MURFREESBORO, North Carolina – Behind the arm of Bryce Witt, Chowan Football outgunned the visiting McKendree Bearcats in the 2018 home opener, 55-45, in non-conference action on Saturday.
THE BASICS
FINAL | Chowan 55, McKendree 45
RECORDS | Chowan 1-2, McKendree 2-2
LOCATION | Murfreesboro, N.C. (Garrison Stadium)
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Bryce Witt threw for a school record 439 yards with three touchdown passes on 23-33 passing. Witt also posted two rushing touchdowns.
Tyrell Freeman tallied his second 100-yd rushing outing of the season with 123 yards on 14 carries and found pay dirt twice.
Paul Gooden led the Hawks in receiving with six catches for 190 yards and two scores. Bryce Witt and Gooden connected on a 79-yd slant for the second longest reception in program history. Torry Baker hauled in five catches for 114 yards and a score.
Dre Terry mauled the Bearcats defensively with 13 tackles including 2.5 tackles for loss. George Parker tallied eight tackles on the afternoon.
The Chowan defense held back-to-back GLVC Offensive Player of the Week, Reece Metcalf, to 306 yards through the air.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter:
McKendree would march the ball down the field on the opening drive of the contest after a long kick-off return. The Bearcats would take the 7-0 lead just 2:39 into the contest on a 7-play drive.
Following a pair of punts, the Hawks would start their second drive at their own 14. On a third-and-three, Bryce Witt would find Paul Gooden in the middle of the field. Gooden would race 79 yards down the field for the score to knot the contest at 7-all.
On the ensuing drive, McKendree would start a run of 17 straight points to lead 24-7. The Bearcats would run the ball down to the redzone before Reece Metcalf threw for a touchdown.
The Bearcats would intercept Bryce Witt on the next possession.
Second Quarter:
After moving the ball just inside the redzone on the short field, Metcalf found a target for the quick score to lead 21-7 early in the second quarter.
The Bearcats' defense forced the Hawks to punt on their first possession of the second quarter. Chowan's defense stepped up to force a field goal attempt as McKendree lead 24-7 with 10:35 remaining in the half.
Chowan took the next possession nine plays for 83 yards to end the scoring run. Bryce Witt would connect with Imeek Watkins twice and Tyrell Freeman once on the drive. Bryce Witt would take it himself from 11-yds out. The point-after-attempt was botched to leave the score at 24-13.
The bend-and-don't-break defense for the Hawks was in full force on the ensuing drive as the Bearcats marched down the field behind a strong rushing attack. The Bearcats would look to find the endzone, but David Hardenwould force a fumble near the goal line and recover the fumble at the Hawks' one yard line.
With three minutes left in the half and 99 yards to go, Bryce Witt would connect with Paul Gooden on chunks of 31 and 20 yards before finding Torry Baker for a 39-yd fade down to the three yard line. Once again, Witt called his own number for the score. Witt found Michael Offutt on the 2-point conversion to close the gap to 24-21.
The Bearcats would tack on a field goal to end the half to lead 27-21 at intermission.
Third Quarter:
Chowan deferred to the second half and received the second half kickoff. Tyrell Freeman would chew up rushing yards on the drive before Bryce Witt found Torry Baker on a post pattern from 27-yards out to take their first lead of the contest 28-27.
The Hawks' defense would step up to force a three-and-out but the Bearcats punter, Monte Wolke, pinned the Hawks at the five-yard line.
Dominic Floyd would finish off the double-pass receiving the initial lateral pass from Bryce Witt, as Floyd found Torry Baker for a 39-yd reception. Witt rushed for 16 yards before a nine yard plunge by Tyrell Freeman found the endzone.
Following a long kickoff return out to midfield, the Hawks held the Bearcats once again to force a punt.
McKendree would start their next drive near midfield at their own 42-yd line with 2:59 remaining in the quarter. Two intermediate passes coupled by three power runs allowed McKendree to find the endzone. The Bearcats would convert on the 2-point conversion to even the score at 35-all.
Fourth Quarter:
The back-and-forth scoring would continue in the final stanza. Bryce Witt found Dominic Floyd for a 21 yard reception and Imeek Watkins on a 14-yd pitch and catch. Michael Offutt went 16-yds for the score to put the Hawks back on top 42-35.
McKendree would answer the score with a six play 63-yd drive. The Bearcats tried an on-side kick following the score but the attempt went eight yards allowing the Hawks great field position.
The Hawks took no time to find pay dirt as Chowan scored two plays later. Bryce Witt found Imeek Watkins for 33 yards before Tyrell Freeman punched it in from 10-yds out.
With 9:56 remaining in the contest, McKendree used the running game to gash the Hawks into the redzone. The drive would stall at the CU 15, but McKendree would post a field goal from 33 yards to cut the score to 49-45.
Chowan would put the final score on the board on the ensuing drive as Tyrell Freeman started the drive off with a 13-yd rush. Bryce Witt found Paul Gooden on strikes of five yards and then a 47-yd touchdown pass. The PAT was blocked.
Dre Terry would sniff out a screen pass for a loss of two yards before Arrington Bazemore sealed the win with a sack.
Chowan would run out the final 4:15 of the contest on the ground for the victory.
UP NEXT
Chowan hosts Fayetteville State in the Hawks' CIAA opener on Saturday, September 29. Kick-off is at 6pm. The contest will be Community and Club Day.
CHOWAN UNIVERSITY HAWKS ATHLETIC MEDIA COMMUNICATION
CHOWAN UNIVERSITY HAWKS ATHLETIC MEDIA COMMUNICATION
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