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HAMPTON, Va. -- Old Dominion rattled off 31 unanswered points and held Hampton to just one touchdown score in the Football Monarchs' 45-7 victory over the Pirates in a rain shorten game on Saturday night at Armstrong Stadium.
The win improves the Monarchs to 2-0 on the year, while the Pirates fall to 0-2 overall.
The game was called in the fourth quarter with 9:43 remaining as inclement weather entered the area.
Old Dominion went up 14-0 by the end of the first quarter on a touchdown run by Tyree Lee in the Monarchs' opening drive and followed on its next possession with a four-yard touchdown reception by Blair Roberts.
Hampton got onto the scoreboard with 11:34 in the second quarter with Jeremiah Schwartz punching the ball into the end zone. However, the Pirates would never get any closer than 14-7.
The Monarchs captured another pair of scores before the half going into the intermission ahead 28-7. Quarterback Taylor Heinicke connected on a 40-yard pass to Larry Pinkard with just under five minutes remaining in the second quarter and Angus Harper helped close out the half on an 11-yard run over the end line.
Pinkard's touchdown was set up by Dominique Guinn-Bailey as he recovered a fumble on the Monarchs' 44 and three plays later ODU was in the end zone. Harper's touchdown was set up as the Monarch defense prevented the Pirates from scoring on fourth and five at the ODU's own seven and returning possession back to the Monarchs.
ODU put up 21 more points in the third quarter. The quarter kicked off with Mayers scoring on a 15-yard pass from Heinicke and two plays later John Darr intercepted the ball at the Pirate's nine-yard line setting up a 35-yard Jarod Brown field goal.
The Monarchs managed to capitalize on another interception late in the third quarter. Rodney Hunter collected the turnover and Colby Goodwyn ran the ball in six plays later for the 45-7 advantage.
Defensively, the Monarchs were led by Craig Wilkins with nine tackles, including three for loss, and both Chris Burnette and Alex Arain with four tackles. Burnette's total also included a nine-yard sack forcing a fumble. Collectively, they held the Pirates to just 28 yards rushing.
The Football Monarchs return to action on Saturday, September 15th against Campbell. Kick-off is slated for 6 p.m. at Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium.
MONARCH MOMENTS:
GAME CAPTAIN: Devon Simmons
SERIES RECORDS:
- Old Dominion improved to 29-8 all-time since restarting football in 2009. They improved to 2-0 on the 2012 season.
- The Monarchs improved to 3-0 all-time against Hampton, including a 2-0 mark at Armstrong Stadium, and 8-0 all-time vs. the MEAC.
ON THE ROAD:
The Monarchs improved to 12-3 all-time away from the friend confines of Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium.
Additionally, ODU improved to 4-0 all-time in road openers.
CAPITALIZING ON TURNOVERS:
The Monarchs made the most of getting the ball back into its possession. Old Dominion scored off a pair of interceptions, a forced fumble, and also got the a score after getting the ball back after the Pirates were unable to convert on fourth down.
YOU SHALL NOT PASS:
While Craig Wilkins did not top his career-high of 17 tackles set against Hampton Saturday night, he did lead the ODU defense with nine tackles, including three for loss and a seven-yard sack. He now has 262 career tackles.
BY THE QUARTERS:
Old Dominion is currently outscoring its opponents 38-27 in the first half of contests and 64-3 in the second half. The Monarchs haven't let an opponent onto the scoreboard in either the first or third quarters. ODU has outscored the opposition 17-0 in the first quarter, 34-0 in the third quarter, and 30-3 in the fourth quarter. The second quarter meanwhile has ODU opponents outscoring the Monarchs 27-21, which includes Hampton's lone touchdown on Saturday.
UPDATING THE NUMBERS:
- Rodney Hunter, who had his first career interception last week against Duquesne, added in his second against the Pirates.
- John Darr had his first career interception.
- Tyree Lee had his third touchdown of the 2012 season and fifth of his career that gave ODU a 7-0 lead.
- Blair Roberts collected his first career touchdown - a four-yard pass from quarterback Taylor Heinicke with 1:17 left in the first quarter to give the Monarchs a 14-0 edge.
- Larry Pinkard posted his first touchdown of the 2012 campaign with a career-long 40 yard reception. It surpasses his previous high of 38 captured against #20 UMass last season.
- Angus Harper ran in his first touchdown of the year and the 11th of his career to give ODU a 28-7 lead entering the half.
- Nick Mayers caught his third touchdown of the year and 17th of his career. His score put ODU ahead 35-7 early in the third quarter.
- Colby Goodwyn scored his first touchdown of the year on a six-yard run. It was his seventh rushing touchdown of his career and the Monarchs' final score of the night.
- Kicker Jarod Brown went a perfect 6-of-6 on his PAT's improving his season mark to 13-of-13 and his overall mark on hitting extra points to 109-of-113. He also had a 35-yard field goal to improve to 2-of-3 on the 2012 season and 29-of-41 overall.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB:
Larry Pinkard became just the fourth Monarch in history to have over 10 career touchdown receptions with his 40-yard TD reception against Hampton. Other Monarchs on the list: Nick Mayers currently tops the list among all ODU athletes with 17 to his name. Reid Evans had 13, followed by Prentice Gill with 12.
IN THE MIX:
Ten different Monarchs have gotten into the scoring mix through the first two games of the season.
UP NEXT:
Don't forget to WEAR SILVER next week as the Monarchs host Campbell. It will also be Military Appreciation Day.