Centre wins first SAA football game 10-7 over Sewanee
In its first season in the newly created Southern Athletic Association (SAA), the Centre College football team earned its first win in the new conference with a 10-7 win over Sewanee-University of the South Saturday, Oct. 6 in Sewanee, Tenn.
The game was a defensive battle from the start. The two offenses combined to gain only 118 yards and six first downs in the first quarter.
Sewanee put a 15-play, 68-yard drive together on its first possession of the second quarter. One second and goal from the three-yard line, Jase Brooks scored to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
Centre quarterback Heath Haden (Kingsport, Tenn.) threw his first interception of the season on the Colonels' first play of the ensuing drive, but Sewanee's Curtis Johnson gave the ball back two plays later with a fumble that was recovered on the Sewanee 34-yard line.
Unable to gain a first down, Centre turned to last week's SAA Special Teams' Player of the Week, senior Jordan Gay (Danville, Ky.) Gay nailed a 42-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.
Sewanee (2-4 overall, 0-1 SAA) drove to the Centre 34 at the end of the first half, but a 51-yard field goal attempt fell short and the two teams went into the locker room with a 7-3 score.
Both teams were held scoreless in the third quarter. Gay tried a 41-yard field goal in the quarter, but it bounced off the right upright.
The Colonels' final drive of the third quarter continued into the fourth quarter. Haden led the offense down the field completing all five of his pass attempts for 64 yards. On first and 10 from the Sewanee 13-yard line, junior running back Harry Meisner found the endzone for his third rushing touchdown of the year and a 10-3 Centre lead.
The defense did the rest as the Colonels limited the Sewanee offense to only 32 yards on 16 plays in the fourth quarter to earn its first conference win of the 2012 season.
Haden finished 12 of 24 for 154 yards. Of those 154 yards, 86 went to senior receiver Jason Osterman (Monroe, Ohio) on five catches.
The Centre defense limited the Tigers to only 215 total offensive yards and tallied six tackles for loss. Freshman defensive back Sam Spees (Dayton, Ohio) led the team with eight tackles, while sophomore defensive lineman Tami Aderoba (Columbia, Tenn.) had six tackles, including two tackles for loss.
The Colonels, now 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the SAA, will take next week off and then return to action Saturday, Oct. 20 against Trinity University (Texas). The game will be played as part of Centre's Homecoming Weekend and is set to start at 2:30 p.m. at Farris Stadium in Danville, Ky.
