Matt Lucas 112 yards rushing, 1 TD

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

September 8, 2007


Ferrum Picks Up Football Win at Southern Virginia

AMHERST, Va. -- Ferrum College picked up its first football win of the year, defeating non-conference opponent Southern Virginia University 22-16 on the road.  The game was played at Amherst County High School and was the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Official Box Score

Southern Virginia rallied to tie the game at 16-16 with 4:16 remaining in regulation, only to see Ferrum drive 69 yards in nine plays for the winning score, a 10-yard plunge by fullback Matt Lucas with 43 seconds showing on the clock.

On the ensuing drive, SVU connected on a 30-yard pass play to make it to the Ferrum 38 yard line, but linebacker JJ Jordon's interception with 20 second left on the next play sealed the win for the Panthers.

Quarterback Matt Dobson put Ferrum on the board early with a 2-yard TD run at 11:39 of the first quarter, and Clint Slappey's kick made it 7-0.  Slappey would add a 23-yard field goal before the quarter was done, extending Ferrum's lead to 10-0.

After the Ferrum defense pinned Southern Virginia deep in its own territory, the Panthers took over on the SVU 46 yard line.  Dobson then hit tailback Ronnie Edwards with a 38-yard TD pass and put Ferrum up 16-0 heading into halftime.

Following a scoreless third quarter, the Knights got on the scoreboard courtesy of Hayes Page's six-yard run.  The Knights were successful on the 2-point PAT, a run by Page, cutting Ferrum's lead to 16-8 with 10:01 left to play.

Ferrum could not move the ball on the next drive but punter TJ Grzesikowski drilled a 61-yard punt to pin the Knights in on their own three yard line with 6:49 left to play.  Southern Virginia then drove 97 yards, 68 through the air, and scored on an eight-yard pass from Luke Taylor to Steve Andreasen.  Hayes then hit McKay Dunn with a 2-point PAT pass to tie the game at 16-16 with 4:16 left.

Lucas had 112 yards and a TD on 20 carries, helping Ferrum rack up 272 yards on the ground.  Edwards had 93 yards on 15 carries.  Dobson was 5-of-eight passing for 67 yards and a TD, and was sacked once.  Page had 171 yards rushing and a TD to go with the 2-point PAT for Southern Virginia.  Taylor was 13-24 for 190 yards and a TD, was sacked three times and intercepted once.

Defensively, Rick Kailipont made 10.5 tackles for SVU, including nine solo stops and a tackle for loss.  Shea Owen also had 10.5 tackles, seven solos and two for loss.  Ferrum DB Randy Jones had 6.5 tackles, while Shaun Green had six tackles and a pair of quarterback sacks.

Ferrum is on the road next Saturday at non-conference opponent Bridgewater College.  Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. in Bridgewater, Virginia.

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