GAME NOTES: Gardner-Webb To Host VMI On Homecoming Saturday At 1:30 PM
October 23, 2012 | Football
Gardner-Webb hosts VMI on Saturday, October 27, at 1:30 pm in the first of three Big South Conference home games in the final four weeks of the season. Fabian Fuentes and David Allen will provide the call on WGWG-FM (88.3 / wgwg.org). The game will also air live on the Big South Network (bigsouthsports.com).
SCOUTING VMI
VMI (2-5, 1-2 Big South) has dropped two straight after picking up
its first league win of the season three weeks ago at home against
Presbyterian - beating the Blue Hose with an outstanding defensive
effort (17-7 final score). The Keydets returned standout
quarterback Eric Kordenbrock from last season, when he tossed 10
touchdowns and passed for 1,792 yards ... Kordenbrock has passed
for 1,207 yards and three scores so far in 2012, but has been
hampered by eight interceptions ... Dual-threat running back Jabari
Turner is the team's top rusher (336 yards, 3 TD) and is the
second-leading receiver on the squad with 20 catches for 189 yards
and two scores ... Safety James Fruehan paces the team defensively
with 51 total hits (38 solo stops) and has two tackles for loss and
a three PBU ... The Keydets have managed 11 quarterback sacks and
have forced 10 turnovers in seven games.
SERIES NOTES
Gardner-Webb leads the all-time series with VMI, 8-1 ... GWU won
eight games in a row beginning in 2003 ... VMI captured its first
win in the series last season, beating Gardner-Webb 31-24 in
Lexington, Va. ... Gardner-Webb is 4-0 against the Keydets in
Ernest W. Spangler Stadium ... The four meetings in Boiling Springs
have been decided by an average of 7.3 points per meeting ... The
largest margin of victory in any of the 10 previous games is 14
points in a 36-22 Gardner-Webb win in Lexington in 2007 ... The
2012 meeting is the third time that VMI and GWU have played on
Homecoming Weekend in Spangler Stadium.
THE COACHES
Gardner-Webb head coach Ron Dickerson, Jr., is in his second season
in charge of the Runnin' Bulldogs and holds a 5-13 career record
with the Runnin' Bulldogs. VMI head coach Sparky Woods is in his
15th season as a college head coach, which includes stops at
Appalachian State and South Carolina. Woods is 76-84-5 during that
time and is 13-38 in his fifth season at VMI.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE KEYDETS
Gardner-Webb fell behind 17-0 in the first quarter at VMI last
season before a late rally fell short in a 31-24 loss in Lexington.
Kenny
Little ran for 142 yards and a touchdown to lead Gardner-Webb
offensively, getting past the 1,000-yard mark on the season. After
VMI pushed its lead to 31-10, J.J.
Hubbard took the next kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown to trim
the lead back to a pair of scores and - after a successful onside
kick - Jordan
Paul snuck in from the one to cut the lead to 31-24 with 3:16
left. The 'Dogs got the ball back once more, but could not pull any
closer.
HALL OF FAME 2012
Gardner-Webb inducted four new members into its Athletics Hall of
Fame on Friday night in the Tucker Student Center, welcoming Tory
Atkins (football), Mickie Drum (women's basketball), Andre Kwasnik
(football) and Ronnie Robinson (men's basketball) into the hall.
Atkins finished as the school's career tackles leader with 485 and
was a two-time All-America selection. Drum is the school's career
assist leader and was 1991 South Atlantic Conference Freshman of
the Year. Kwasnik was an All-America kicker during Gardner-Webb's
1992 NAIA finalist team and Robinson was a scoring star in each of
his two seasons with the Runnin' Bulldogs during the junior college
era. In addition to the four new inductees, former student-athlete
Tom Watson was honored with the Hall of Fame's Meritorious Service
Award.
FRESHMEN STARTERS
Over the past four games, Gardner-Webb has seen a total of seven
true freshmen start on offense and defense. Offensively, right
guard Dylan
Hopper (6-4, 295) and receiver Carlton
Heard (6-0, 178) have been regulars in the lineup this season.
