South Euclid, OH – The Golden Eagles traveled up the road Saturday afternoon to face the 18^th nationally ranked Notre Dame Falcons on their homecoming weekend. Costly mistakes would haunt Charleston throughout the day as they fell short for this rivalry matchup. 
 
The Basics
Location: Mueller Field
Score: UC 24, NDC 49
Records: UC (2-3, 2-2 MEC), NDC (4-1, 4-0 MEC) 
 
How it Happened
A special teams nightmare was how the game started for the Golden Eagles. On the very first kickoff of the game, Notre Dame's Jay Sharp returned the ball all the way to the house from 99 yards out to take the incredibly early 7-0 advantage. 
 
The ensuing drive was led by big plays from Xzavion Gordon and Chavon Wright, getting the Golden Eagles all the way to the Notre Dame 10-yard line. They would ultimately settle for a 27-yard field goal from Tim McCutchen to cut the lead down to 3-7. 
 
The two squads would exchange stalling drives, but Notre Dame would be the first to strike on a quick four-play 84-yard drive down the field that ended with an Idris Lawrence rush into the endzone for the 14-3 lead. Charleston would answer on the ensuing drive capped off with a Phillip Fleshman touchdown reception from Javonte Howard to bring the deficit back to within four all in the matter of just 10 minutes of action. 
 
The Golden Eagles defense forced a three-and-out after Nick Evans jarred the ball lose in the backfield that was pushed out of play. The big play resulted in a loss of nine yards and the Falcons would have to punt. 
 
Mistakes would cost the Charleston offense a potential go-ahead drive. On a 3^rd and 3 in Notre Dame territory, the Golden Eagles had two consecutive false start penalties and were left with a 3^rd and 13. Somehow, Howard found Tae Marrero 24 yards downfield, and the momentum shift was active. This would be short-lived as the Falcons intercepted Howard on a tipped ball at the line on the next play. 
 
Notre Dame's first play of the second quarter was painful to watch as it was a 27-yard touchdown reception to Reece Perkins from Chris Brimm to extend the lead to 21-10.
 
Charleston's next possession ended with another interception on a promising drive on a 3^rd and 12 from the Notre Dame 36-yard line; however, the Golden Eagles returned the favor on the next Falcon drive as Quinard Thomas would come up with a big-time interception in Charleston territory. 
 
After a stalling drive, Notre Dame had the last laugh before halftime as the Falcons scored six on a 10-yard rushing touchdown from Krys Riley-Richardson to go into halftime with the 28-10 lead. 
 
Charleston would stall out on their first possession after the break, but they would be brought back to life as Duane Bland forced a fumble recovered by Richard Souffrant, giving the Golden Eagles primetime real estate in Notre Dame territory. 
 
The real estate, however, was not maintained well as the Golden Eagles were forced to punt from the 48-yard line. Notre Dame would march 75 yards down the field to put up more points from Idris Lawrence on another rushing score to go up 35-10. 
 
As many opportunities as Charleston's defense gave their offense, they were unable to put up points in the third quarter and found themselves down by 25 to start the fourth. 
 
Notre Dame started the fourth quarter with another throwing score from Chris Brimm to CJ Kiss to extend their lead to 42-10. 
 
Charleston would manage two receiving scores in the fourth quarter by Marquan Herron and Thomas Ashworth, but the clock was not in favor of the Golden Eagles and they were unable to recover their two onside kick attempts. Notre Dame took this one with a final score of 49-24. 
 
Up Next
The Golden Eagles will be back on home turf next Saturday as they host the Glenville State University Pioneers on October 8^th at 12:00 PM.