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Six Interceptions Help Randolph-Macon to a 27-17 Victory over Catholic
Date: Saturday, September 22, 2007
Contact: Chris Kilcoyne, Sports Information Director
(804) 752-7387, christopherkilcoyne@rmc.edu
Six Interceptions Help Randolph-Macon to a 27-17 Victory over Catholic
WASHINGTON, DC – The Randolph-Macon College football team used a 24 point second quarter and six interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns to top home standing and ODAC foe Catholic University 27-17 on Saturday afternoon.
The victory snaps R-MC’s nine game losing streak against Old Dominion Athletic Conference opponents and the Yellow Jackets now stand 3-1 on the season and 1-0 in the in the league. The Cardinals suffer their first loss of the season, dropping to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the league.
Zak Thornton paced the offense with 118 rushing yards on 34 attempts. Brandon Braner completed 10-of-27 passes for 189 yards and one touchdown pass. The defense, which recorded the second most interceptions in a single game in the history of the ODAC, was led by Eric Dardozzi who had two interceptions on the day. Hassan Shonekan led R-MC with 11 tackles. Gabe Jones also had 10 stops on the afternoon as well.
After a scoreless first quarter, R-MC got on the board with 13:12 left in the half when Adam Maclauchlan intercepted CUA’s back up quarterback John Jacobs and returned the ball 40 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 R-MC lead.
The teams would trade punts before Chris Collins intercepted CUA starter Keith Ricca and went 38 yards to pay dirt to double the R-MC lead to 14-0.
With time running out in the second quarter, R-MC managed to score 10 points with under two minutes left in the half to up its advantage to 24-0 at the intermission. Braner connected with Kevin Allen on a pass from 20 yards out to make the score 21-0 with 1:54 left. Allen led the R-MC receiving corps with three catches for a total of 45 yards.
On the Cardinals ensuing possession, CUA drove down to the R-MC 49 yard line before Hassan Shonekan picked off Ricca at the R-MC 34 yard line to halt the scoring opportunity.
R-MC capitalized as Braner hooked up with Scott Pickett on a 39 yard pass that gave the Jackets a first down on the Catholic 27 yard line. Pickett finished with two catches for 55 yards on the day. After a Thornton 13 yard run, R-MC’s drive stalled on the CUA 14. Scott Shope booted a field goal with nine seconds left to up R-MC’s lead to 24-0.
The Jackets took the second-half kickoff and advanced down to the Cardinals 26 yard line but their field goal attempt was blocked. CUA then put together an eight play, 66 yard drive that lasted 8:06 and was capped off by a nine yard touchdown pass from Ricca to Noah Rogers.
After a Shope 41 yard field goal with 3:34 left in the third quarter made the score 27-7 in favor of the Jackets, Catholic cut the lead to 27-17 on a Brendan Deluca field goal and a 21 yard touchdown pass from Ricca to Ryan McManus with 11:41 remaining.
That would be as close as CUA would get as Collins picked off Ricca again with 8:32 remaining in the game. The R-MC defense then forced a turnover on downs on the Cardinals next possession to seal the victory.
Randolph-Macon returns to action next Saturday for the first of three straight games in Ashland with a 1:00 p.m. kickoff versus defending ODAC champion Washington and Lee.
-Yellow Jackets-