NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Shenandoah University played No. 25 Christopher Newport even for nearly three quarters Saturday afternoon before the Captains earned their first ever victory over SU with a 21-0 USA South Conference victory.
CNU (3-1, 1-0) took advantage of a pair Shenandoah (3-2, 1-1) second half mistakes to seize control of a close game. The Hornets appeared to have stopped the Captains on 3rd and 12 from the SU 28 when a Hornets personal foul penalty gave the hosts a first down on the Shenandoah 13. Three plays later, Phillip Jones scored on a 4-yard TD run to make the score 7-0 CNU.
After the two teams traded ensuing possessions, the Captains broke its visitors back by capitalizing on a muffed punt that gave CNU the ball on the SU 39. It took nine plays, but Branden Jones hit paydirt on 2nd and goal from the 3 to give his squad an insurmountable lead.
CNU made it 21-0 with 1:32 remaining, but had to work to preserve the shutout as Shenandoah drove all the way to the Captains 9 with just over a minute remaining. Unfortunately for SU fans, Christopher Newport turned its opponent away on four straight plays with its back up to the end zone.
The three touchdowns broke open a scoreless ballgame that saw both teams fail on opportunities its opponent presented to them. CNU turned the ball over twice in the first half, both on fumbles. The second fumble, by Thomas Thornton on the SU 1-yardline, allowed the Hornets to head into the lockerroom tied 0-0 despite being outgained 123-74 and having nearly three minutes less of possession time.
Shenandoah had its best opportunity to score in the first half thwarted on a David Briggs interception 3:50 into the contest. Briggs stepped in front of Mike McVearry (Bowie, Md./South River) and grabbed the Wayne Hogwood (Alexandria, Va./Wakefield) pass on the CNU 9. This would be as close as SU would come to the endzone until the final drive of the game.
u Mario Marin led all rushers with 21 carries for 139 yards for CNU while Anthony Frates (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial) had 79 yards on the same number of rushes for Shenandoah. Justin Wood had a game high 13 tackles (seven solo and one interception) for the victors with George Hewan (Lanham, Md./Roosevelt) making a game high nine solo tackles among his 11 tackles for SU.
A complete box score and play by play can be found at http://www.su.edu/athletics/fb/100403.htm
Shenandoah is off next week for bye week and then hosts Greensboro on October 18 in a 4:00 Homecoming contest.
