Oct. 10, 2009
NORFOLK, Va. -- Old Dominion football returned to the win column Saturday night at Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium as the Monarchs kept Presbyterian from earning its first win of the season with a 34-16 victory.
The win improves the Monarchs' overall mark to 4-2 on the year, while Presbyterian remains winless at 0-6.
Redshirt sophomore Thomas Marco (Palm Desert, Calif.) picked up 108 yards on the ground and 124 yards in the air, completing 10 of his 24 attempts, and captured a pair of touchdowns each way to help lead the Monarchs to victory.
After Presbyterian took a 3-0 lead in the closing minutes of the opening quarter, Old Dominion notched a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter, one early in the half and one late, to take over the lead for good.
Trailing by a field goal, DeMarco passed the ball off to tight end James Edwards (Va. Beach, Va.) for the first of his two touchdown passes on the night. Once the ball was in the hands of Edwards, he took off down the left side of the field, sneaking his way pass a trio of Blue Hose defenders inside the Presbyterian five to cross the corner of the endzone for the Monarchs first points of the night and a 7-3 lead with 11:58 left in the second quarter.
Erik Saylor pushed Presbyterian quarterback Brandon Miley back for a nine-yard sack causing the Blue Hose quarterback to fumble. ODU's first FBC transfer, Jason Fuller (Va. Beach, Va.) recovered the ball setting up the Monarchs' next touchdown run.
Two minutes after recovering the ball, DeMarco crossed the endline for the first of his two touchdown runs giving the Monarchs a 14-3 edge with 1:36 remaing in the second quarter and a lead they would never relinquish.
Presbyterian scored with seconds left in the half to enter the half down by four points, 14-10, but Shawn Armstrong's 11-yard reception would bring the Blue Hose the closest it would get to the Monarchs the rest of the night.
The second half saw the Monarchs outscore the Blue Hose, 20-6. Presbyterian scored only one touchdown but saw the extra point line drive wide right.
Junior tight end Matt Carrillo (La Mirada, Calif.) opened up ODU's second half scoring surge with a two-yard pass, while Desmond Williams (Windsor, N.C.) closed out the third quarter putting the Monarchs ahead, 27-16, with a four-yard run. DeMarco capped off the ODU scoring barrage taking the Monarchs all the way down field on all five plays of the drive. The redshirt sophomore carried the ball all 49 yards of the drive capped by a 27-yard dash into the endzone.
Defensively, the Monarchs were led by Mychael McJunkins with nine tackles, all solo takedowns. The junior out of Kansas City, Kansas had one tackle for a loss of four yards and an interception, which led to DeMarco's final touchdown run. Captain Craig Wilkins (Washington, D.C.) had seven solo stops and an interception as well. Wilkins' interception came on the first drive of the fourth quarter as Presbyterian make its way to the ODU eight-yard line for a huge stop.
Presbyterian's Brandon Miley finished the night connecting on 19 of his 42 pass attempts, throwing four interceptions. Patrick McKoy captured 91 yards on five catches, while Trandon Dendy finished the night with 103 yards on 25 carries.
The Monarchs close out a two-game homestand next weekend as they host the Campbell Camels on Saturday, October 17th. Kickoff is slated for 6:00 p.m.
MONARCH MOMENTS:
BLOCK THAT KICK:
The Monarchs have blocked at least one kick in five of the six games played so far this season - five blocked PAT attempts and two blocked field goal attempt. Tonight it was Chris Burnette's (Randallstown, Md.) turn. Burnette thwarted a 32-yard Blue Hose field goal attempt.
RUN THOMAS, RUN:
Quarterback Thoomas DeMarco led the Monarchs in rushing yardage for the second time this season and also gained over 100 yards on the ground for the second time this season. DeMarco ran for 136 yards against Jacksonville back on September 19th in ODU's first road game and first FCS contest.
THANKS FOR THE BALL:
The Monarchs had four interceptions tonight - Devon Simmons, Mychael McJunkins, Markell Wilkins, and Craig Wilkins - the most interceptions ODU has recorded to date. On the year, Wilkins and Simmons lead the Monarchs with three interceptions apiece.
WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?:
Mychael McJunkins has led the Monarchs in tackles in four of ODU's six game so far. For the second straight game, McJunkins has made nine stops. Against Presbyterian, all nine of his stops were solo tackles, the most solo tackles by a Monarch to date.
PAT STREAK STOPPED:
After making his first 24 extra points, Drew Hareza's PAT streak has come to an end. The Blue Hose blocked Hareza's PAT attempt following Desmond Williams' nine yard TD run. Hareza has converted 25 of his 26 attempts on the year.