Nov. 13, 2010
NORFOLK, Va. -- Old Dominion sent its 11 seniors out in style on Saturday at Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium as the Monarchs defeated VMI, 45-28, in front of its10th consecutive sellout crowd.
The Monarchs won their fourth-straight and end the 2010 home slate with a 4-3 mark and up their overall record to 7-3 on the year. The Keydets meanwhile fall to 3-7 overall in their third straight defeat.
Mario Crawford (Detroit, Mich.) led the Monarchs with a pair of touchdowns and surpassed the 1,000 yard career rushing mark in the win. With 59 yards on 13 carries, Crawford became the second Monarch to reach the milestone.
On the other side of the ball, T.J. Cowart (Va. Beach, Va.) made a season-high 13 stops and collectively the Monarch defense registered four fumble recoveries, having forced three.
After a fumble led to a VMI touchdown on the opening Keydet drive and the Monarchs' trailed 14-7 at the end of one quarter, Old Dominion scored 31 unanswered points spanning the second and third quarters.
Two plays into the game, the Monarchs fumbled the ball at their own 27 leading the Keydets to strike first with Chaz Jones getting over the end line three and a half minutes into the contest.
The Monarchs struck back though on their next possession. The 10-play, 68-yard drive was capped by Desmond Williams' (Windsor, N.C.) three-yard run to tie the game at 7-7 midway through the opening quarter.
VMI answered immediately as Keydet quarterback Eric Kordenbrock completed a 55-yard pass to T.J. Talley less than two minutes later to give the ODU opponent a 14-7 edge heading into the second quarter.
From the second quarter on, it was all Old Dominion.
VMI failed to convert a field goal to kick things off in the second half. Jeff Sexton's 33-yard attempt sailed wide right.
The next two drives put ODU into the lead and started what would go on to be 31 unanswered points.
Jarod Brown (Yorktown, Va.) put his 24-yard field goal attempt through the uprights and was followed by the first of two Crawford touchdowns to give the Monarchs the lead for good with a ODU holding a 17-14 advantage with 8:09 remaining in the half.
Crawford's touchdown run was set-up by one of the four turnovers the Monarchs recovered in the game. Deron Mayo (Hampton, Va.) sacked VMI QB Kordenbrock helping the Keydet signal caller to fumble and Craig Wilkins (Washington, D.C.) to pick the ball for a 15-yard return.
Kai Blanco (Alexandria, Va.) added to the Monarchs' second quarter scoring to give Old Dominion a 24-14 edge heading into halftime with a 10-yard reception.
Old Dominion posted another two touchdowns before VMI ended the drought. The third quarter opened with Thomas DeMarco (Palm Desert, Calif.) throwing his second touchdown of the game, a six-yard pass to Prentice Gill (Los Angeles, Calif.) and senior Mateus Porter (Pacifica, Calif.) recovering a fumble at the VMI 16 to set up DeMarco to connect with Chris Lovitt on another six-yard pass in the end zone.
The Keydets ended the Monarch scoring barrage late in the third quarter. Cameron Jones completed a 12-yard pass to Tracy Hairston, but ODU still lead, 38-21, heading into the final quarter.
Crawford gave the Monarchs their final score of the game with just over six minutes remaining in the game. The sophomore running back capped a 10-play, 82-yard drive to punch the ball into the end zone on fourth and goal.
VMI's Talley gave the game its final 45-28 margin with a 19-yard catch on the next Keydet drive.
DeMarco led the Monarchs completing 20 of his 35 attempts in the air for 270 passing yards and three touchdowns. He also added a team-high 67 rushing yards.
Jones led the Keydets with 114 yards on the ground, while Talley totaled 79 receiving yards. Kordenbrock connected on 12 of his 23 passes for 175 yards.
The Old Dominion Football Monarchs conclude the 2010 season next Saturday on the road. The Monarchs travel to Durham, North Carolina in a return trip to N.C. Central on November 20th with kick at 2 p.m.
MONARCH MOMENTS:
HOME SWEET HOME:
Old Dominion improved its record to 4-3 this season at Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium with the 45-28 win over VMI Saturday. All three losses in 2010 have come at the hands of teams currently featured in the Top 25 including #1/2 Williams & Mary, #19/18 Cal Poly, and #22/24 Jacksonville. The Monarchs are 10-4 all0time on their home turf
ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY:
The four fumbles recovered -Deron Mayo, Ronnie Cameron, Mateus Porter, & Craig Wilkins - ties the record for fumble recoveries in a game. ODU also had four fumble recoveries in its 34-20 win over Georgia State back on October 23rd.
D-D-DEFENSE:
T.J. Cowart's 13 tackles ties for not only the most for a Monarch this season, but ties the record for the most stops by a Monarch defender in a game. Cowart surpasses the previous season-high of 11 held by Cowart himself in the 35-21 win at Monmouth and Craig Wilkins versus Cal Poly in a 50-37 loss to the nationally ranked squad. Cowart ties the mark also held by former Monarch linebacker Mycheal McJunkins recorded in last year's 42-35 win at VMI.
MILESTONE ALERT:
Running back Mario Crawford, who entered Saturday's contest with 991 yards on 203 carries, became the second Monarch to accumulate 1,000 or more rushing yards in a career with 59 yards on 13 carriers. Crawford now has 1050 career rushing yards in his two years as a Monarch. Thomas DeMarco was the first Monarch to reach the milestone and currently has 1320 rushing yards under his belt.
PAINT BY NUMBERS:
* Desmond Williams posted his sixth rushing touchdown of his career and third of the season.
* With a pair of touchdowns runs, Mario Crawford captured his 11th rushing touchdown of his career and fifth of the season.
* Prentice Gill captured his fifth touchdown reception of the year. Gill, Reid Evans, and Marquel Thomas each have a team-leading five receptions.
* Kai Blanco made his second touchdown reception of the year.
* Chris Lovitt registered his fourth touchdown reception of the season and fifth of his career.
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES:
The ODU Football team honored its 11 seniors who played in their final home game on Saturday. The 11 seniors were:
Offensive Lineman - Tobin Cameron
Offensive Lineman/Tight End - Matt Carrillo
Tight End - James Edwards
Linebacker - Deron Jasper
Wide Receiver - Jamal Johnson
Cornerback - Marquis Johnson
Offensive Lineman - Justin Klingerman
Defensive End - Deron Mayo
Running Back - Alex McLaughlin
Long Snapper - Dustin Phillips
Linebacker - Mateus Porter