Defensively, cornerback Tiko
Thompson (5-8, 148), safety Brandon
Swayze (6-2, 190), tackle O.J. Mau (6-2, 275), linebacker Azziz
Higgins (6-2, 225) and defensive back Jonathan
Sherrill (6-3, 196) have made starts.
CRANFILL-ING THE STAT SHEET
Redshirt sophomore tight end Seth
Cranfill (6-4, 230) is well on his way to a record-setting
season catching the football. The Sherrill's Ford, N.C., native has
caught a team-high 30 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns in
his first seven career games and sits just two receptions shy of
tying Jason Bright's 2001 single-season record of 32 for tight end
receptions.
D-LINE DEEPLY SEASONED
The Runnin' Bulldogs have a wealth of experienced depth in the
defensive trenches in 2012. Five players have starting experience
and seven have played extensively during their time in Boiling
Springs to date. Tackle Matt
Goods (6-2, 275, RJr.-2L) and end Preston
Pemasa (6-2, 257, Jr.-2L) have earned All-Big South honors in
each of their two seasons so far and both were named Big South
Freshman of the Year in their respective rookie seasons. Versatile
dual-threat linemen Tyler
Hough-Jenkins (6-4, 281, RSo.-1L) and Maurice
Dickson (6-4, 265, Jr.-2L) have experience at both tackle and
end. Tackles Dylan
Taylor (6-0, 255, Gr.-3L) and Maurice
Bryan (6-2, 271, Gr.-3L) are both graduate students with three
years experience, with Taylor earning multiple starts over the past
two seasons. Youngsters Shaquille
Riddick (6-7, 235, So.-1L) and O.J. Le'iauta Mau (6-2, 275,
Fr.-HS) will also continue to log snaps.
TOP CHEF
Redshirt sophomore Kenny
Cook (6-4, 216) has been a bright spot for Gardner-Webb in the
passing game so far in 2012, hauling in 27 passes for 387 yards and
a score and averaging a team-high 14.3 yards per catch. Cook's best
game came at Liberty, when he caught seven balls for 146 yards. In
two Big South games, Cook is averaging 21.1 yards per catch on 10
receptions.
RED HOT HALF
Quarterback Lucas
Beatty (6-2, 220, RSo.) was sizzling in the first half against
Liberty (10/6). He completed 6-of-6 passes for 119 yards and a
score in the first quarter alone and finished the first half by
going 16-of-17 for 301 yards. Beatty connected on his first three
passes in the second half to push Gardner-Webb's lead to 28-10 and
commanded a 71-yard touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter to
help GWU regain a 35-28 lead after Liberty pulled even. He set a
new Big South completion percentage record for a single game at
84.8 percent, and his 16-of-17 mark in the first half established a
new school record for a half. Jeremy Martin went 13-of-15 in the
first half against ETSU in 2002.
TWO DECADES LATER ...
Gardner-Webb will honor perhaps the greatest team to ever take the
field in the Scarlet & Black during Saturday's game with VMI.
The 1992 NAIA finalist and South Atlantic Conference champion squad
coached by Woody Fish is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2012.
Seven members of that team have already been inducted into the
Gardner-Webb Athletics Hall of Fame, along with Fish. One,
defensive end Gabe Wilkins, went on to a successful NFL career and
won a Super Bowl ring with the Green Bay Packers. The 1992 team
finished with a 12-2 mark and averaged an eye-popping 461 yards of
total offense and 40.2 points per game.
BURCH'S BIG YEAR
Linebacker Tanner
Burch (6-3, 242, So.) is in the midst of a special season at
middle linebacker and has been a very bright spot for a young
linebacker corps for the Runnin' Bulldogs. Burch has notched at
least 10 tackles in six of Gardner-Webb's seven games, earning Big
South Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors twice. Burch
leads the Big South with 90 total tackles and ranks No. 2
nationally with 12.8 tackles per game. He has added 6.0 tackles for
loss, a sack and a pass break up in his first seven career starts.
He saw limited action as a reserve in 2011, but was highly sought
after as a prep senior at Savannah Christian (Ga.) Prep. Burch was
named 2010 Georgia Class 1A State Defensive Player of the Year by
the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and earned MaxPreps/US Air Force
Small School All-America honors that same season.
