Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU football team extended its home winning streak to six and in the process picked up its first victory in the Big South Saturday with a 31-24 victory over Charleston Southern in front of 2,844 fans as part of the University's Homecoming festivities. The Colonials improved their overall record during the 2021 season to 2-2 (.500), including 1-1 (.500) in the Big South.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Buccaneers engineered a five-play, 67-yard drive early in the fourth quarter that was capped by a 42-yard touchdown pass from Jack Chambers to Ja'Rell Smith, giving CSU a 21-16 advantage with 12:22 remaining. RMU responded on its next drive, converting a key 3rd-and-10 to keep the chains moving and also converting on fourth down before quarterback
George Martin hit
James Westry for a 19-yard touchdown pass to put the Colonials in front, 22-21. RMU went for two, with Martin hitting wide receiver
Demonte Martin on a bootleg to give the home team a three-point lead, 24-21.
George Martin hit wide receiver
Jack Oedekoven for 15 yards on third down to move the ball to the RMU 40-yard line early in the drive, while the Colonials converted on fourth down when Charleston Southern was whistled for a holding call.
PICK SIX
Each team produced a pair of empty possessions before Chambers was intercepted by safety
Lorenzo Euline at the 50-yard line, who found daylight and took the ball to the end zone untouched with 3:13 to go to give RMU a 31-21 lead. Euline finished the day with five tackles, including two solo stops, two pass breakups and his interception return for a score.
QUOTABLE
"(Cayden Jordan) ran a slant and our linebacker knocked him off his route," Euline said. "When he got knocked off his route, the quarterback threw the ball where it was supposed to go but instead he threw it to me. We prepared all week in practice to play the scramble. When he was scrambling, we just stayed on his receivers. Since we were on the receivers, it gave our defensive line time to put pressure on the quarterback."
STEPPING UP
The RMU defense held Charleston Southern to 2-of-14 on third down Saturday, while the Buccaneers were successful on just one of their five times going for it on fourth down. That was established on the first drive of the game, as CSU marched to the RMU three-yard line but was stuffed for no gain on three consecutive plays, including 4th-and-2 as Chambers was stopped by defensive lineman
Matthew Holmes and linebacker
Aniello Buzzacco. Holmes registered a sack among his four tackles, while defensive lineman
Garret Fairman added another sack of Chambers.
QUOTABLE
"Coach Plungas and his defensive staff put a great game plan together at the beginning of the week, because they knew how much of a weapon (Jack Chambers) is," head coach
Bernard Clark, Jr., said. "Our guys did a great job of executing. It's a load off whenever you get a victory. Winning is not easy. When your guys put it together for 60 minutes, you're real excited for them and you're real happy for them because of the effort they put in."
FINDING THE OPEN MAN
George Martin finished 28-for-41 passing for 292 yards and two touchdowns in the win, hitting seven different receivers at least twice for completions.
D'Andre Hicks led the corps with nine catches for 79 yards and a touchdown, including a 13-yard score that marked the only points put on the board during the first 15 minutes and gave the Colonials an early 7-0 lead. Westry added five catches for 98 yards and a touchdown, and combined the duo of Hicks and Westry finished with 198 all-purpose yards.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
RMU won the time of possession battle, 36:38 to 22:24, while finishing 6-for-17 on third down. On defense, the Colonials were led by defensive back
Sydney Audiger, who finished with eight tackles, seven of which were solo takedowns. He also registered one of RMU's six tackles for loss Saturday, which accounted for 51 yards. Defensive lineman
Supilani Mailei, who posted a half a tackle for loss among his five stops, also blocked a punt in the third quarter for the Colonials.
UP NEXT
RMU takes to the road for its next two Big South contests, opening with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff against North Alabama Saturday, Oct. 16, at Braly Stadium in Florence, Ala. The Colonials will also travel to Gardner-Webb Saturday, Oct. 23, before returning home to close out the month of October with a Noon kickoff against Hampton Saturday, Oct. 30, at the Joe.
Follow The Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | RMU Athletics Gameday App
