GAME NOTES: Gardner-Webb Closes Out 2012 Season At Home Saturday
November 14, 2012 | Football
Presbyterian enters Saturday's game in Ernest W. Spangler Stadium in the midst of a five-game losing streak ... The Blue Hose last won on September 29 at Davidson (28-13) ... Receiver and kick return ace Michael Ruff will play in his final game for the Blue Hose Saturday and has piled up 1,183 career receiving yards ... Ruff had a kickoff return for a score earlier this season ... Running back Lance Byrd has run for more than 2,000 yards in his career - and had three touchdown runs in the first quarter against Gardner-Webb ... 2011 Freshman of the Year Donelle Williams ranks No. 3 in the Big South Conference with 89 total tackles (46 solo) this season.
THE GAME
Gardner-Webb hosts Presbyterian in both teams' season finale
Saturday afternoon at 1:30 pm in Ernest W. Spangler Stadium. The
game will serve as Senior Day 2012 and Military Appreciation Day.
Kickoff is set for 1:30 pm. Fabian Fuentes and David Allen will
provide the call on WGWG-FM (88.3 / wgwg.org) and the Big South
Network (bigsouthsports.com).
SERIES NOTES
Presbyterian leads the all-time series over Gardner-Webb, 17-16-0,
with the two teams first meeting in 1970 as members of the NAIA ...
The 33 games played are the most against any current Big South
member for GWU ... The two were charter members of the SAC-8
football conference and then the South Atlantic Conference ...
Presbyterian has won two in a row in the series, but the 2010 win
by the Blue Hose in Spangler Stadium (26-24) was later vacated ...
Gardner-Webb won three in a row over PC in 1999, 2008 and 2009 ...
Gardner-Webb is 2-1 against the Blue Hose since PC's move to NCAA
Division I.
THE COACHES
Gardner-Webb head coach Ron Dickerson, Jr., is in his second season
in charge of the Runnin' Bulldogs and holds a 6-15 career record
with the Runnin' Bulldogs. Presbyterian head coach Harold Nichols,
a former Blue Hose quarterback, is 6-35 at his alma mater in his
fourth season.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE BLUE HOSE
Presbyterian took advantage of three first quarter turnovers to
build a 21-0 lead, and Gardner-Webb would not be able to fully
recover as the Blue Hose won 28-14 on Homecoming in Clinton, S.C.
Lance Byrd scored on runs of 33, 2 and 4 yards to build the early
lead - with all three touchdown drives covering less than 60 yards.
Lucas
Beatty's quarterback sneak just before halftime trimmed the
lead to 21-7, but PC would go up 28-7 before a Ricky
Rhodes run cut the lead to the final margin with just over 11
minutes left in the game.
LAST TWO AT HOME FOR LUCAS
Quarterback Lucas
Beatty (6-2, 220, RSo.) has been red-hot of late in Spangler
Stadium, completing a sizzling 46-of-64 passes for 649 yards, six
touchdowns and only two interceptions over the last two home games.
His 181.74 pass efficiency rating has been helped by an average of
14.1 yards per completion in those games.
NEARING 2,000
Fifth-year senior back Kenny
Little is nearing 2,000 career yards on the ground heading into
the season finale. The Flanders, N.J., native needs just 29 yards
to become the sixth runner in Gardner-Webb history to reach that
mark. Little (5-11, 208) has carried 402 times for 1,971 yards and
15 touchdowns during his career, averaging a solid 4.9 yards per
carry. He currently ranks sixth in school history in yardage, ninth
in carries and 10th in yards per carry. His touchdown total is tied
for seventh-best in Gardner-Webb history.
FRESHMEN STARTERS
Gardner-Webb has seen a total of 10 freshmen start on offense and
defense so far in 2012. Offensively, right guard Dylan
Hopper (6-4, 295) and receiver Carlton
Heard (6-0, 178) have been regulars in the lineup this season.
Slot receiver Demarcus
White (5-9, 165) made his first start against VMI. 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), linebacker Chad
Geter (6-2, 220) and defensive back Jonathan
Sherrill (6-3, 196) have made starts.
CRANFILL-ING THE RECORD BOOK
Redshirt sophomore tight end Seth
Cranfill (6-4, 230) broke the Big South Conference's
single-season record for receptions by a tight end, hauling in two
passes at Charleston Southern on November 10 to get past David
Duran's 2009 effort. Cranfill was tied with Duran at 34 receptions
heading into the CSU game and now has 36 catches for 343 yards and
a pair of touchdowns to his credit in 2012. Cranfill previously
broke the Gardner-Webb single season mark of 32 receptions set by
Jason Bright in 2001. Bright owns the school's career mark for the
position with 80 career catches. Cranfill is in his first season
with the Runnin' Bulldogs after redshirting in 2010 and missing
2011 with an injury.
