GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – Bo Cordell connected on 31-of-43 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns en route to leading the Tusculum Pioneers to a 24-12 victory over the University of Charleston football team, Saturday afternoon.
BOX SCORE
The Golden Eagles (0-1) started the game off quickly by forcing the Pioneers (1-0) into a three-and-out on offense to set up the first scoring drive of the afternoon. Charleston took its first possession from its own 27 yard line, before Brian Lee broke free on the team’s first offensive play for 55-yards to the Tusculum 18 yard line. Lamonte Lattimore (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods) put UC on the board first as he broke into the end-zone from four-yards out three plays after Lee’s big gain. Wes Sherrill (Charlottesville, Va./Fork Union) was wide right with his first PAT attempt of the season securing the Golden Eagle advantage at 6-0.
The prolific pass offense of Tusculum that averaged 358.8 yards per game last season broke free at the 8:56 mark of the first quarter when Pioneer quarterback Bo Cordell connected from 18-yards out with Rashaad Carter. After drilling the PAT through the uprights Tusculum claimed the 7-6 advantage.
TC secured the first-half momentum as Cordell again found a receiver down the field as he hit Deonte Gist from 15-yards out to take the 14-6 advantage, which would hold up through the second quarter to be the score at halftime.
Cordell put the ball in the endzone for the third and final time at the 2:37 mark of the third quarter as he connected on a 23-yard pass to Michael Rodriguez to extend the lead to 21-6. Rodriguez concluded the afternoon with five catches for 41 yards and a touchdown reception.
The explosive offense of the Golden Eagle’s was corralled through the second half as starter Blain Wilson (Richwood, Ohio/North Union) and Maurice Leak (Waxhaw, NC/Parkwood) traded possessions under-center in an attempt to light a spark and find the endzone. Charleston tagged the Pioneer defense with a late score as Andre Higgins (Cincinnati, Ohio/New Richmond) grabbed a 7-yard pass from Leak with nine seconds remaining to seal the final score at 24-12.
The UC offense was unusually balanced as it attempted 34 passes against 37 running plays. Wilson led the Golden Eagles in the air with 142 yards on 13-of-31 attempts, while also adding 68 yards on the ground with 19 carries. Overall, Tusculum led with 391 total yards compared to 305 for Charleston.
Senior Rickey Strother (Culpepper, Va./Culpepper) and junior Danny Thomas (Bristol, Tenn./Tennessee) led Charleston on the defensive side of the ball as each recorded nine tackles on the afternoon.
Charleston returns to action at home on Saturday, Sept. 4 at 1:00 pm as they host Mars Hill. The game will be Community Day sponsored by Triana Energy as Golden Eagle fans can find sponsored tickets at the Town Center Mall, Charleston YMCA, all WV Games events along with other locations around the city to be released Monday morning.
