Zak Thornton Powers R-MC Past Guilford 34-16; R-MC on Five Game Winning Streak

Thornton Runs For 262 Yards and Four Touchdowns as R-MC Knocks off Guilford 34-16

Greensboro, N.C. -- Sophomore running back Zak Thornton (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) ran for 262 yards and four touchdowns in Randolph-Macon College's 34-16 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) football win at Guilford College Saturday afternoon. The win gives Randolph-Macon (7-1) seven wins for the first time since 1998 and keeps the Yellow Jackets atop the league standings with a 4-0 mark. Guilford slips to 4-4 (0-4 ODAC) with its fourth loss in five games.

Thornton carried 41 times and matched the ODAC's seventh-highest single-game rushing total. He gained 194 second-half yards and ran for three fourth-quarter scores as the Yellow Jackets broke open a 14-10 game with 20 points in the final quarter. Thornton's career-high rushing yardage is the fourth-highest single-game total in NCAA Division III this year, pending the outcome of this weekend's games.

The Yellow Jackets' top-rated defense forced four turnovers, three of which led to Randolph-Macon scores. After the first of two Guilford goal-line stands, the Yellow Jackets' Eric Dardozzi (Green Lane, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) picked off Guilford quarterback Josh Vogelbach (N. Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot (E. Carolina)) at the Quakers' 30-yard line. He returned it four yards and two plays later, Thornton scored from nine yards out for a 7-3 Randolph-Macon lead, which was the where the score stayed at halftime.

The Quakers' defense stopped Randolph-Macon on downs at the Guilford eight-yard line on the third quarter's opening possession. The Yellow Jackets' defense held on the ensuing possession, forcing a short Guilford punt. Three Thornton carries down to the Quakers' four-year line set up a four-yard scoring pass from sophomore Brandon Braner (Roswell, Ga./Blessed Trinity) to junior tight end Stuart May (Beaverdam, Va./Patrick Henry) with 8:18 left in the quarter. Rookie Scott Shope's (Mechanicsville, Va./Hanover) extra point gave the Yellow Jackets a 14-3 edge.

Guilford answered with a 14-play, 78-yard scoring drive capped by redshirt freshman running back Justin Parker's (Greensboro, N.C./Southern Guilford) one-yard scoring run. Sophomore Hunter Chappell's (Elizabeth City, N.C./Northeastern) point after made it a 14-10 game, but the Quakers drew no closer. Randolph-Macon junior cornerback Scott Ahonen (Conyers, Ga./Salem) picked off Vogelbach at the Quakers' 31-yard line and returned it 12 yards late in the third quarter. Thornton took over and carried twice before scoring from one yard out on the fourth quarter's opening play. The point-after failed, but the Yellow Jackets had a 20-10 edge.

Randolph-Macon's Christian Stahl (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) stopped Guilford's fake punt near midfield on the Quakers' next possession. Thornton carried five straight times and scored from 19 yards out, which led to a 27-10 Yellow Jackets' lead with 9:43 left.

Thornton scored his fourth touchdown, this one from eight yards out, with 5:05 left. Junior Hassan Shonekan's (Accokeek, Md./DeMatha) fumble recovery set up the seven-play, 57-yard scoring drive that featured six Thornton carries for 47 yards.

Thornton had a hand in 41 of Randolph-Macon's 65 offensive plays and increased his season rushing total to a league-high 1,251 yards. Braner completed eight-of-12 passes for 100 yards with one score. May hauled in four passes for 67 yards. Dardozzi paced the Yellow Jackets' defense with 13 tackles (9 solo), an interception and two breakups. Shonekan recovered two fumbles and made nine tackles.

Randolph-Macon visits Bridgewater College next Saturday in a 1:00 p.m. ODAC match. The Quakers close their 2007 road schedule at Catholic University of America at noon.

Post Game Notes

• Thornton’s 262 yards ranks seventh best in ODAC single game history and he now has 1, 219 yards on the season which is just 249 yards short of Howard Stevens’ R-MC record for single season rushing yards set in 1968.

• Thornton’s 41 carries on Saturday puts him at 275 for the season which vaults him past Remon Smith in the R-MC in the single season record books. Smith held the record since 1987 when he carried the ball 234 times.

• Thornton’s four touchdowns ties a host of others for second all-time for a single game in league history while his 12 rushing touchdowns on the season leave him just three shy of tying Smith’s single season R-MC record which he set in 1986 with 15 scores.

• Thornton is also just 19 rushing attempts short of breaking the ODAC single season record which was set by Chris Sullivan of Washington and Lee (294 carries) in 2002.

• The Yellow Jackets seven wins is the most for the program since the 1998 season and four ODAC wins marks the most by R-MC since the 1999 campaign.

• The R-MC defense held the ODAC’s top scoring offense in Guilford (42 ppg.) to just 16 points on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets were paced by four turnovers. Scott Ahonen and Eric Dardozzi each picked off Pre-Season All-American quarterback Josh Vogelbach while Hassan Shonekan recovered two fumbles for the Jackets.

-Yellow Jackets-