D-LINE DEEPLY SEASONED
Gardner-Webb will honor 15 seniors prior to kickoff of the season
finale. The 15 seniors are: defensive tackle Kapono
Asuega (Costa Mesa, Calif.); defensive lineman Maurice
Bryan (Monroe, N.C.); offensive lineman Steve
Demilio (Severna Park, Md.); offensive lineman Jamie
Dunaway (Lyman, S.C.); offensive lineman Aaron
Huck (San Jose, Calif.); linebacker Chris
James (Newnan, Ga.); quarterback Exavier
Johnson (Lake Balboa, Calif.); tight end Theo
Johnson (Los Angeles, Calif.); punter Bo
Lindsey (Roebuck, S.C.); running back Kenny
Little (Flanders, N.J.); offensive lineman Harrison
Martin (Charlotte, N.C.); cornerback Kamar
Morrison (Inglewood, Calif.); offensive lineman Austin
Sargent (Ninety Six, S.C.); defensive lineman Dylan
Taylor (Spartaburg, S.C.) and linebacker Brian
Wittenberger (Gaithersburg, Md.). That group represents seven
current starters.
GOURMET COOKING
Redshirt sophomore Kenny
Cook (6-4, 216) has evolved into a dangerous weapon in the red
zone, as evidenced by his six touchdown catches this season - with
four inside the red zone and all six coming from inside 25 yards.
Cook has caught a team-high 41 passes for 581 yards, and is
averaging 16.8 yards per catch in Big South Conference games. He
has two 100-yard games in league play, and is averaging 81.3 yards
per game against league foes.
BIG STARTS FOR BEATTY
Lucas
Beatty (6-2, 220, RSo.) has enjoyed a breakout season in his
first full season as the Gardner-Webb starter under center, passing
for a career-high 2,244 yards and 11 touchdowns. A closer look at
the number reveals hot starts for the Charlotte, N.C., native in
several games. Five times so far in 2012 Beatty has completed at
least his first five passes. Four times those starts have resulted
in 300-yard passing games - the most by any Gardner-Webb
quarterback in a single season since John Craven had six games with
at least 300 yards 20 years ago in 1992. Against Liberty, Beatty
completed his first six passes for 119 yards and a touchdown - and
finished the first half by going 16-of-17 for 301 yards and a
score. He hit on his first six passes against VMI (10/27) and went
5-for-5 on the opening drive against Coastal Carolina (11/3).
FOUR WITH 30
Gardner-Webb has four men with at least 30 receptions in the same
season for the first time since 2001, with Kenny
Cook (41-581-6), Deonte
Swinton (37-406-0), Seth
Cranfill (36-343-2) and Carlton
Heard (31-422-1) each crossing that plateau this season. The
last quartet to catch at least 30 during the same season was
comprised of William Andrews, Jr., Darin Bradford, tight end Jason
Bright and Willie Buchanant.
BURCH'S BIG YEAR CONTINUES
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 eight of the nine games he has played. Burch
missed the CSU game with an injury, but has earned Big South
Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors twice already this
season. Burch leads the Big South with 113 total tackles and ranks
No. 3 nationally with 12.6 tackles per game. He has added 7.5
tackles for loss, two sacks and a pass break up in his first nine
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.
GOING BOWLING
Five Gardner-Webb seniors have accepted invitations to play in the
2012 FCS Senior Scout Bowl in Myrtle Beach, S.C., later this year.
Steve
Demilio, Jamie
Dunaway, Kenny
Little, Austin
Sargent and Dylan
Taylor will play in the game, according to the GWU coaching
staff. Last season, seniors Marty
Patterson and James
Perry III played in the game.
NO MORE LIGHTS
Gardner-Webb will play its final two games in 2012 during daylight
hours, and statistically that might be good news for the GWU
offense. In six day games against FCS foes so far in 2012, GWU is
averaging 386.3 yards of total offense and 24.8 ppg. In its night
games against FCS foes, the 'Dogs averaged just 241 yards per game
and 6.5 points per outing.
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, November 17
Presbyterian at Gardner-Webb, 1:30 *
Liberty at VMI, 1:30 *
Charleston So. at Coastal Carolina, 3:30 *
#12 Stony Brook, Idle
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.
SPECIAL HELMETS
Gardner-Webb will wear a special helmet for its 2012 Military
Appreciation Day game, donning its familiar black lids with a
twist. The Bulldog logo will feature a digital camo sweater instead
of its traditional red top and will be larger than the current logo
that appears weekly. Saturday's game day program will also feature
a special camo theme.
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