Hall Lifts Gardner-Webb Past Charleston Southern, 27-20, Saturday Afternoon
October 17, 2009 | Football
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - Patrick Hall scored the winning touchdown with 22 seconds left on a 16-yard run, lifting Gardner-Webb to a 27-20 win over Charleston Southern.
Hall's performance was clutch in the absence of injured leading rusher Philip Peoples. The Gastonia, N.C., native ran for a career-high 118 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries, keeping Gardner-Webb (4-2, 2-0 Big South) unbeaten in league play and against Football Championship Subdivision opposition (FCS).
Charleston Southern (2-4, 0-1 Big South) kept the game close throughout, tying the game with 1:56 to play on a diving catch by reserve tight end Josh Atkinson from 11 yards out. The score left Gardner-Webb just enough time, however, as senior quarterback Stan Doolittle engineered his third fourth-quarter, game-winning drive of the season.
Doolittle connected on 4-of-6 passes for 47 yards on the drive, which originated at the Bulldog 22-yard line, and added a 7-yard scramble. His 13-yard pitch-and-catch to Tyson Petty on second down got the ball down to the Charleston Southern 24-yard line with just over 45 seconds remaining.
Hall then darted for eight yards to the 16-yard line, setting up his game-winning dash to the end zone. The 5-foot-11, 220-pound junior started right and cut back left, darting past two defenders for the score.
Hall's 21-yard touchdown run with 14:17 left in the game had given the 'Dogs a 20-13 lead on the heels of a Charleston Southern interception. He capped a 64-yard drive on the Bulldogs' opening series of the game with a two-yard score for a 7-0 Gardner-Webb lead.
GWU pushed its early lead to 10-0 on a Ryan Gates' field goal from 26 yards, but saw Charleston Southern claw its way back with a dominant second quarter performance. The Bucs outgained Gardner-Webb 119-45 in the second quarter and tied the game with 11 seconds left before halftime on A.J. Toscano's 3-yard quarterback draw.
John Paglia's second field goal of the game put the Bucs in front 13-10 with 7:04 left in the third quarter, and Gates answered from 27 yards away with 52 seconds to play in the quarter to tie the game.
Toscano was picked off for the second time early in the fourth quarter, with Darren Rogers hauling in an errant pass to set GWU up with a first down at the Bucs' 29-yard line. Hall scored two plays later for the Bulldogs' first lead of the second half, setting up an exciting finish.
Gardner-Webb ran the football effectively Saturday, rushing 43 times for 204 yards as a team. In addition to Hall's big day, redshirt freshman back Kenny Little carried 12 times for 50 yards, and Doolittle scrambled for 43 yards on 12 carries himself.
Doolittle completed 16-of-25 passes for 184 yards on the afternoon, picking up 10 of those completions and 104 yards in the fourth quarter alone - another clutch performance for the Ninety Six, S.C., senior.
Marquis Sanders led the receiving corps with six catches for 55 yards, and James Perry III went over 1,000 yards for his career with four catches for 85 yards on the day.
Gardner-Webb outgained the Bucs 388-342 and scored all four times inside the red zone. The Bulldogs' injury-plagued defensive unit allowed 198 yards on the ground (37 carries), but made stops when necessary. GWU did limit Toscano to an 11-of-33 day passing with two interceptions (144 yards). Receiver Gerald Stevenson led the Bucs with 68 yards rushing, 40 yards receiving and 107 kickoff return yards.
Jeffery Williams (13 tackles) and Marty Patterson (eight tackles, interception, two quarterback hurries) paced the Gardner-Webb defensive effort, with Quinnon Isom supplying 1.5 sacks.
Andrew McKain (13 tackles) and Chris Kuzdale (11 tackles) each reached double figures defensively for Charleston Southern.
Gardner-Webb will host Southern Virginia next Saturday at 6 pm ET in Spangler Stadium. Charleston Southern returns home to host Liberty at 1:30 pm.
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