Shenandoah Pulls Away Late to Outlast Football
Defense forces trio of turnovers in conference defeat
from Bryce Johnson, Director of Athletic Communications
WINCHESTER, Va. – The Guilford College football team hung tough in part thanks to a trio of takeaways, but ultimately, Shenandoah University pulled away in the fourth to win by a 42-10 final score in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action on Saturday afternoon at Glo Fiber Field at Shentel Stadium.
The Quakers drop their fourth straight to fall to 3-4, 0-4 against ODAC opponents. The Hornets improve to 5-2 and get back to .500 in league play at 2-2.
Caleb Robles (Wilmington, N.C.) could not duplicate his terrific outing against Washington & Lee last week, completing 13-of-26 for 149 yards with three interceptions thrown. He also ran for a team-high 50 yards on 11 totes on the ground.
Shane Shapiro (Jacksonville, N.C.) finished as GC’s leading receiver with 47 yards on three catches. Jay Daniels (Waycross, Ga.) also had a trio of receptions turning them into 41 yards. GC’s other leading rusher besides Robles was Malik Woodard (Wilson, N.C.) who had 11 carries for 37 yards.
Defensively, Jaylan Richardson (Summerville, S.C.) accumulated a career-high ten tackles to lead all players. Malik Hargrove (Warren County, N.C.) had seven, five of them solo, tied for the game-high for individual takedowns with Tristan Bailey (Statesville, N.C.) who added an interception that he returned for a touchdown. Jalen Graves (Greensboro, N.C.) also had a pick while Ben Finkelstein (Southern Pines, N.C.) forced and recovered a fumble in the contest.
Like Guilford, Shenandoah’s top rusher was their signal-caller, Steven Hugney, who had 82 yards on ten carries on the ground to go with 211 through the air on 19-of-30 including one touchdown and a pair of interceptions. Jalen Redfearn added 53 yards and a score on the ground while Aidan Metzger, Bryce Buchanan, and Adan McCloskey also all had rushing scores. Broden Domenico was their top receiver with seven catches for 73 yards and Guy Hayes pitched in 62 yards on five grabs. Michael Sheil had their lone receiving TD.
Matt Conroy was a difference-maker defensively for the hosts, forcing a fumble, although GC did not lose it, in addition to a pair of interceptions to go with his five tackles, four of them solo. Ahvyon Boothe and Jamarcus Davis led SU in tackles with seven each and Sean Perry contributed five takedowns along with a pick.
Shenandoah received the opening kick and swiftly moved down the field, hitting a 15-yard pass play and an 11-yard scramble by Hugney to reach mid-field within two plays. A chunk play for 27 yards through the air put them in the Red Zone, although a false start temporarily took them out of it. The Quaker defense stiffened, stuffing the home team on third down, but Redfearn broke free on fourth to complete the eight-play, 67-yard march. GC’s ensuing drive got traction, but was halted on fourth down around midfield and the hosts struck again. Converting on third downs of seven and nine yards, they were more methodical this time, utilizing 11 plays, but the result was the same with Buchanan plunging home from one yard away, finishing the 55-yard sequence.
Things settled down in the second stanza. On Shenandoah’s first drive of the half, they drove into Quaker territory, but a timely fumble resulted in a big takeaway. Each team got a short sequence of plays before GC got the final significant drive of the half getting a big, 29-yard pass play to Daniels and another for 21 yards on a throw to JuJu Rice (Raleigh, N.C.), eventually getting as close as the three-yard line. However, a run stuff and a false start pushed them back, and they had to settle for three off the leg of Adriano De Castro (Rio de Janiero, Brazil) entering the locker room, cutting the deficit to 14-3.
Receiving the ball out of the break, Guilford could not build on the momentum getting just one first down. Shenandoah countered with a scoring drive of 68 yards on nine plays, finished off by McCloskey. Another offensive sequence stalled, but the Quakers’ defense made a big play with Bailey coming away with an interception in their territory. He proceeded to weave through the Hornets’ swarm, bringing it all the way back to make the score 21-10 after the PAT just before the end of the third.
Shenandoah pulled away in the fourth, however. On their first drive, straddled around the quarter break, they went 64 yards on eight plays with Sheil polishing it off by hauling in a Hugney pass from 19 yards away. They squads would then start playing a little hot potato, giving the ball back-and-forth. First Conroy undercut a Robles pass, then Graves did for GC. Conroy followed by picking off another throw, this time bringing it back for six. After nearly turning it over with a fumble on a Robles scramble, Guilford had their third-straight drive end with an Int. this one by Perry. The Hornets used some clock, going 84 yards on nine plays capped off by a Metzger run from 19 out to bring the final score to 42-10.
The Quakers look to halt their skid with a matchup against Ferrum College next Saturday, November 2nd at 2:00 PM.
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