A HEALTHY EARLY SLATE
With Richmond's entry into this week's Sports Network/Fathead.com
FCS Top 25 poll, four of the first five opponents Gardner-Webb has
battled on the FCS level have been ranked in the top-25 at some
point this season. Wofford and Stony Brook each remain in the
top-10 and both Samford and Richmond have been top-25 squads. Only
Liberty, a top-25 just last season, hasn't earned a national
ranking this season. The last time Gardner-Webb played two top-10
FCS teams in the same season was 2007 - when it battled SoCon
powers Appalachian State and Wofford on the road in back-to-back
weeks
NO MORE LIGHTS
Gardner-Webb will play its final four games in 2012 during daylight
hours, and statistically that might be good news for the GWU
offense. In three day games against FCS foes so far in 2012, GWU is
averaging 388.0 yards of total offense and 22.7 ppg. In its night
games against FCS foes, the 'Dogs are averaging just 241 yards per
game and 6.5 ppg.
GOLDEN DOZEN
Gardner-Webb has developed a nice pipeline to the west coast in
recent years, dating back to 2007 NFL Draft selection Brian
Johnston (San Diego, Calif.). This season, the Runnin' Bulldogs
have 12 players who call California their home state, the most from
the Golden State since the program made the jump to NCAA Division I
in 2000. Of that dozen, nine were listed on the 2012 preseason
two-deep.
PRESEASON NATIONAL HONORS
Gardner-Webb players collected several preseason honors, with
kicker Trever
Austin the most widely noted. Austin (5-10, 194, So.-1L) was
named to the Fred Mitchell Award Watch List, the College Football
Performance Awards Watch List and was an honorable mention
All-America selection by Beyond Sports Network. Jamie
Dunaway earned second-team All-America honors from Beyond
Sports Network, and Preston
Pemasa was named to the College Football Performance Awards
Watch list at defensive end for the second preseason in a row.
Gardner-Webb has had at least one preseason All-America since
2002.
THIS WEEK'S BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE GAMES
Saturday, October 27
#9 Stony Brook at Presbyterian (ESPN3), 1:00
VMI at Gardner-Webb, 1:30 (Big South Network)
Edward Waters at Charleston Southern, 1:30 (Big
South Network)
Liberty at Coastal Carolina, 3:30 pm (Big South Network)
OFFENSIVE LINE A STRONG GROUP
Gardner-Webb returns six players with starting experience on the
offensive line for the 2012 season. Five of those men are seniors:
Right tackle Steve
Demilio (6-5, 293, RSr.-3L); right guard Aaron
Huck (6-3, 296, RSr.-1L); center Austin
Sargent (6-3, 302, Sr.-3L); left guard Jamie
Dunaway (6-3, 290, Sr.-3L) and left tackle Harrison
Martin (6-6, 285, Gr.-3L). Right guard Jeff
Harris (6-2, 292, RJr.-2L) is entering his fourth season in the
program. David
McConnell (6-5, 304, RSo.) and Dylan
Hopper (6-4, 295, Fr.) each started the season's first four
games, with Harris and Martin each coming off the bench.
ON THE AIR
Gardner-Webb's football games this season can be heard live on
WGWG-FM (88.3), the school's 50,000-watt flagship station. Fabian
Fuentes will provide the play-by-play call all season, with David
Allen providing color at home and Matt Clark serving in that role
on the road. Log onto to wgwg.org for a live audio stream via the
internet as well.
THE RON DICKERSON, JR., RADIO SHOW
Every Monday night at 7:00 pm, Fabian Fuentes and Ron
Dickerson, Jr., will host the Ron
Dickerson, Jr., Coaches Show on WGWG-FM (88.3 / wgwg.org). The
show will broadcast live from the Tucker Student Center on campus
and is open to the public.
UP NEXT
Gardner-Webb returns home to host Coastal Carolina at 1:30 pm on
Saturday, November 3 in Spangler Stadium. The Runnin' Bulldogs and
Chanticleers' game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 as the Big
South's Game of the Week. Fabian Fuentes and David Allen will also
call the game live on WGWG-FM (88.3 / wgwg.org) †
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