to play, bringing it inside the Davidson 10-yard line. Despite the short field, the 'Cats secondary continued to plague the Hoyas in the redzone as senior Ryan Leak stuffed the Georgetown receiver for a loss and drained some clock. Leak continued to harass the Hoyas, breaking up a pass near the goal line on second down.
 
On third down, the veteran defensive duo of Leak and Mize combined to drag Hill down to the ground at the two-yard line and force a fourth down with time winding down. Out of their final timeout, Barnes found Justin Harrell on the far side and he scooted into the end zone for a deflating touchdown heading into the break.
 
The Davidson defense held their own on the opening drive of the half, forcing a Hoya punt, but a fumble on their own first series gave momentum right back to the opposition. Georgetown made Davidson pay for the mistake, using a 33-yard touchdown pass to Brand Williams to break it open and go up by three possessions early in the half, 24-7.
 
Despite holding the ball for nearly three minutes less than Davidson in the frame, Georgetown added two more scores to bust it open heading into the final quarter up, 38-7.
 
The 'Cats fought on in the fourth. McGuire hooked up with fellow freshman Hunter Louthan for his first career touchdown on the opening drive of the quarter. Louthan snagged the ball inside the one and used all of his 6-4, 230 pound frame to pound it through a group of defenders for his first collegiate scoring reception.
 
The Hoyas drained the clock down to just above six minutes to go, but missed a kick, giving Davidson the ball back at their own 24-yard line. On the first play of the drive, McGuire connected with Scott for another monster gain, this time a 69-yard chunk down deep into Georgetown territory. McGuire proceeded to give it up with an interception on the goal line to all but seal the game.
 
McGuire completed 9-of-15 passes for 183 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in his first collegiate game. McGuire and Mitchell combined for 305 yards on 22-of-33 passing, but Davidson got just 59 yards on the ground.
 
Three Wildcats registered six total tackles led by Leak's five solo and one assisted. Senior's Nate Casey and James Gessner also made six stops on the day.  
 
The 'Cats hit the road again next week when they travel for another non-conference clash at Kentucky Wesleyan. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. from Steele Stadium.
 
 

Team Stats

DAV
GU
Total Yards
364
368
Pass Yards
316
215
Rushing Yards
48
153
Penalty Yards
40
43
1st Downs
15
23
3rd Downs
9
8
4th Downs
1
1
TOP
32:14
27:46
2nd Quarter
Logo

DAV 0, GU 7

GU - Hill, Justin 7 yd pass from Barnes, Tim (Darmstadter, H. kick) 11 plays, 59 yards, TOP 3:52

Logo

DAV 0, GU 10

GU - Darmstadter, H. 27 yd field goal 7 plays, 28 yards, TOP 2:15

Logo

DAV 7, GU 10

DAV - SCOTT, Jaris 56 yd pass from MCGUIRE, S. (SMITH, Trevor kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:41

Logo

DAV 7, GU 17

GU - Harrell, Justin 2 yd pass from Barnes, Tim (Darmstadter, H. kick) 7 plays, 81 yards, TOP 1:22

3rd Quarter
Logo

DAV 7, GU 24

GU - Williams, Brand 33 yd pass from Barnes, Tim (Darmstadter, H. kick) 5 plays, 44 yards, TOP 2:03

Logo

DAV 7, GU 31

GU - Hill, Justin 5 yd pass from Barnes, Tim (Darmstadter, H. kick) 2 plays, 11 yards, TOP 0:22

Logo

DAV 7, GU 38

GU - Bermudez, Ch. 1 yd run (Darmstadter, H. kick), 5 plays, 12 yards, TOP 1:53

4th Quarter
Logo

DAV 14, GU 38

DAV - LOUTHAN, Hunter 7 yd pass from MCGUIRE, S. (SMITH, Trevor kick) 12 plays, 65 yards, TOP 5:27

Game Leaders

CMP
13
TD
0
YDS
117
INT
1
CMP
1
TD
0
YDS
16
INT
0

Players Mentioned

WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
QB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
WR/P
/ Football
K/P
/ Football
WR
/ Football
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