PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke football team tallied four sacks, forced five turnovers and limited visiting UVa.-Wise to just 83 yards in the second half on the way to a 20-7 victory over the Cavaliers on Saturday afternoon at Grace P. Johnson Stadium.
The Braves (4-7) wrapped up their 13
th season of intercollegiate competition with a 4-1 record in Pembroke – the 10
th time in program history that the Black & Gold has registered a winning campaign at home, but the first time that feat has been accomplished since 2016. UVa.-Wise (2-9) finished their season with a 0-6 clip on the road.
| THE BASICS |
SCORE: UNC Pembroke 20, UVa.-Wise 7
RECORDS: UNC Pembroke (4-7); UVa.-Wise (2-9)
LOCATION: Pembroke, N.C. (Grace P. Johnson Stadium) |
|
| HOW IT HAPPENED |
| 1ST QUARTER |
| The Braves mustered just -2 yards of offense on their first two possessions of the contest, but put together an 11-play, 55-yard touchdown drive late in the first quarter. Josh Jones threw for 46 yards on 5-of-6 passing on the possession, including a 7-yard touchdown pass to Josh Sheridan. UNCP 7, UVa.-Wise 0 |
| 2ND QUARTER |
The Braves made it a two-score game midway through the second period with a 3-play, 70-yard scoring drive that took just 86 seconds off of the clock. Josh Sheridan fueled the possession with a 52-yard scamper up the middle on 2 nd-and-4, and then capped off the drive with a 12-yard scoring run. UNCP 14, UVa.-Wise 0 |
| 3RD QUARTER |
| Chavon Fields sacked backup quarterback Rodney Smith and forced a costly fumble to set the visitors up in UNCP territory minutes into the third quarter, and the Cavaliers got on the board five plays later. Jayson Waters ran for 28 yards on a key 3rd-and-8 situation, and Terrence Lambert dove in from six yards out to cap the drive. UNCP 14, UVa.-Wise 7 |
| 4TH QUARTER |
The Black & Gold bridged the third and fourth quarters with a 12-play, 58-yard scoring drive that all but sealed the outcome. Quarterback Rodney Smith's 10-yard pass to Quay Threatt on a key 3rd-and-7 situation kept the possession going, and Hunter Braswell's 25-yard field goal would eventually produce the points. UNCP 17, UVa.-Wise 7
Michael Clark's second interception of the contest set the Braves up deep in UVa.-Wise territory. The Braves drove eight yards on six plays before settling for a 40-yard field goal from Hunter Braswell. UNCP 20, UVa.-Wise 7 |
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| INSIDE THE BOX SCORE |
+ Senior Josh Sheridan accounted for 120 all-purpose yards on the day, including registering his second 100-yard rushing game of the season. The Lumberton native ran for 107 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries, and also caught two passes for 13 yards and an additional score.
+ DeAngelo Blair-Young ran for a season-best 73 yards on 13 carries.
+ Michael Clark matched a school record with two interceptions on the day. It was the first time in three seasons that a UNCP defender has registered multiple interceptions in a contest.
+ Amari Brice-Greene turned in a team-best 11 tackles and finished his junior season with a career-best 71 tackles.
+ Freshman Hunter Braswell went 4-for-4 on kick duties on the afternoon, including a season-long 40-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. |
|
| NOTABLES |
+ The Braves have now posted winning records at home 10 times in the 13-year history of their program. UNCP posted a 4-1 record at Grace P. Johnson Stadium this season – its first winning record at home since 2016.
+ UNCP forced a season-high five turnovers on Saturday. That is the most turnovers forced by a Code Black defense since tallying six takeaways in the NCAA Playoffs victory at Valdosta State in 2016. |
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| UP NEXT |
| Season complete. |
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| STAY CONNECTED |
| Follow UNCP Football on Twitter and Instagram and "Like" UNCP Football on Facebook. |
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| JOIN THE BRAVES CLUB |
| Fans can help support the UNC Pembroke Football program by joining the Braves Club. To find out more information about the Braves Club, visit UNCPBraves.com/BravesClub or email braves.club@uncp.edu. |
