Luke Charles threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns and UNC
Pembroke's defense turned away Tusculum College on six trips inside
the 35-yard line in a 20-10 non-conference victory Saturday
afternoon at Pioneer Field.
Te'vell Williams caught 10 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown for
the Braves (5-1), who stopped the Pioneers (2-4) six times on
fourth down in the victory.
Tusculum quarterback Bo Cordell reached a career milestone in the
loss, becoming the South Atlantic Conference's all-time leader in
passing yards with 11,176. Cordell broke the previous record of
10,937 yards set by Todd Cunningham from Presbyterian from 1998 to
2001.
Cordell completed 39-of-64 passes for 284 yards for the Pioneers,
but his longest completion of the day was just 17 yards against the
Braves' defense. With his 11,176 career passing yards, Cordell now
ranks 14th on the all-time NCAA Division II list.
Charles connected with Ben Decelle for a 60-yard touchdown pass in
the first quarter and hit Williams for a 3-yard score in the second
quarter as the Braves led 17-10 at halftime. Connor Haskins' second
field goal of the game with 6:26 left was the only scoring of the
second half.
Michael Isbell led the Braves on the ground with 86 yards on 18
carries, while Brian Marshall paced Tusculum with a career-high 12
catches for 87 yards. Marshall piled up 205 all-purpose yards in
the game, slightly above his season average of 187.6 all-purpose
yards per game which ranks fifth in Division II.
Tusculum controlled the ball for 31:51 and finished with 355 yards
of total offense, but was just 2-for-8 on fourth-down conversions
against UNC Pembroke. The Braves rolled up 435 yards of offense as
a team and had possession for 10:35 in the fourth quarter while
protecting the lead.
UNC Pembroke received the opening kickoff and moved to its own 46,
but was unable to convert a fourth-and-1 pass and Tusculum took
over in Braves territory. The Pioneers moved to the 18-yard line
before settling for a 35-yard field goal from Logan Cornelius to
take a 3-0 lead just 3:26 into the game.
Cordell tied Cunningham's SAC yardage record on a 15-yard pass to
Matt Levine on Tusculum's next possession, then broke it on a
4-yard screen pass to Chad Blakely with around 8:00 left in the
first quarter.
The Pioneers were forced to punt, and the Braves needed just one
play to take a 7-3 lead as Charles hit a wide-open Decelle down the
left sideline for a 60-yard touchdown. On the extra-point attempt,
a misplayed snap forced the Braves to throw a pass that fell
incomplete, but the Pioneers were called for interference. With a
second chance, Haskins drilled the extra point and UNC Pembroke had
a 7-3 lead with exactly 7:00 left in the first quarter.
Tusculum moved 53 yards in 10 plays on its next possession, but
turned the ball over at the UNC Pembroke 33 as a pass from Cordell
caromed off a falling receiver into the arms of the Braves' DeVante
Bush for an interception. The Braves turned the ball back to the
Pioneers after five plays when a bad snap was recovered by
Tusculum's Cashaud Lyons at the UNC Pembroke 41.
The Pioneers took advantage of the miscue, driving 41 yards in 10
plays and scoring on a 1-yard run by Marshall with 13:39 left in
the first half to go back on top 10-7. The touchdown came one play
after Cordell sneaked for two yards on fourth-and-inches to keep
the Pioneer drive alive.
It took the Braves just under two minutes to regain the lead at
14-10, as a 7-play, 68-yard drive culminated with a 3-yard
touchdown strike from Charles to Williams with 11:40 to play in the
half. Williams caught three passes for 38 yards on the drive,
including a 28-yard grab to the Tusculum 33.s
The Pioneers moved to the Braves 35 on their next possession, but
Cordell was stopped on a fourth-down sneak to give the ball back to
UNC Pembroke. The Braves drove 48 yards inside the Pioneer 20, but
Tusculum's Irim Aiken came up with his first career interception at
his own 1-yard line to stop the UNC Pembroke threat.
Unable to move out of the shadow of its own end zone, the Pioneers
turned to punter Andy Rosetti who launched a 63-yard punt to force
the Braves to start near midfield. Charles hit Williams with a
40-yard pass on their first play from scrimmage, setting up Haskins
for a 22-yard field goal that gave the Braves a 17-10 lead with
3:59 left in the second quarter.
Marshall returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards to the Braves' 29,
but a four-yard loss on second down and a sack on third down left
Tusculum facing fourth-and-14 from the UNC Pembroke 33. Cordell hit
Marshall with a nine-yard pass, turning the ball back to the Braves
with 1:55 left in the half.
UNC Pembroke took advantage of an offsides call on a punt to retain
possession, and three passes to Williams brought the Braves to the
Pioneer 34 with one second left in the half. Haskins was called
upon to try a 51-yard field goal, but the kick was well short as
time expired.
Tusculum took the second-half kickoff and drove all the way to the
UNC Pembroke 17, but a sack forced the Pioneers into a
fourth-and-10 situation and Cordell's pass fell incomplete. The
Pioneers moved 67 yards on 10 plays on their next drive, aided by
pass interference and face mask calls against the Braves, but a
29-yard field-goal attempt went wide right and UNC Pembroke
retained its 17-10 lead with 4:23 left in the third quarter.
Following exchanges of punts, the Pioneers were able to drive from
their 41 to the Braves 33 on their first possession of the fourth
quarter. However, Cordell threw four straight incomplete passes and
UNC Pembroke took over with 10:39 left.
The Braves tacked on insurance points on the drive, moving 55 yards
in 12 plays before Haskins hit a 29-yard field goal with 6:26 left
to take a 20-10 lead. Tusculum had two more possessions in the
game, but were stopped on a fourth-and-1 play with 4:29 remaining
and failed on four straight passes deep in its own territory in the
final 90 seconds.
Justin Houston also finished with career highs for the Pioneers,
making seven catches for 64 yards. Xzanvion Smith, who entered the
game leading the SAC in receiving yards per game (139.0), was
limited to six catches for 41 yards with a long reception of 12
yards.
Rosetti had a strong game on special teams for the Pioneers,
averaging 48.7 yards on three punts with one kick inside the 20.
The Braves finished with just 37 return yards in the game.
Dominic James led the Pioneers with a career-high 12 tackles in the
game, while Brian Alexander and Darien Crank each had 10 stops.
Kaytron Becton led all players with four pass breakups. For the
Braves, L.J. Stroman had a team-high 12 tackles, Cadarreus Mason
had 11 stops and Preston Perry made 10 tackles. Bush had two sacks
and three quarterback hurries to go with his interception.
Tusculum will be back in action next Saturday with a SAC game at
Lenoir-Rhyne, beginning at 2 p.m.
Cordell becomes SAC career passing leader in 20-10 loss to UNC Pembroke
Posted: Oct 06, 2012
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