Ferrum Release 11-2-02

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Gary Holden, Sports Information Director (540) 365-4306

November 2, 2002


Ferrum Earns Share of Dixie Football Title
Panthers Defeat Greensboro 25-13 on the Road

Greensboro, N.C. - Coach Dave Davis' Ferrum football squad earned at least a share of the 2002 Dixie Conference regular season football title with tonight's 25-13 league win on the road over Greensboro College. The Panthers trailed 13-10, only to come back and score 15 points while shutting out the Pride in the final 26 minutes of the game. Junior fullback Moncrief Holmes (Yorktown, Va./York) scored the winning TD for the Panthers with 12:30 left in the game with a 66-yard TD run. Holmes, pictured at right, led Ferrum with 84 yards on eight carries. He is Ferrum's leading rusher this season with 456 and three TDs on 69 carries for an impressive 6.6 yards/carry average. Davis' defensive unit stood up to Greensboro's passing offense ranked #1 in the Dixie at 170.6 yards per game, by holding the Pride to 128 yards through the air. Greensboro also came into the game with the Dixie's #2-ranked total offense (281.7 avg), one which Ferrum held to 229 yards tonight. The Panthers rushed for 253 yards, and racked up 287 yards in total offense. Turnovers hurt Greensboro, with the Pride committing four on interceptions. Ferrum, fumble-plagued earlier in the season, committed no turnovers. Sophomore kicker Bobby Corn (Cumming, Ga./Forsyth Central) got Ferrum on the board first with a 24-yard field goal with 1:02 remaining in the first quarter. Freshman running back Adrian Dailey (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Boyd Anderson) put Ferrum up 10-0 a few minutes later with a 37-yard run at 10:51 of the second quarter. Greensboro would score a pair of TDs next to take a 13-10 lead with 11:26 remaining in the third quarter on a pair of TDs, one passing and one rushing. Ferrum answered right back with Corn's second field goal of the day, this time from 23 yards out, to knot the score at 13-13 with 6:33 remaining in the third. Holmes' TD gave the Panthers a 19-13 lead after a missed extra point, and the Ferrum's defense held the rest of the way. Sophomore running back Anthony Jones (Gainesville, Fla./Newberry) scored an insurance TD for Ferrum on a 5-yard run with 1:03 left to play.

Junior linebacker Antonio McClenney (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes), pictured at left, led the team defensively with 11 tackles, including six solo. Sophomore defensive back Darren Venable (Covington, Va./Covington) had a pair of interceptions for Ferrum to go with four tackles and two pass breakups.

Senior linebacker Kelvin Fuller (Norfolk, Va./Fork Union) made eight tackles, including six solos. Senior defensive back Dennis Freeman (Chesapeake, Va./Salem) and sophomore linebacker Chris Norris (Norfolk, Va./Granby) had an interception each.

Ferrum improves to 5-3 overall and is 5-0 in the Dixie. Greensboro falls to 3-5 with the loss and is now 3-2 in the Dixie. The Panthers have two regular season contest left, Nov. 9 at home against non-conference opponent Salisbury University and Nov. 16 at Christopher Newport University. The Salisbury game will coincide with Ferrum's Hall of Fame Weekend.

Last year, Ferrum shared the Dixie title with Christopher Newport University, but it was CNU that earned the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III playoffs by virtue of its 14-11 win over Ferrum in the 2001 Oyster Bowl. For more information, contact the Ferrum Sports Information Office at (540) 365-4306.


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