Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU football team played its first conference game as a member of the Big South Saturday, falling to No. 7 Kennesaw State, 35-0, at Fifth Third Bank Stadium. The Colonials slipped to 0-2 on the 2021 spring season in playing their first game in over a month.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU took the opening kickoff but went three-and-out on its first drive of the contest. The Owls (4-0 / 2-0 Big South) grabbed an early 7-0 lead by using an eight-play, 40-yard drive that was capped by a one-yard plunge from Xavier Sheperd. During the drive, Sheperd carried four times for 22 yards, while Kyle Glover rushed four times for 18 yards. Combined, the duo rushed for 177 yards on 35 carries in the win for Kennesaw State, an average of 5.1 yards per carry.
TAKEAWAYS
The RMU defense came up with a turnover in the middle of the first quarter, as Shepherd fumbled on the 28-yard line of Kennesaw State. Redshirt freshman linebacker
Jamar Shegog pounced on the loose ball for the Colonials, setting up shop for RMU at the 34-yard line of the home team. Redshirt junior running back
Alijah Jackson rushed for two yards on the opening play of the drive before Bryson Armstrong intercepted redshirt junior quarterback
George Martin and raced 75 yards to paydirt to give the Owls a 14-0 lead at the 7:38 mark of the first quarter.
TWO MORE
Issac Foster added a 20-yard touchdown scamper late in the first quarter to bolster the Owls, while Shepherd connected with Will Haigler for a 33-yard touchdown pass with just 2:16 left before halftime that helped give Kennesaw State a 28-0 lead at the break. The only score of the second half came with 4:56 remaining, when Adeolou Adeleke provided a 15-yard touchdown run. As a team, the Owls rushed for 332 yards on 52 carries, an average of 6.4 yards per rush.
MOMENTUM
RMU created some momentum in the third quarter behind the legs of Jackson, who opened a 14-play, 71-yard drive with rushes of 10 and 15 yards. Running back
Jordan Johnson followed with a 10-yard run, pushing the Colonials into Kennesaw State territory. Martin connected with wide receiver
D'Andre Hicks on a pair of completions to keep the chains moving, including a 14-yard strike on 3rd-and-10 that moved the ball to the 24-yard line of the Owls. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, RMU had 3rd-and-Goal before a fumble recovered by Cincere Mason of the Owls snuffed out the threat for the Colonials.
SUPERLATIVES
Jackson paced the RMU ground game, rushing 20 times for 94 yards on the afternoon, an average of 4.7 yards per carry. As a team the Colonials finished with 111 yards on the ground. Martin finished 8-for-19 passing for 51 yards, and his favorite target was Hicks, who hauled in four catches for 43 yards. Defensively, the Colonials were again led by junior linebacker
Aniello Buzzacco, who registered a game-high 10 tackles.
UP NEXT
RMU returns to the road Saturday, April 10, for a Noon kickoff at Charleston Southern. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, March 20.
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