Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU football team opened the home portion of its 2021 fall season Saturday, earning a 22-16 victory over Howard in front of 2,514 fans at Joe Walton Stadium. The Colonials evened their overall record at 1-1 (.500).
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Faraji Woodson gave Howard (0-4) its first lead of the contest, 16-14, with 7:15 to play with a 27-yard field goal, but the Colonials marched 77 yards on 11 plays on their ensuing drive and capped it when quarterback
George Martin hit wide receiver
D'Andre Hicks with a shovel pass in the flat. Hicks raced around the end and found daylight to scamper 17 yards for a touchdown and give RMU a 20-16 advantage with 3:01 remaining. The Colonials went for two after the score, with Martin converting with a rush to give RMU a six-point cushion. The key play during the drive came on 3rd-and-7 from the RMU 26-yard line, when Martin hit wide receiver
Demonte Martin in stride for a 20-yard pickup to keep the chains moving.
SEALING THE DEAL
Howard got the ball back and had one last chance, moving into RMU territory after a personal foul on the Colonials. The defense held firm, however, forcing Quinton Williams into four incomplete passes to end the threat. The Bison looked like they were about to move into the red zone when Williams seemed to hit Antoine Murray down the middle of the field, but replay showed that Murray never had possession of the ball. The Colonials then forced Williams to throw two incomplete passes to Carson Hinton, including his final pass of the game into the end zone, which was strong.
QUOTABLE
"You have to relish in victories because they're not real easy to get," head coach
Bernard Clark, Jr., said. "Especially against a good team and a reputable opponent. Coach Scott has those guys playing hard, so we're happy about the victory. When we started out we weren't tackling very well. As the game went along I thought we tackled better. Once we did that we were able to slow them down a little bit."
SWARM & SMASH
RMU put consistent pressure on Williams all afternoon, sacking him six times while finishing with five quarterback hurries. Defensive lineman
Ricardo Watson registered two sacks for the Colonials among his four tackles, while fellow defensive lineman
Matthew Holmes posted a sack and a pair of quarterback hurries. It marks the most sacks in a game for RMU in the Clark era and the most in a contest since registering seven @ Albany Nov. 3, 2007. Also registering sacks for the Colonials Saturday were linebackers
Aniello Buzzacco and
Olivier Pageotte-Andre, defensive back
Lorenzo Euline and defensive lineman
Garret Fairman. Linebacker
Jamar Shegog and defensive lineman
Supilani Mailei each notched a half a sack.
LIGHTNING BOLT
Tied, 7-7, late in the first half, RMU was able to grab a lead at the break, 14-7, when Martin connected with Hicks for a 43-yard touchdown pass that capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive. Hicks got in front of the defender to grab the ball before darting into the end zone for the Colonials. On the afternoon Hicks caught four balls for 68 yards and two touchdowns and also racked up 92 all-purpose yards. Martin finished 11-for-21 for 146 yards through the air and his two passing scores for RMU while also giving the Colonials an early lead, 7-0, with a five-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.
QUOTABLE
"It's been a while since I've been in front of people playing ball, and it was exciting," Hicks said. "I'm just trying to bring a spark to our team and we're just trying to compete. We took the blueprint from Coach Walton, and everything you see out here, like the fans, we're doing this because of him. It was exciting to go out there today with Coach Clark and compete and keep living Joe Walton's dream."
LONG TIME COMING
RMU stretched its winning streak at Joe Walton Stadium to five thanks to the win Saturday over Howard. The triumph marked the first home game for the Colonials in 671 days, a 16-14 win over Sacred Heart Nov. 23, 2019. Running back
Alijah Jackson paced the ground game against Howard, picking up his ninth career 100-yard rushing effort with 107 yards on 26 carries, an average of 4.1 yards per carry. As a team RMU finished with 326 yards of total offense, was 7-for-13 on third down and was successful in converting both the opportunities in the red zone.
UP NEXT
The Colonials open their Big South slate Saturday, Oct. 2, with a 1:00 p.m. kickoff against North Carolina A&T at BB&T Stadium in Greensboro, N.C.
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