ASHLAND, Va. – Five turnovers and a failed four-down conversion inside the red zone spelled doom for Shenandoah University in a 35-14 ODAC football loss at Randolph-Macon Saturday afternoon.
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Macon (5-1, 4-0 ODAC) rolled up 302 rushing yards, forced two fumbles and picked off Hornets (3-2, 2-2) quarterback
Ben Agostino three times in earning the win before its homecoming day crowd.
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IN DEPTH
The 'Jackets only scored seven points off of the five SU turnovers, but that touchdown proved costly.
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Trailing just 14-7 following an Agostino-to-
Casey Stewart 41-yard TD pass on 4
th-and-5 at the 9:33 mark of third, Shenandoah had held Macon on consecutive possessions before taking over at its own 3 following a 56-yard Gavin Stone punt.
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The game turned on the next play.
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R-MC forced a fumble on the Hornets first down run and Erik Harris recovered it two yards into the endzone to give the hosts a 21-7 advantage.
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After the two teams then traded possessions, Shenandoah drove 57 yards in eight plays to find itself with a 3
rd-and-2 from the Macon 7. A fade to
Brant Butler was incomplete on third down, setting up a fourth-down conversion attempt.
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The 'Jackets came up with their only sack of the day on the play, dropping Agostino for a six-yard loss and effectively taking the wind out of the Hornets sails.
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R-MC drove 87 yards in eight plays, ending with an Andrew Ihle seven-yard touchdown run that put the hosts up 28-7.
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Shenandoah was able to respond with an Agostino-to-
Samuel Adams 25-yard TD pass to complete four-play, 59-yard drive, but would get no closer.
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Macon finished the day with 456 yards in offense, including the 302 on the ground, and possessed the ball for 36:26 of the contest.
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Agostino was 23-of-44 for 259 yards and two touchdowns against the three interceptions.
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Stewart had six receptions for 152 yards and the touchdown.
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Defensively,
Tyler Williams had 13 tackles,
Daquan Pridget 12 and
Shean Rheams 10.
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Nate Hill picked off a pass for the fourth time in five games this season.
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"I thought the defense played extremely hard and kept us in it," head coach
Scott Yoder said. "We turned it over too much to have a chance against a quality opponent."
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