Saturday, August 26, 2006
Presbyterian Begins Season With Shutout Victory Over West Georgia
CARROLLTON, Ga. – Presbyterian College (1-0) used a superb
effort from its defense in its first outing of 2006,
shutting down the West Georgia (0-1) offense and allowing no
points in a 10-0 win over the Wolves before 3,729 at Grisham
Stadium. The Blue Hose acquired all 10 of their points in
the second half after both teams entered halftime squared at
0-0.
In his inaugural start as the Blue Hose’s signal caller,
Presbyterian quarterback Mitch Doolittle finished the game
with a team-high 119 all-purpose yards. Doolittle completed
11 of his 21 passes to finish the game with 67 yards
through the air and rushed for a team-high 52 yards.
Preseason All-South Atlantic Conference selection Cheyenne
Keener led the way defensively for PC with 9 cumulative
tackles. Preseason All-American selection Antwan Thomas
further aided the cause and concluded the contest with two
sacks after recording both in the first quarter, while Adam
McKinney tallied a sack and an interception.
Presbyterian’s Corey Fidler used ideal field position and
found the end zone on a four-yard run to give the Blue Hose
a 10-0 lead after Carl Stevenson’s extra point went through
the upright’s in the latter part of the fourth quarter. The
touchdown and extra point would prove to be the final points
of the contest and were made plausible by a stellar
defensive effort by Derrell Doe and Adam McKinney.
One play after PC kicker Brett DiTullio’s second field goal
attempt was thwarted by West Georgia’s Odell Willis and it
looked as if momentum was in the Wolves’ favor,
Presbyterian’s Doe deflected a Brett Yenser pass that
eventually landed in McKinney’s hands at the 22-yard line.
McKinney rumbled to the 10-yard line to give the Blue Hose
their best field position of the day and their eventual
first touchdown of the season.
Presbyterian found its way on the scoreboard on its first
series of the second half on true freshman DiTullio’s
39-yard field goal. The field goal was the penultimate event
of a 12-play, 29-yard drive for the Blue Hose and proved to
be the first points of the year for PC.
After only one kickoff for either team in the first half, PC
fielded its first kickoff of the 2006 campaign at the outset
of the second half with a high and low. The low occurred
when Terrance Butler fumbled the kickoff at the 21-yard
line. Butler quickly made amends, picking the football up at
the 24-yard line and then scampering for 24 yards to the 49
to give the Blue Hose tremendous field position.
The Blue Hose then began to show some of their arsenal,
picking up their first fourth down conversion on their first
try of the season and then faking a punt to pick up their
second straight first down and give themselves a chance to
score their first points.
Two series later the Wolves almost squared the contest at 3-3, but Casey Hale’s 44-yard field goal attempt hit off the bar and fell backward to keep the score 3-0 in favor of the Blue Hose.
The first half was a defensive affair with both teams entering the half with nary a point. Neither team could get it going offensively, combining for 183 yards of total offense.
The Blue Hose commandeered the majority of their yards on the ground, chalking up 50 yards on 13 carries from the backfield. The Wolves tallied the majority of their yards in the air with 59 of their 101 yards total in the first half coming via the air.
The second quarter only featured one real chance for either squad, as West Georgia had a chance to ink the first points of the contest with a 28-yard field goal attempt with just 3.7 seconds left on the game clock in the first half.
The Blue Hose special teams would not allow the kick to go through the uprights, blocking their second kick of the evening. Brandon Clark broke through to get just enough on the Hale field goal try to not allow it to have a chance and the two teams went into halftime at 0-0.
The blocked kick by Clark was a fitting way to end the half since the special teams had played an enormous part in the half. In fact, the half featured six punts by West Georgia and three by PC.
The first quarter was a defensive standoff, as neither team could find the end zone. Presbyterian was able to procure two sacks in the quarter, with starting left defensive end Adam McKinney tallying the first of the campaign for the Blue Hose unit. A few plays later middle linebacker Antwan Thomas, who ended the first half with two sacks, took down West Georgia starting quarterback Brett Yenser to acquire his first sack of the season.
The Blue Hose were afforded one golden opportunity in the first stanza after Caleb Massengill blocked a West Georgia punt inside the Wolves’ territory with PC earning prime field position when Justin Durant finally brought the ball down at the West Georgia 24-yard line.
The Blue Hose could not make anything out of the situation, going three and out. The negated chance garnered the Blue Hose special teams unit the ability to pin the Wolves inside their own 20-yard line and the unit did thusly, as Bryson Summers’ boot placed West Georgia on their own two-yard line.
The Blue Hose forced the Wolves into just three plays shortly thereafter, ending the quarter with good field position that would eventually be debunked when second-team All-SAC selection Chetyuane Reeder fumbled the football shortly after the commencement of the second quarter.
A couple of series into the second quarter, Presbyterian
looked as if it might be marching its way to its first
points of the season, but one play after Doolittle found
Corey Fidler for a 20-yard reception that put the Blue Hose
in Wolves’ territory, Doolittle overthrew his intended
target and obtained his first interception of the year after
West Georgia free safety Darius Pettigrew picked him off.
Presbyterian opens its 2006 home slate at 1:30 p.m. on Sept.
2 against Charleston Southern at Bailey Memorial Stadium.
The game will be televised by SC ETV.