Davidson College
1-0
Brevard
0-1
Football Opens Season With 30-7 Win Over Brevard
9/2/2017 11:02:00 PM | Football
Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery | Coach Nichols Postgame Comments | DavidsonPhotos.com
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Davidson freshman Wesley Dugger debuted with a bang, rushing for 196 yards on 31 carries and a touchdown in football's 30-7 season opening win over Brevard Saturday night at Richardson Stadium.
Dugger's 198 yards on the ground is the eighth highest single-game rushing total for a running back in program history - the best since Jeffrey Keil churned out 215 yards in 2014. On the defensive side, Davidson held the Tornados' to negative four yards on the ground, led by Corey Coppola's 7.0 tackles, 2.5 for loss, and a sack.
After the first quarter ticked away without a score, the Wildcats marched down the field early in the second and were knocking on the goal line, when they fumbled deep in Brevard territory. Despite the blunder, Davidson quickly regained momentum with their first safety since 2012. Leading the charge was senior defensive tackle Brendan Simpkins on the stop behind the goal line.
On the ensuing free kick, Davidson sophomore William Wicks returned the punt 38 yards into Tornado territory. A 15-yard penalty was tacked on setting up the 'Cats in the red zone. Sophomore quarterback Stockton McGuire rushed three times on the short drive that was capped by a fourth down scoring scamper to put his team up, 9-0.
Davidson went up 23-0 on scoring rushes from Dugger and junior Kahleel Shaw. Following the lone Tornado touchdown of the night, Wildcat freshman QB Tyler Phelps connected with classmate Pat Tabor on his first pass, a 56-yard touchdown pass to go up 30-7 early in the fourth.
McGuire finished 9-for-19 for 65 yards and rushed nine times for 49 yards. Tabor caught five balls for 79 yards and the score.
Junior Boo Jordan recorded his 11th career sack and sits 1.5 sacks away from moving into the top-10 in program history. Davidson tallied 4.0 sacks for the game and 16.0 tackles-for-loss, dropped Brevard back 80 yards in all.
Tornado quarterback Ryan Jordan completed 18-of-43 passes for 238 yards, while defensively Jason Nieradka bullied the 'Cats, registering 17 tackles, 11 unassisted and 1.0 for loss.
Davidson returns to action Saturday, Sept. 9 at Western Carolina in a non-conference clash with the Catamounts. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. from Cullowhee, N.C.
Team Stats
BRE 0, DAV 2
DAV - TEAM 1 yd safety
BRE 0, DAV 9
DAV - MCGUIRE, S. 6 yd run (SMITH, Trevor kick), 4 plays, 13 yards, TOP 1:39
BRE 0, DAV 16
DAV - DUGGER, Wesley 10 yd run (SMITH, Trevor kick), 5 plays, 47 yards, TOP 1:25
BRE 0, DAV 23
DAV - SHAW, Kahleel 18 yd run (SMITH, Trevor kick), 12 plays, 70 yards, TOP 4:17
BRE 7, DAV 23
BRE - Tyler Gregory 6 yd run (Joseph Calhoun kick), 7 plays, 66 yards, TOP 3:02
BRE 7, DAV 30
DAV - TABOR, Pat 56 yd pass from PHELPS, Tyler (SMITH, Trevor kick) 2 plays, 82 yards, TOP 0:12
