BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — The UNC Pembroke defense logged eight sacks and limited West Virginia Wesleyan to just 10 first downs on the way to a dominating 56-0 shutout on Saturday at Cebe Ross Field.
The Braves (5-3, 4-3 MEC) set a school record during Saturday’s victory with 17 tackles for loss. It was the Black & Gold’s first shutout since a 26-0 victory against Limestone in 2014. The Bobcats (0-7, 0-6 MEC) have now lost their last 10 contests and fall to 1-4 all-time against UNCP.
At the outset, Sean Hill sacked Quinton Pulley for a loss of seven yards and forced a West Virginia Wesleyan fumbled that was recovered by UNC Pembroke’s Jordan Gregg. The Braves started their offensive drive on the Bobcats 27-yard line. Colin Johnson completed a 16-yard pass through the middle to Jayden Smith followed by a two-yard run from Sincere Baines for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Later in the first quarter, Baines rushed to the left for a gain of seven yards followed by an eight-yard catch from Trey Dixon. Johnson rushed down the right sideline for a 38-yard touchdown to take a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Braves’ next scoring drive, in the second quarter, began when Johnson found an open EJ Gatling for a gain of 10 yards, followed by a Johnson rush down the left side for a gain of 19 yards to get to the West Virginia Wesleyan 22-yard line. Johnson completed an eight-yard pass to Justin Forman and then connected with an open JaQuan Kelly for a 14-yard touchdown with 42 seconds remaining in the first half; UNCP maintained the 21-0 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Braves defense forced a three-and-out for West Virginia Wesleyan as UNCP started their offensive drive on their own 31-yard line. Johnson found the hands of Smith for a gain of 19 yards, but Malik Tobias beat the defense and Johnson connected with Tobias for a 41-yard touchdown, giving the Braves a 28-0 lead.
UNCP forced a Bobcats fumble on the WVWC 24-yard line that was recovered by UNC Pembroke’s Kyle Hill. The Black & Gold moved the ball on offense after rushing attempts from Johnson and Baines. Smith broke free from the defense and caught a 14-yard pass from Johnson. Johnson pushed through the defense and found the end zone for a 35-0 advantage.
In the fourth quarter, UNCP stopped WVWC on a fourth down to take over on their own 39-yard line. Johnson completed a 15-yard pass to Dixon followed by a 20-yard completion to Tobias. Kelly caught a 15-yard pass to get the offense to the Bobcats 21-yard line and Johnson closed out the drive with a six-yard touchdown run to make it 42-0.
The Braves stopped the Bobcats on a fourth-and-16 and took over on their own 30-yard line. Johnson completed a pass up the middle for a gain of 25-yards and Baines rushed through the defense for a 45-yard touchdown, taking a 49-0 lead.
Later, Johnson completed a 10-yard pass to Baines followed by an 18-yard rush from Kelly. Johnson connected with Dixon for a gain of 19 yards and then threw again to Dixon for a 14-yard touchdown, capping the day’s scoring at 56-0.
Johnson completed 19-of-28 passes for 281 yards. The Sanford native threw for a trio of touchdowns. He also ran the ball 11 times for 85 yards.
Tobias caught three passes for 63 yards and one touchdown, while Dixon caught five passes for 81 yards and a touchdown.
Sean Hill tallied six solo tackles, four of which were for a loss of yards. Hill finished the contest with 18 tackles for loss yards. The graduate student also had two tackles for a loss of 15 yards.
Jamae Blank also had six solo tackles, three of which were for a loss, totaling 12 yards. The redshirt junior had two sacks for a loss of 11 yards.
It is the second consecutive game against the Bobcats that the Braves have scored at least 50 points.
UNCP finished the contest with 498 yards of offense and limited WVWC to just 95 yards of offense.
The Braves will return to Pembroke on Saturday when they welcome Glenville State to town for homecoming. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. at Grace P. Johnson Stadium. Tickets can be purchased at UNCPBraves.com/Tickets.
2023-10-24 01:44:00
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