| THE BASICS |
SCORE: UNC Pembroke 50, West Virginia Wesleyan 26
RECORDS: UNC Pembroke 1-1, 1-0 MEC; West Virginia Wesleyan 0-2, 0-1 MEC
LOCATION: Pembroke, N.C. (Grace P. Johnson Stadium) |
|
| HOW IT HAPPENED |
| 1ST QUARTER |
The Braves used an impressive no-huddle performance to string together a 13-play, 76-yard touchdown drive on their opening possession of the afternoon. Senior Josh Jones completed five of his six passing attempts on the drive, including a two-yard scoring strike to C.J. Davis that put the hosts in front for good. UNCP 7, WVWC 0
UNCP kept the onslaught going with their next possession of the contest, and needed just one play to double their lead. JaQuan Kelly stutter stepped his way into space and scampered 71 yards untouched down the near sideline to signal what would become a big first half for the hosts. UNCP 14, WVWC 0
|
|
| 2ND QUARTER |
Zechariah Adams-Duckson joined the scoring party midway through the second quarter in another one-play drive for the Black & Gold. The redshirt sophomore danced his way through a host of defenders, and then outraced a couple of more 65 yards down the far sideline. UNCP 21, WVWC 0
A forced fumble by newcomer Malik McKinzie with time waning down in the opening half gave the Braves a short field. Quentin Cooper scurried all the way down to the 6-yard line on the ensuing play, and Josh Jones finished off the scoring drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Rodney Smith in the middle of the end zone. Colin Johnson dove in from three yards out on the 2-point conversion try. UNCP 29, WVWC 0
|
|
| 3RD QUARTER |
Virgil Lemons helped the Braves pick up where the left off right away in the second half, hauling in the opening kickoff of the stanza with his foot on the goal line, and weaving his way through traffic before crossing the goal line on the other end of the field. UNCP 36, WVWC 0
West Virginia Wesleyan registered its first score of the season on the ensuing play from scrimmage. Nathan Payne hit Devin Washington in stride, and the sophomore finished off the 64-yard scoring reception with a trot into the end zone with just 41 seconds gone in the third period. UNCP 36, WVWC 6
The Bobcats used their special teams to cut further into their deficit nine minutes later. Peyton Sowers had his feet near the back of the end zone on a fourth-down punt attempt with just more than five minutes left, and Donovan Woods jumped in front of the kick and was first to recover the loose ball. UNCP 36, WVWC 12 |
|
| 4TH QUARTER |
West Virginia Wesleyan got into the scoring column again early in the fourth quarter. Jerome Colbert stepped in front of an errant throw by Josh Jones toward the near sideline, and then raced 17 yards untouched into the south end zone. UNCP 36, WVWC 18
JaQuan Kelly helped the Braves snap their scoring drought midway through the final quarter. The freshman churned out four yards on the opening play of the possession, and then broke through on second down with a 49-yard scoring gallop to push UNCP over the 40-point plateau. UNCP 43, WVWC 18
JaQuan Kelly struck again on the next play from scrimmage for the Black & Gold, sprinting 43 yards on first down to cap the scoring for the hosts on the afternoon. UNCP 50, WVWC 18
West Virginia Wesleyan put the final points of the afternoon on the scoreboard with the following possession. Nathan Payne was 3-for-3 on the final drive of the day for the visitors, including a 27-yard touchdown pass to Xander Castillo. Payne and Castillo hooked up again on the ensuing 2-point conversion try to provide the final. UNCP 50, WVWC 26 |
|
| INSIDE THE BOX SCORE |
+ Redshirt freshman JaQuan Kelly ran for 183 yards and three touchdowns on just 10 carries to highlight the offense for the hosts. The 183 rushing yards ranks fourth all-time in program lore, while his three rushing scores are the second-most (shared with three others) in school history.
+ Redshirt sophomore Virgil Lemons posted a pair of special teams tackles in Saturday's outing, but also matched an NCAA record with a 100-yard kickoff return that opened the second half. He is one of just three players (L.J. Stroman in 2014, Devin Jones in 2019) to tally a 100-yard kickoff return.
+ LaTrell Jewsome and Malik McKinzie both posted a forced fumble and five tackles on the afternoon. Jewsome matched a team-high with four solo stops. |
|
| NOTABLES |
+ The Braves broke a 13-year-old school record with 386 rushing yards on Saturday. The performance eclipsed a 353-rushing yard performance in a win over Fayetteville State in the opening game of the Two Rivers Classic series on Aug. 29, 2009. The 10.4 yards per rushing attempt on Saturday ranks second on the all-time charts, falling short only to a 20-carry, 217-yard (10.9) showing against Lenoir-Rhyne in 2016.
+ Redshirt sophomore Zechariah Adams-Duckson and redshirt freshman JaQuan Kelly became the first running back duo in program history to log 100-yard rushing games in the same contest since Oct. 8, 2011, when Travis Daniels (33-177) and Elliott Powell (9-105) both hit the century mark in a home win over Tusculum.
+ UNCP is now 14-2 in home openers in the modern day era of the program, and have won their first home game in each of the last four full seasons. The Braves are now 3-0 in Mountain East Conference openers as well. |
|
| UP NEXT |
| The Braves will open up a two-game road trip on September 17 when they head to central West Virginia to battle Mountain East Conference rival Glenville State (1-1, 0-1 MEC). Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. inside Morris Stadium on the GSC campus. The Pioneers dropped a 21-7 road decision to Concord on Saturday in their league lidlifter. |
|
| STAY CONNECTED |
| Follow UNCP Football on Twitter and Instagram and "Like" UNCP Football on Facebook. |
|
| BACK THE BRAVES |
| 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. |
