STARTING ON A ROLL

8/26/2010 10:42:01 PM

CU OPENS SEASON WITH BLOWOUT WIN

Not a bad way to start a new season.

Concord was the favorite going into its non-conference contest against Southern Virginia Thursday night, and played like it. The Mountain Lions scored touchdowns on seven of their first eight possessions, outgained the Knights 456-139 in the first half and 786-186 for the game and rolled to a 72-21 victory at Callaghan Stadium.

Most of the attention coming into the 2010 season has focused on CU's top offensive standouts, juniors Brian Kennedy and Thomas Mayo. Both played only briefly, but productively. Kennedy rushed 12 times for 111 yards and a touchdown, while Mayo – named by three different organizations as a pre-season All-American – caught three passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. Neither played after halftime.

Starting quarterback Zack Grossi, who missed the last eight games of last season after a knee injury, showed a return to form. Before leaving the game at the break, the sophomore finished 17-24 for 299 yards and five touchdowns, including a 63-yarder to Mayo late in the first quarter.

Some new faces also got on the scoreboard. Sophomore fullback Gary Roach scored Concord's first two touchdowns – one on a five-yard pass from Grossi just 2:07 into the game, the second on a one-yard goal line plunge to cap CU's second drive – on his way to a three-touchdown night. Freshman running back Chris Rodriguez rushed for 74 yards and a touchdown on just four carries.

Wide receiver Keith Huff started his collegiate career with six receptions for 83 yards and two touchdowns. Freshmen RBs Tae Gilbert (7 carries, 83 yards), Charlton Colson (9-63) and Cody Damron (6-41) also made good use of their time against the SVU defense.

Sophomore Evin Dusold relieved Grossi at QB in the second half, rushing five times for 45 yards and a touchdown, and completing 5 of 9 passes for 71 yards and another score.

CU averaged 9.6 yards per play. The 72 points scored by the Mountain Lions is the most in a game since an 83-7 victory over West Virginia State in 1966; that year, CU went 6-0 in the WVIAC and 9-1 overall.

The Mountain Lions defense picked off Southern Virginia QB Zach Garner three times, with Nate Pollard grabbing two of the interceptions. Delque Chalk, Zach Gibbins and Jimmy Keating each got in on six tackles, while Ethan Perry and Jake Lilly each totaled five stops.

COMPLETE STATISTICS & BOXSCORE: www.wviac.org/custompages/football/10fbHTML/cu.htm

Bluefield Daily Telegraph story:

Concord's next game is Saturday, September 4, at Lenoir-Rhyne University. Kickoff is at 7:00 pm at Moretz Stadium in Hickory, NC.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 102.3 FM The Ticket (WTMD, Hinton/Princeton/Beckley) and webcast on www.theticket102.com/, starting at 6:30 pm.

Print Friendly Version