Nov. 6, 2010
NORFOLK, Va. -- The Old Dominion football team cruised to a 57-9 win over Savannah State Saturday afternoon at Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium with nine different Monarchs getting into the scoring mix.
Old Dominion won its third straight and improved to 6-3 on the year and ensured themselves its second winning season. Additionally, the Monarchs improved their mark to 3-3 at home this season. Meanwhile, the Tigers remain winless as Savannah State drops to 0-9 on the year. ODU's 57 points are the most the Tigers have allowed this season.
A trio of freshman put in some notable performances. Rookie Aaron Evans (Newport News, Va.), stepping in for the injured Colby Goodwyn (Hampton, Va.), raced downfield 92-yards for the Monarchs' first ever kick return for a touchdown. Additionally, true freshman Rashad Manley (Hampton, Va.) served as the Monarchs' signal caller the entire second half finishing the game completing eight of his 13 attempts for 89 yards. Defensively, freshman Rodney Hunter (Alpharetta, Ga.) made a team-leading 10 tackles.
The Monarchs established an early lead and held the Tigers scoreless until late in the second half. By then, ODU had established a sizeable 36-0 advantage.
The game started with ODU's collecting its fifth on-side kick and four plays later Thomas DeMarco (Palm Desert, Calif.) running the first Monarchs' points into the end zone. It was Old Dominion's fastest score in the program's history occurring just one minute and seven seconds into the contest.
By the end of the first quarter, Reid Evans (Hampton, Va.) posted his fourth touchdown reception of the year and Desmond Williams (Winsor, N.C.) took off for a 32-yard run to give the Monarchs' the 28-0 lead.
Just like the first half, the Monarchs struck early and managed to score in each of their drives in the second quarter.
ODU needed just three plays to open second quarter scoring. The final two plays of the drive saw Chris Lovitt (Stafford, Va.) combine for 70 yards receiving, including a 50-yard touchdown reception.
Following Lovitt's touchdown, the Monarchs were immediately back in control of the field. On Savannah State's first drive of the second half, Sheldon Barner fumbled the ball at the Tigers' own 41 with T.J. Cowart (Va. Beach, Va.) returning possession to the Monarchs leading to DeMarco's second touchdown run of the afternoon and a two-point conversion for the 43-0 edge.
The next drive saw Savannah State get deep into ODU territory, threatening to put the ball over the end line. At first and goal at Monarchs' own 2, the ODU defense thwarted the Tigers from the end zone with key stops that resulted in Savannah State having to settle for a 44-yard field goal. The defense clamp down started with Devon Simmons (Newport News, Va.) holding the Tigers at the line of scrimmage, Craig Wilkins (Washington, D.C.) pushing back Tiger quarterback Antonio Bostick 11 yards, a delay of game resulting in a loss five yards for Savannah State, and Mateus Porter (Pacific, Calif.) and Michael Williams (Norfolk, Va.) forcing the Tiger offense back another nine yards for the fourth down. The Tigers' Derek Williams finally got the Tigers onto the scoreboard then with his 44-yard attempt.
The Monarchs punched right back though with Mario Crawford (Detroit, Mich.) capping a six-play, 78-yard drive on their next possession. Crawford, who finished the game with 20 yards on seven carries, is just nine yards shy of hitting the 1,000 yard career rushing mark.
The Tigers scored their lone touchdown of the day on the following drive. Bostick edged his way into the end zone, but when Savannah State went for the extra point, the Tigers were denied by Edmon McClam (Cowart, S.C.) blocking a PAT for the sixth time in his career.
ODU added in another dagger as Evans took Derek Williams kick 92-yards for a touchdown as the Monarchs entered halftime ahead 50-9.
Craig Wilkins recorded the lone touchdown of the second half to round out the afternoon's scoring. Wilkins picked off Bostick's pass for a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown, ODU's first of the season.
The ODU Football Monarchs return to action next weekend in their final home game of the 2010 season. ODU will host VMI on Saturday, November 13th at 3:30 p.m. with the game airing live on Cox Ch. 11 in the Hampton Roads area. Senior Day will be held prior to kick.
MONARCH MOMENTS:
MOST POINTS:
The 57 points scored by the Monarchs are the most in the 20-game history of the program. The previous high was 49 in the 49=17 victory over Virginia Union back on September 12th, 2009. The previous high against a Division I opponent was 44 in the 44-13 win at Campbell on September 11th, 2010.
OPENING WITH A BANG:
And no, we're not talking about the howitzer you hear being shot off before the Monarchs run onto Foreman Field. Old Dominion has scored on its opening drive in five of its games this season and 12 times in the 20 game history of the program.
RISE AND SHINE:
Thomas DeMarco's eight yard touchdown run to kick off the game gave the Monarchs' its earliest score ever. Here's a list just how early the Monarchs have scored over the last two years.
Time on the Clock In the First Half - Opponent-Date
13:53 - Savannah State - 11/6/10
13:40 - Cal Poly - 10/9/10
13:24 - Fordham - 10/3/09
13:05 - Monmouth - 9/26/09
12:42 - Chowan - 9/5/09
12:19 - Campbell -10/17/09
11:58 - Virginia Union - 9/12/09
11:20 - VMI - 11/21/09
11:12 - Georgetown - 10/31/09
10:59 - N.C. Central - 11/7/09
10:56 - Gardner- Webb - 10/2/10
10:51 - Campbell - 9/11/10
10:44 - Savannah State - 10/24/09
10:38 - Hampton - 10/3/0/10
9:57 - Jacksonville - 9/4/10
NUMBERS GAME:
With his two touchdown passes, quarterback Thomas DeMarco brought his career touchdown pass number to 40. He also ran in a pair of score to up his career rushing touchdown mark to 25. He is currently ranked ninth in the nation in total offense at 287.25 yards a game.
THE PUNT GAME:
Jonathan Plisco, who is No. 2 in the nation in punting this week, made a pair of punts to average 49.5 yards.