Box Score Richmond, Va. - Trailing at the half, the University of Charleston used a dominant second half to prevail with a 38-21 win over Virginia Union University Panthers at Hovey Field Saturday afteroon.

Big plays doomed the Golden Eagles (2-0, 1-0 MEC)  in the first half of play as Virginia Union (1-1) took a 21-17 lead into the break.  The Panthers scored on a 49-yard catch and run on their first possession then took a blocked FG attempt by UC to the endzone on Charleston's next possession to jump ahead of Charleston 14-7.  The Golden Eagles had no problem moving the ball against Virginia Union as each of their five first half possessions resulted in scoring opportunities, but still trailed by four going into the locker room.

UC got touchdown runs from John Knox (Salisbury,NC) and Marvin Elam (Lawrenceville, GA) and a career long 42-yard field goal from Brett Benes to account for their 17 first half  points. 

Coach Kirkland must have had a strong message for his team during the intermission as the Golden Eagles came out angry and insprired.  Charleston's defense was first to respond to the challenge as D'Andre Dickerson (Fresno, CA) came up an interception on the Panthers opening driving of the half.  UC used an 11 play, 40 yard drive capped off by Elam's 1-yard plunge to give Charleston their first lead since early in the first quarter, 24-21.  After forcing a three-and-out, the Golden Eagles were set up a short field on their next scoring drive which ended with another Elam touchdown run, his third of the day, this time from 13 yards out giving UC a 31-21 lead.

The Panther offense were stymied by the Golden Eagles in the second half, going three-and-out on three possession, turning the ball over on interception twice, and had a field goal attempt blocked.  They gained only 117 yards on 30 plays for the half, scoring zero points.

Charleston sealed the deal late in fourth when Jordan Paul (Brooklyn, NY) came in to relieve John Knox and score his first touchdown as a Golden Eagle on a 15-yard run, making  the score 38-21.  UC scored 24 consecutive points after falling behind 21-14 in the second quarter to earn the a victory in their only out-of-conference game of the season.

The Golden Eagles scored on the ground five times on the afternoon, three coming from sophomore running back Marvin Elam.  UC rushed the ball 69 times for 236 yards with Elam gaining 108 of those yards on 29 carries, his second consecutive game with over 100 yards.   Knox and Paul combined to go 15-for-27 through the air for 144 yards and no interceptions. 

Charleston's defense came up huge against the Panthers, allowing just 11 first downs compared to UC's 34 first downs.  Although Virginia Union did much of the damage through the air, the Golden Eagles came up with two second half interceptions, one each for Dickerson and Timone Brown (Richmond, VA). 

The Panthers got a strong performance from wide receiver Danta Gross who finished with 86 yards and a touchdown.  Charles Davis finished the afternoon with 17 total tackles, seven of those solo tackles.

The Golden Eagles open up their home schedule next Saturday at 2:00PM to host MEC foe University of Virginia College @ Wise Cavaliers (0-2, 0-2 MEC) at University of Charleston Stadium.