GAME BOOK (PDF)

BOILING SPRINGS – Lucas Beatty threw for a season-high 362 yards and a touchdown, including a 71-yarder in the fourth quarter, and Gardner-Webb held off a late Charlotte rally for a 27-24 win on Homecoming Saturday afternoon.

It was the fifth home win in a row for the Runnin' Bulldogs (3-3), who have won 11 of their last 13 in Spangler Stadium. A season-high crowd of 7,892 witnessed Saturday's game.

After Charlotte (3-3) took a 3-0 lead on a deep drive to open the game, J.J. Hubbard took the ensuing kickoff 95 yards to the house, darting to the far sideline and taking off. It was the third touchdown return of his career, tying the Big South Conference record.

Once Gardner-Webb's offense took the field, Beatty heated up quickly. The Charlotte, N.C., native completed his first eight passes – including four in a row on a 68-yard drive that ended with a 21-yard touchdown run by Juanne Blount for a 14-3 lead with 6:37 to play in the first quarter.

Beatty marched the Runnin' Bulldogs down to the Charlotte five-yard line late in the quarter, but a 23-yard field goal missed. The 49ers took advantage, going 80 yards in just seven plays to pull closer. Matt Johnson found a wide-open Dmarjai Devine on a 59-yard touchdown pass for a 14-10 score with 11.7 seconds on the clock.

Beatty again drove his squad inside the Charlotte red zone, getting down to the 15 on Gardner-Webb's first drive of the second quarter, but the 49ers stiffened and a 32-yard field goal went wide to keep the margin at four points.

The two teams traded punts and Charlotte advanced to the GWU 30 before Blake Brewer missed a 47-yard field goal.

Disaster struck for Gardner-Webb on the next play, as Beatty's pass was batted by Tyler Destafani at the line of scrimmage and picked off by Branden Dozier at the 39. The 49ers' safety weaved his way all the way into the end zone – and Charlotte led 17-14 after the extra point.

It was the first interception for Beatty in 121 consecutive attempts, dating back to the first quarter of the Wake Forest game.

Hubbard put Gardner-Webb in business with a 26-yard kickoff return near midfield, and Beatty scrambled for an 11-yard gain that was just shy of a first down at the Charlotte 28. A fourth-down attempt was stuffed for a three-yard loss by Charlotte, however, ending the drive.

Beatty worked Gardner-Webb into field goal range after a Charlotte punt, hitting Willie Jackson IV on a 34-yard gain down to the Charlotte 18 with just 13 seconds left in the half. After a pass to the end zone was knocked away, Schumacher stepped on and drilled a 35-yard field goal at the horn to tie the game.

"There were several opportunities throughout the afternoon in the kicking game, and overall I thought the team in the red and black took the most advantage of those," said Gardner-Webb head coach Carroll McCray. "We got the ball back just before the half and felt if we could get a first down we could get into the 2-minute offense. We hit some passes and got out of bounds, and felt like getting Paul [Schumacher] back out there would give him some confidence.

"Hitting that field goal at the horn gave the entire team a lift. I thought it was a key play."

Neither team scored in a very physical third quarter, as both defenses made adjustments at the half and stuffed the middle run game on both sides.

The first play of the fourth quarter was a key third down chance for Charlotte, but Johnson missed a pass to Austin Duke and the 49ers punted away.

Beatty hit Mike Estes for 14 yards to start Gardner-Webb's decisive drive, which started at the 16-yard line. He made the play of the day on 3rd-and-11, finding Deonte' Swinton open deep for a 71-yard scoring strike that would give the Runnin' Bulldogs the lead for good.

A botched punt snap by Charlotte on its next drive set GWU up in outstanding position at the 49ers' 30-yard line, but the 49ers held strong and forced a punt. Gardner-Webb caught another break on special teams, however, with a muff at the seven-yard line pounced on by Jonathan Sherrill.

Charlotte's defense again held, but Schumacher converted a 21-yard field goal for a 27-17 lead with 8:25 on the clock.

Sherrill made another key play on Charlotte's next drive, picking off a Johnson pass at midfield on first down. Gardner-Webb didn't convert the miscue into points, but ticked 2:28 off the clock before punting. A sack by Donte' Gordon and a batted pass on third down by Jebrai Regan forced another 49ers punt, and Gardner-Webb ran the clock down to 2:34 before giving up possession again.

Capable of quick strikes, Charlotte had plenty of time left – and Johnson stepped out of a sack and launched a strike to Duke, who had raced behind the Gardner-Webb defense. Duke made the catch and scored easily from 80 yards out to tighten the score with only 2:21 left to play.

Beatty salted the game away with two short passes, hitting Blount for a six-yard gain and Seth Cranfill on a four-yard gain for a first down with 1:16 remaining. Gardner-Webb took a knee on the final two plays to run out the clock.

"We knew this would be a fight today, and it was from kickoff to the end. With the way last season's game in Charlotte ended, this was an important game for us," Beatty said. "We knew Charlotte would have confidence late in the game. Over the last two years this matchup has turned into somewhat of a rivalry and today lived up to that. Great effort for us, and we are obviously happy to get the win here in front of a really active crowd."

Beatty's exploits helped power an offensive effort that resulted in 442 total yards and 21 first downs. he completed 32-of-47 passes for his 362 yards and was sacked just twice. Beatty added 30 yards on the ground on nine attempts to finish with 392 yards of total offense.

Blount had 15 carries for 49 yards to pace the ground attack, which managed 79 yards on 31 attempts. Kenny Cook led the receiving corps with eight catches for 85 yards and Swinton had a career-high 120 yards and a score on seven receptions. Freshman Willie Jackson IV, making his first career start, hauled in seven catches for 73 yards.

Cranfill added five catches for 34 yards and Estes had three catches for 44 yards – with Beatty spreading the football around to seven different receivers.

O.J. Mau led a charge in the middle of Gardner-Webb's defense that helped slow down the Charlotte running game after the game's first drive. He finished with a career-high 11 total stops (five solo) and a tackle for loss. Azziz Higgins had eight stops, Ivan Toomer had seven tackles and three pass break ups and Aaron Cook finished with seven stops and a break up of his own – with several key stops.

Charlotte picked up 139 of its 417 yards of offense on its two long passing touchdowns. The 49ers ran for 162 yards, paced by Kalif Phillips' 94 yards on 23 carries. Johnson added 61 tough yards on seven carries, including a 49-yard scramble and stiff-arm late in the third quarter.

Johnson was 12-of-27 for 255 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in the game, hitting Duke seven times for 129 yards and a score – and Devine four times for 114 yards and a score. Only two other Charlotte receivers caught passes in the game.

Nico Alcalde and Dustin Crouser each had nine tackles to lead Charlotte's defensive push and nose tackle Larry Ogunjobi finished with a strong eight tackles and a school-record 4.0 tackles for loss. Crouser also picked off a pass deep in Charlotte territory to thwart a scoring drive.

Tank Norman had six hits (four solo) and broke up three passes, including two in the end zone.

Gardner-Webb will enjoy an open date next week before going to VMI on October 18. Kickoff is set for 1:00 pm in Lexington, Va.