The Skyhawks move to 3-3 and fourth in the OVC after running over the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs.
I say running over because anything else would be an inaccurate description. The Skyhawks ran for 235 yards and four touchdowns against the Bulldogs defense with usual suspect Patrick Smith accounting for 128 yards and three touchdowns. Another Skyhawk, QB Kinkead Dent, said Smith couldn’t have all the fun with 73 yards and a touchdown of his own on the ground. Most of those yards came from a broken play in which Dent fumbled the ball to himself and ran an extra 25 yards to get the Skyhawks within scoring distance.
However, that’s not all Dent did that night. He also passed his way down the field effectively, especially in the first half. Dent threw for 130 of his 167 passing yards in the first half with a majority coming from one throw to TE Tyler Dostin, who snuck behind the defense and ran for a 55-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Other contributors for the Skyhawks on offense include WR DeVonte Tanksley with 41 yards on four catches and Trevonte Rucker with two catches for 28 yards.
Defensively the Skyhawks started off slow, allowing a field goal as the first point of the game. However, after that point the Skyhawks adjusted and wouldn’t let the Bulldogs score on the next eight possessions. The Skyhawks would go on to allow two touchdowns in garbage time, making the score much closer than the on field product really showed.
The Skyhawks defensive backfield especially performed well against the Bulldogs. It’s hard to mention the defensive backs of the Skyhawks without mentioning one man, Oshae Baker. Baker finished the game with four tackles and an interception. Baker stole the ball away from the Bulldogs WR Jordan Bly, pulling it down in traffic on the Skyhawks 15-yard line.
Other contributors on defense include Safety Josh Hastings and LB Jaylon Sharpe. Both lead the team with seven tackles and Sharpe had three tackles for loss.
The Bulldogs didn’t find much success offensively against the Skyhawks defense despite 14 points in the fourth quarter. Gardner-Webb started the game with QB Ren Hefley, who took the job from senior Tyler Riddell the week before after Riddell turned the ball over several times against Tennessee Tech.
Hefley struggled pushing the ball down the field against the Skyhawks, completing five passes for 12 yards on eight attempts. After seeing Hefley’s struggles, Head coach Cris Reisert decided he needed a new signal caller and that was Riddell again.
Riddell threw an interception on his third throw of the game but gave the Bulldogs offense a definite new life to start the second half. Riddell threw for 131 yards and a touchdown in the second half to help the Bulldogs make the score much more respectable than it should have been.
Next week, the Skyhawks travel to Hanson Field in Western Illinois to play the 2-3 Leathernecks on Saturday, Oct. 12, at 3 p.m.
