Charleston, W. Va – The Golden Eagles hosted the UNC-Pembroke Braves on an oddly hot Saturday afternoon in October. After the Braves stunned Charleston last season (21-14) on their homecoming weekend, the Golden Eagles made sure to keep that in the back of their mind throughout the matchup.
The Basics
Location: UC Stadium at Laidley Field
Score: UC 70, UNCP 21
Records: UC (4-4, 4-3 MEC), UNCP (4-4, 4-3 MEC)
How it Happened
Charleston elected to receive the ball as Pembroke chose to defer to the second half. A great decision it was as the Tae Marrero took the opening kickoff to the Pembroke 45-yard line and put Charleston in great field position. Chavon Wright capped off the four-play drive with a 21-yard rush into the endzone for the touchdown and the early 7-0 advantage.
After stalling drives from both squads, the Golden Eagles would find themselves with the ball at the Pembroke 21-yard line after a short punt from the Braves went out of bounds. Javonte Howard connected to Marquan Herron through the air and Charleston would take the early two score lead.
With 4:18 remaining in the first quarter, Charleston capped off another four-play drive for six as Chavon Wright found his second rushing score of the day from two yards away to put the score at 21-0. The drive was led by a 65-yard reception from Yves Bosmans downfield to the Pembroke 11-yard line.
On the first play of the second quarter, Howard would find Herron once again from 38 yards out to the endzone for the 28-0 lead.
The Braves would answer on the next drive with a deep pass completed to the endzone from Josh Jones to CJ Davis to get on the scoreboard and make it 28-7.
After both sides exchanged interceptions, the Golden Eagles would capitalize on Roderick Webb's interception as Wright scored his third rushing touchdown on the day to put the Golden Eagles up 35-7. Pembroke would put up another score on the legs of Josh Jones as he scampered into the endzone from eight yards away to shorten the deficit. The Golden Eagles would go into the locker room with the comfortable 35-14 lead.
The Braves would use their halftime break well as they came out and scored on their first possession with a 48-yard reception downfield to Zechariah Adams-Duckson to make it 21-35.
From this point on, the Golden Eagles would not allow the Braves to score a single point for the rest of the ballgame, allowing their offense to work some magic.
Howard would find Herron in the endzone for the third time in this game to extend their lead to 42-21. After punts were exchanged between the teams, Wright would have no problem at all finding familiar territory in the promise land as he scored his fourth and final touchdown of the game to take a large 49-21 lead over the Braves.
Charleston's defense managed to put up points on the board as well. Near the end of the third quarter, Nirion Washington took down a Brave in the backfield on the first play of the drive. Washington lifted him up into the air and jarred the ball loose, allowing for Roderick Webb to scoop and score from the three-yard line to extend the lead to 56-21.
In the fourth quarter, Niko Kausky would place his name on the score-chart as he caught a gift from Howard from five yards away to comfort the lead to 63-21.
The last score of the day would come from the man himself, Javonte Howard, only this time he would use his legs. Howard would run the ball into the endzone from a yard out for the 70-21 lead.
The Braves took three timeouts in the last 16 seconds of the game to try and score, but the Charleston defense wouldn't move an inch. The Golden Eagles would take this one with a final score of 70-21.
Head coach Quinn Sanders was very pleased with his team's performance.
"That was a great team win in all phases of the game. Our coordinators called a great game in the booth and our players executed with a lot of energy. Now, we have to continue our momentum and carry it on to the next one."
Up Next
Charleston will hit the road this Saturday to take on the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats in Buckhannon, WV on October 29
th at 12 PM.
