Hargrave opens season with victory over 12th ranked Bridgewater College
Dunston to Hazelton……….get used to it
On an overcast day when the temperature was below normal for an August football game, the Hargrave Military Academy Post-Graduate football team sent the mercury rising. In the mountains of Northwest Virginia, quarterback Jarrett Dunston hit All American receiver Vidal Hazelton for three touchdowns enroot to at 30-26 victory over four time defending Old Dominion Conference champions Bridgewater College. The Eagles are also ranked as high has 12th in NCAA division III football preseason polls and are poised to defend their title in 2005.
The Tigers got off to a rocky start as quarterback Jarrett Dunston had his first pass attempt of the game intercepted by Bridgewater and returned deep into Hargrave territory. The Eagles offense stepped onto the field, but not for long. Hargrave’s defensive line, otherwise known as “Hargrave Military’s 1st line of defense”, held strong and surrendered just three points on a field goal to give Bridgewater a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter.
The Hargrave offense then came out running. Dunston lead his squad on a 7 minute, 90 yard methodical drive mainly on the ground. The 1-2-3 punch of Keiland Williams, Morgan Green, and Mike Ford lead the Tigers down the field. The Tiger backfield ripped off run after run and with 3-minutes remaining in the first quarter, Morgan Green took it in from 20 yards out for the touchdown. After the Stephen Phillips extra point Hargrave led 7-3.
The Eagles did not back down. After a roughing the kicker penalty kept the Bridgewater drive alive, BC found a streaking receiver deep down the field for a 34 yard touchdown reception to give them a 10-7 lead. That would be the last score for the Eagle offense until late in the 3rd quarter.
Hargrave had no problem finding the end zone again. Quarterback Jarrett Dunston found a streaking Vidal Hazelton from 20 yards out to give HMA a 14-10 lead early in the 2nd quarter.
The Hargrave defense came alive in the 2nd quarter. The “1st line of defense” led by Melvin Alaeze, Justin Mincey, Callahan Bright, Jerrell Powe, Darrius Massenberg, Ernie Hodge, Horace Hubbard, and Charles Owens ripped through the Bridgewater offensive line and made it nearly impossible for the Eagles to get anything going on offense.
Hargrave took possession again and this time used their strong ground game to lead them down the field. The mammoth offensive line of the Tigers, lead by Matt Hardrick, John Jerry, Jonathan Meldrum, Matt Harness, Andrew Farr, Darius Myers, Brian Kelly, Cole Baucom, and Drew Timme opened massive holes in the Eagle defense. Fullbacks Cedric Hickman and Mike Hazel both got a few carries, but had a huge part to do with the big day on the ground via their blocking. Although the load was carried on the ground down the field, it was Dunston to Hazelton once again on the touchdown connection, this time from 22 yards out to give the Tigers a 20-10 lead.
The PG Tigers defense once again shut down the Bridgewater offense. The line backing core of Darius Dewberry, Mario Harvey, Rahkeem Smith, Josh Soto, Adam Stewart, Chris Jaeger, Doug Wilson, and Malcolm Robertson had a great day making the tackles that the defensive line could not come up with on the front line. Safety Corey Goodson came up with a big interception to end a Bridgewater drive late in the 1st half and give the offense the ball back with 2 minutes remaining before halftime.
This time it was Dunston to receiver Tim Jones on a 26 yard reception to help move the ball down the field. He also found tight end Cody Slate for a first down. The backfield continued to slash through the Eagle defense to move the ball into Bridgewater territory. The Tigers took the ball down to the Eagles 6 yard line and with 3 seconds remaining, kicker Stephen Phillips booted a 23 yard field goal through to give Hargrave a 23-12 lead going into the half.
The third quarter proved to be much of the same as the Tigers defense held Bridgewater on downs and gave the offense a chance to increase their lead. This time Hargrave found that they may have a 1-2-3…….4? punch in the backfield. Tailback Joel Ellerbe added to the depth of the backfield rushing for tough yards down the field. Tight ends TC Drake, Cody Slate, and Mike Ryder helped to spring Ellerbe and the other backs all day long. The Tigers got down to the Eagle 21 yard line when once again Dunston found Hazelton for their third touchdown connection of the day to give Hargrave a 30-12 lead.
The defense stood tough as always when Bridgewater got the ball back. This time the secondary did a tremendous job of keeping the BC passing game in check. Led by Corey Goodson, Ryan Brinson, Zaire Kitchen, Anthony Johnson, Khalil Conteh, George Helow, Francis Johns and Merf Trout the secondary protected against the pass, only surrendering 103 yards through the air on the day.
The offense had the ball a few more times and worked on spreading the ball around. Running back Alfonso Wells had a few carries to add to the rushing numbers. Wide Receivers Craig Hayden and Joey Nairn came up with some big catches in the second half to help move the chains. Although receiver Ross Hagberg did not have a catch on the day, he made some key blocks to spring the Tiger running backs. Receiver Tim Jones pulled double duty, coming in to play quarterback later in the game completing a few passes. Field position was important all day and kickers Merf Trout, Stephen Phillips, and George Pierson put the Tigers in position to succeed on both sides of the ball.
Bridgewater added some late game points, but the game was in hand for the Hargrave PG’s and they were able to make the three hour ride home with a 30-26 victory. The Hargrave offense racked up 437 yards on the day while only giving up 212 yards to Bridgewater and 73 of those yards came on one run play late in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers move to 1-0 on the season and will travel to Annapolis, MD on Saturday for a Sunday game versus the Navy Midshipmen. Navy finished last season 10-2 with a victory over New Mexico in the Emerald Bowl to cap their first 10 win season. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 PM on Sunday September 4th.
Stats
RUSHING
Keiland Williams- 12 rushes 101 yards
Joel Ellerbe- 10 rushes 55 yards
Morgan Green- 5 rushes 32 yards 1 TD, 1 rec. 8 yards,
Mike Ford- 7 rushes 51 yards
PASSING
Jarrett Dunston- 12-17 180 yards, 3 TD’s, 1 Int.
RECEIVING
Vidal Hazelton- 6 rec. 87 yards 3 TD’s, 1 rush 19 yards
Joey Nairn- 2 rec. 31 yards
Tim Jones- 1 rec. 23 yards
Craig Hayden- 1 rec. 9 yards
Cody Slate- 1 rec. 13 yards
DEFENSE
Melvin Alaeze- 6 Tackles 2 Sacks
Jerrell Powe- 7 Tackles 2 Sacks
Justin Mincey- 5 Tackles 1 Sack
Callahan Bright- 6 Tackles 2 Sacks
Darius Dewberry- 7 Tackles
Corey Goodson- 6 Tackles 1 INT
Horace Hubbard- 4 Tackles
Rahkeem Smith- 7 Tackles
Anthony Johnson- 4 Tackles 2 PBU
Mario Harvey- 5 Tackles
Ryan Brinson- 3 Tackles 2 PBU
Zaire Kitchen- 4 Tackles 2 PBU
