Gardner-Webb's Harold Wells rushed for three touchdowns and Kory Alston added two receiving scores as the Bulldogs opened an early lead and held off a late Southeastern Louisiana charge in a 52-34 win Saturday afternoon at Ernest Spangler Stadium.
In a game that saw Southeastern quarterback Martin Hankins become the 10th player in I-AA football history surpass the 4,000 yard passing mark, the Lions struggled for a consistent presence both offensively and defensively.
GWU finished the season at 5-6 while Southeastern wrapped up its second season back after an 18-year hiatus at 7-4.
Hankins finished the season with 4,240 yards for the fifth most in I-AA history and had 445 yards and four touchdowns on 38-of-60 passing in the game. Running back Ray Perkins had 134 yards rushing and Felton Huggins had 10 catches for 157 yards but the Lions fell behind early and the Bulldogs continually took advantage of short field position.
GWU quarterback Nick Roberts finished 17-for-28 for 254 yards with both TDs going to Alston who had four catches for 107 yards. Ralphell Goodson led the Bulldogs on the ground with 19 carries for 86 yards and one TD.
The Lions outgained GWU, 618-433 but had three turnovers and 111 yards in penalties including several that kept alive Bulldog drives.
Although the Lions outscored GWU 27-24 after intermission, the first half was one Southeastern would rather forget. After opening the game with an 80-play drive culminating in a five yard strike from Hankins to Brooks Jordan to make the score 7-0 with 12:16 to go in the first quarter, Gardner-Webb scored 28 unanswered points taking a 28-7 lead into the break.
The first three of the Bulldogs' touchdowns came on short runs as Harold Wells plunged in from the 1-yard line to tie the score at 7-7 with 7:35 remaining in the first quarter. Quarterback Nick Roberts gave Gardner-Webb the lead with 10:30 to go in the first half faking the handoff to Wells and dancing into the endzone on the right side to push the lead to 14-7. Wells added his second TD of the game with 3:48 to go in the first half diving in from the one-yard line to cap a 10-play, 66-yard drive and make the score 21-7.
After a Southeastern turnover on downs, Gardner-Webb marched 59-yards in 49 seconds helped by a pair of personal fouls by the Lions scoring on an 11-yard toss from Roberts to Kory Alston to make the score 28-7.
The Lions would drive into long field goal range as the first half would down but Jim Hall's 51-yard attempt missed short and left to close the stanza trailing 28-7.
Gardner-Webb opened up the third quarter with the first possession and made the most of it as Alston added his second TD grab of the game taking a Roberts' pass 75-yards to push the score to 35-7 with 13:29 left in the third quarter. Wells added his third TD of the game blasting in from 12-yards out to extend the lead to 42-7 with 6:50 to go in the third.
The Lions got back on the board scoring for the first time since the opening possession with 2:30 remaining as Hankins plunged in for the score from the two-yard line to cut the lead to 42-14 and added another seven on a 14-yard strike to Jeffrey Howard cutting the lead to 42-20.
But Gardner-Webb continued to take advantage of short field position to add another 10 points on a 50-yard field goal by Hunter Smith and a 1-yard run by Rafael Goodson to push the score to 52-20.
Southeastern notched the game's final two scores on a 45 yard pass to Felton Huggins with 6:07 to play and a 10-yard strike to Choni Francis for the final margin. Huggins' TD reception pushed his career TD reception total to 18 to set a new school career mark.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
Southeastern La......... 7 0 7 20 - 34 Record: (7-4)
Gardner-Webb..... 7 21 14 10 - 52 Record: (5-6)
Scoring Summary:
1st Quarter
12:16 SLU - Jordan 5 pass from Hankins (Hall kick)
7:35 GWU - Wells 1 rush (Smith kick)
2nd Quarter
10:30 GWU - Robert 2 rush (Smith kick)
03:48 GWU - Wells 2 rush (Smith kick)
00:30 GWU - Alston 11 pass from Roberts (Smith kick)
3rd Quarter
13:29 GWU - Alston 75 pass from Roberts (Smith kick)
06:50 GWU - Wells 12 rush (Smith kick)
02:30 SLU - Hankins 1 rush (Hall kick)
4th Quarter
13:04 SLU - Howard 14 pass from Hankins (Kick failed)
10:33 GWU - Smith 50 FG
07:09 GWU - Goodson 1 rush (Smith kick)
06:07 SLU - Huggins 45 pass from Hankins (Pass failed)
00:32 SLU - Francis 10 pass from Hankins (Jordan pass from Hankins)
A - 5,700
SLU GW
FIRST DOWNS................... 36 26
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 36-173 48-179
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 445 254
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 38-60-3 17-29-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 96-618 77-433
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 1-8 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 1-3 1-16
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 3-61 2-23
Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 3-32
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 3-35.3 5-36.6
Fumbles-Lost.................. 0-0 3-1
Penalties-Yards............... 11-111 7-64
Possession Time............... 31:01 28:59
RUSHING: Southeastern La. - Perkins 21-134; Hankins 13-38; Robinson 1-5, Davis 1--4. GWU - Goodson 19-86, Boston 10-38, Pressley 8-22, Roberts 6-20; Wells 4-15.
PASSING: Southeastern La. - Hankins 38-60-3 445. GWU - Roberts 17-28-0 254; Boston 0-1-0.
RECEIVING: Southeastern La. - Huggins 10-57; Francis 6-80, Perkins 6-45, Jordan 4-63; Howard 4-23, Wilson 3-39, Davis 3-6, Taylor 2-32. GWU - Pittman 5-65, Alston 4-107, Swartz 3-36, Boston 1-15, Richardson 1-13, Goodson 1-7, Knorr 1-6, Flagler 1-5.
