Presbyterian Loses Close One To Charleston Southern
CLINTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern (1-0) scored a touchdown on its first two possessions of the game and never looked back as they held off Presbyterian’s advances to defeat the Blue Hose 21-13 on Saturday afternoon before 4,278 fans at Bailey Memorial Stadium.
The Buccaneer victory marks only the second time in the 14-game series history that Charleston Southern had commandeered a victory over the Blue Hose. Prior to its win on Saturday, Charleston Southern had fallen in 12 consecutive meetings.
The game was set at 14-13 for almost two quarters before the Bucs went ahead 21-13 in the final minutes of the fourth stanza on a Josh Mitchell 59-yard interception return. The interception was caused by a stirring hit by Charleston Southern’s Okeba Rollinson on S.J. Worrell that caromed off Worrell and landed in Mitchell’s grasp.
Presbyterian had its chances in the contest. The Blue Hose actually had an opportunity to go ahead in the fourth quarter as Bret DiTullio missed a 21-yard field goal with 5:33 left in the game.
The Blue Hose were able to force CSU into a three-and-out situation the very next series, garnering an opportunity to once again go ahead, but Rollinson and Mitchell debunked the Blue Hose’s advances.
Still within reach with a two-point conversion in the final seconds of the game, Mitch Doolittle’s pass to Justin Durant from the CSU 58-yard line with two seconds left fell incomplete to Justin Durant and the Buccaneers escaped with the eight-point win.
Presbyterian (1-1) finished the CSU game with 170 more all-purpose yards than Charleston Southern. The Blue Hose rushed (172) and threw (208) for more cumulative yards as a team than the Bucs in the contest.
Preseason All-America selection Justin Durant finished the CSU loss with a team and season-high 92 yards receiving to lead the Blue Hose offensively.
Chetyuanne Reeder led the Blue Hose individually on the ground, finishing with 49 net yards on 10 carries. Corey Fidler, who finished just behind Reeder with 41 yards, found the end zone for the second week in a row on a one-yard run in the first quarter.
Starting quarterback Mitch Doolittle had more yards in the air in the Charleston Southern contest than the West Georgia victory with 186 yards compared to 67, but was still unable to throw for his first touchdown of the 2006 campaign. The Ninety-Six product did score the Blue Hose’s other touchdown, eluding CSU pressure in the second quarter to dive into the end zone for an 11-yard PC touchdown that made the game 14-13.
On the defensive side of the football Presbyterian was led by Anthony McKnight and Sherman Burnett, who both ended the game with eight tackles each. Derrell Doe also had an interception in the game.
Charleston Southern’s two top players in preseason Big South offensive Player-of-the-Year Colin Drafts and defensive Player-of-the-Year Jada Ross also had a say in the contest with both players leading the squad on their respective sides of the ball. Drafts concluded the victory with one touchdown thrown and one rushing, while Ross had a game-high 14 total tackles, including 10 solo stops and three tackles-for-loss.
In the end, the difference may have been in the red zone where the Bucs were 2-for-2 and the Blue Hose ended the day 2-for-4.
Presbyterian continues its 2006 season at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9 against Fayetteville State in Fayetteville, N.C.