EWC Tigers Take Bite Out Of Builders 38-21

NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia  -- Freshman quarterback Taron Williams threw for 134 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a team-high 93 yards as visiting Edward Waters College defeated The Apprentice School 38-21 on Saturday afternoon at Apprentice Field.

Apprentice School forced a turnover on the Tigers first possession to set them up on the Builder 47.  That drive finished with a Joseph Hodge two-yard touchdown run to cap a 10-play, 53-yard drive with 10:16 left for a 7-0 Apprentice School lead.

Edward Waters scored as they held the Builders on a fourth down on the Builder 24.  Three plays later Williams found Suwayne Hylton on a 22-yard scoring pass to tie the game with 5:04 left in the first quarter.

The Tigers put two scores on the board in the second quarter as Darryl Campbell scored on a 14-yard run with 13:26 left and Ray Dukes returned a punt 63-yards for a touchdown with nine seconds left in the half to give Edward Waters a 21-7 lead at halftime.

The Builders' special team unit brought the hosts within a touchdown as Tequan Mayfield blocked a punt and Marlon Lane scooped the ball on the Edward Waters 15 and scored for a 21-14 deficit with 4:24 left in the third.

Williams connected with Dukes for a 30-yard touchdown pass for the Tigers with 11:27 left in the game to go up 28-14.  Apprentice School responded with a 65-yard drive finished by a Leonard Leak two-yard run to get back within a touchdown at 28-21 with 9:02 remaining.

The visitors put the game away as Diondre Wynn busted off a 65-yard touchdown run with 7:15 left for a 35-21 lead.  Jerry Martin finished it off for Edward Waters with a 32-yard field goal at the 2:31 mark and a 38-21 score.

Dukes had 284 all-purpose yards for Edward Waters gaining 53 on the ground, 77 in receptions, 84 on kickoff returns and 70 on punt returns.  Williams was 14-of-23 passing as Dukes was his favorite target with nine receptions.

Apprentice School was paced by Hodge with 97 yards while Jonathan Whelan was 12-of-26 for 147 yards and was picked off four times.  Derek Banks was his favorite target catching seven passes for 62 yards.  Brock Bullock had 19 tackles, while Izhia Roundtree added 10 to lead the defense.

BUILDER BITS

• Senior Brock Bullock continued his assault on the tackling record books as he had a game-high 19 tackles.  With those 19 he tied the single season record of Steve Sobczak in 1991 with 109.  Both Bullock and Sobczak had 52 solo and 57 assisted tackles, as Sobczak did it in ten games while Bullock has done it in seven.  Bullock is 22 tackles from the career record of 295 by Sobczak from 1989-91.
• The 97 yards from Hodge is a single-game high this year for an Apprentice School running back.  Leak had 85 against Greensboro College on September 21 as the previous high.
• Lane's scoop-and-score off the Mayfield blocked punt was his second return for a touchdown this year and the sixth time he has scored a touchdown in his career.  He scored on a 92-yard fumble return against Alfred State on September 28.

NEXT UP
The Builders start November with a rematch against Southern Virginia University on November 2 at 1 pm.  The Knights defeated the Builders 34-7 on October 19 in Buena Vista, Va.

FINAL STATS

COURTESY THE APPRENTICE SCHOOL ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS