Box Score

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - John Knox (Salisbury,NC) stepped into the spotlight for the offense, while the University of Charleston's defense contolled the line of scrimmage on defense in a 33-14 non-conference win over Saint Joseph's (Ind.), Thursday evening.

SJC (1-1) opened the game by winning the toss and taking the first drive of the contest down the field to quiet the UC Stadium crowd. The Pumas used quick swing passes and a seemingly bruising running game to march to the UC 28 yard line, but lost all momentume when Gavin Voss missed the field goal attempt.

Saint Joseph's did not stay down long as they recovered a Golden Eagle fumble on the next drive. Using the short field SJC got on the board first using five plays to get in the endzone for the 7-0 advantage. Two drives later UC took advantage of a short-field of their own when Voss muffed a punt for just 18 yards giving Charleston the ball at the 47 yard line. Jordan Roberts (Madison, WV) took the first snap of the ensuing drive 15 yards on the ground before scamping in the endzone after receiving a 32 yard pass from Knox to deadlock the contest at 7-7.

On the first possession of the second quarter the University of Charleston struck again for a lead they wouldn't look back from. Roberts softened the defense with back-to-back punishing runs before Darrell Byrd (Columbus, OH) ran away from the defense on a 31 yard scoring run to make the score 14-7.

Charleston continued to distance themselves on the scoreboard two drives later when he put together two double digit rushes that concluded with a diving effort across the goal line to expand the advantage to 21-7 leaving the Golden Eagles defense plenty of breathing room to attack the Puma offensive scheme.

The passing offense for SJC found some space on the next drive despite quarterback Billy VandeMerkt constantly operating under duress. VandeMerkt pushed the ball down the field before the Pumas took a quick dive for the score to pull within 21-14, but it would be the last threat the Saint Joseph's offense could muster.

A Voss punt pinned the University of Charleston's offense back on their own one yard line on the second possession of the second half. The flipping of the field looked like it would put SJC within reach of coming back in the contest. Knox was the one person not worried as he took one snap to end all hope for the Pumas. Knox connected with Shaq Williams (Charleston,WV) on a post route across the middle of the field to set a new school touchdown reception record at 99 yards to give the home team a 28-14 cushion.

In a quick turn of events from how the second half started UC turned the field on Saint Joseph's just four minutes later as Puma Nuredini (Naples, FL) pinned the visitors back on their own one yard line. After three stuffed rushes the Golden Eagles were awarded a safety when Voss stepped on the back line of the endzone while attempting to punt out of the situation.

In the fourth quarter Charleston went to the ground to grind out the clock with C.J Stallworth (Orange Park, FL) continually moving the ball. The only score of the final quarter came when Nuredini blasted a new school-record field goal, clearing the uprights from 49 yards out to set the final score at 33-14.

Seeing his first extended playing time Knox took full advantage with 11 rushes for 53 yards, while tossing for 145 including the school-record connection on 5-of-12 attempts. The UC defense came up big all night long as they limited the Saint Joseph's offense to just 224 total yards on 65 plays. Charleston booked three sacks as they scrambled VandeMerkt for most of the evening.

UC racked up 439 total yards in the win with 280 coming on the ground but the quick scores allowed Charleston to hold the ball for only 26 minutes.

The win sends the Golden Eagles with a 2-0 record into a big matchup next weekend at 2011 WVIAC Champion Concord. UC faces off against the Mountain Lions on Sept. 15 with kickoff set for 1:00 pm.