Box Score Buckhannon, W.Va. – Charleston Football opened the 2014 season with an impressive 42-21 win Saturday afternoon over Mountain East Conference foe West Virginia Wesleyan College, scoring 35 unanswered points to run away with the season opener.
The Bobcats (0-1, 0-1) got on the board first late in the opening quarter after Wesleyan QB Jeremy Musselman found Chase Blackwell in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard score, taking a 7-0 lead over the visiting Golden Eagles (1-0, 1-0). UC was held scoreless in the first quarter but scored three TD's in the second to take a 21-7 lead into halftime.
Charleston scored on their next three possessions on short runs by Marvin Elam, Dustin Phelps and John Knox. An interception by Torie Wagner after UC's first score set up a short field for the Golden Eagle offense and led to a 5-yard touchdown scamper by Phelps. That score gave UC their first lead of 2014 and Coach Kirkland's Golden Eagles never looked back.
Charleston got the football after halftime but quickly gave it back to the Bobcats as a long John Knox pass was intercepted by the hosts deep in Wesleyan territory. Much like most of the afternoon the UC defense came up with another stop to force a punt that gave Charleston great field position. The Golden Eagles used only three plays to find the end zone again capped off by Elam's second TD of day, this time from 18 yards out.
Another solid defensive effort stopped the Bobcats giving Charleston possession at their own 22-yard line. The Golden Eagles scored quickly on another three-play drive, this time it was a 76 yard TD pass from Knox to Joseph Augustin that provided the fireworks and gave Charleston a 35-7 lead. Wesleyan finally stopped the consecutive scoring streak by UC on a Raymond Myers 2-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.
After trading a few scoreless possessions UC opened up the scoring again with their sixth TD on the day coming from another Phelps 5-yard touchdown run, his second on the afternoon, and pushed the Charleston lead out to 42-15. The Bobcats added a touchdown with six seconds to play to make the final 42-21 in favor of the Golden Eagles.
Elam led the rushing attack for Charleston, gaining 132 yards on 14 carries. As a unit the Golden Eagles ran for 270 total yards on 48 carries, scoring five touchdowns. Knox was seven for 15 through the air for 163 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Augustin led all receivers with 85 yards on 2 catches, including the 76-yard TD score.
Defensively, the Golden Eagles got 10 tackles each from Ike Gibson and Justin Avery. Charleston sacked the Wesleyan quarterbacks four times with Matt Duncan accounting for one and a half sacks. UC held the Bobcat offense to 355 total yards on the day, forcing 8 punts and held strong on third down, stopping Wesleyan on 11 of their 17 chances.
For Wesleyan, Michael Anderson had a productive day leading all rushers with 141 yards.
Charleston returns to action next Saturday as they travel to Richmond, Va. for a 1pm matchup with Virginia Union University. Live audio broadcast will be provided through ucgoldeneagles.com
