WILMINGTON, Ohio - The Wilmington College football team never trailed in regulation, but Southern Virginia University (SVU) tied it up midway through the fourth quarter, scored on its first possession in overtime and held the Fightin' Quakers at the goal line to claim a 41-34 overtime victory at Williams Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
"The first week often comes down to execution and minimizing mistakes," Head Football Coach Bryan Moore said. "We did a lot of good things today, but made a few too many big mistakes."
The Fightin' Quakers wasted no time getting started, however, as the defense was flying around and in the Knights' backfield right from kickoff. Wilmington did not allow an SVU first down in three drives including driving the visitors back to their own one-yard line. After a short punt, first-year starting quarterback Derek Larimer connected with Dallas Rawlings for a four-yard touchdown.
Two drives later, Tre'Quez Parks partially blocked a punt, setting up another WC touchdown drive, this one culminating in a Benn Hobbs three-yard run. Trailing 14-0 after the first quarter, SVU used a short punt to score its first touchdown on a drive that took just two passing plays. The point-after attempt was blocked, making the score 14-6.
Wilmington's next two drives, with a defensive stop sandwiched in between, went approximately 70 yards in at least nine plays. Both, however, stalled in the red zone and two Gabe Dolen field goals gave the hosts a 20-6 advantage. Just before halftime, SVU faced 3rd-and-17 from midfield after a sack. The Knights called timeout, and quarterback Davis Pinkston delivered a 52-yard strike to Tyler Wester.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Quakers' fumbled the return, but the defense came up huge as Quentin Davis intercepted Pinkston on the very next play.
"We moved the ball very well in the first half, but being held to two field goals were emotional wins for them," said Moore.
Just like the first half, Wilmington scored first in the second as Larimer connected with Dallas Rawlings on 4th-and-3, and the tailback did the rest, breaking a tackle and scampering 33 yards for the score. The Quaker defense got another stop, but the Knights answered that stop with one of their own, blocked the punt and scooping it up for a touchdown. After another short punt, SVU used the short field to score again, and elected to convert the extra point and trailed 27-26.
The Quakers' offense answered with a 12-play, 71-yard drive to go back up by eight as the fourth quarter began, but the Knights countered with an eight-play, 80-yard drive. The two-point conversion was successful, and SVU had tied the game for the first time at 34-34.
Wilmington went three-and-out on its next possession, but Aaron Pardo, who hadn't had a punt more than 30 yards on his previous four, booted a 57-yard punt deep into SVU territory. Both games had one more drive to break the deadlock, and both got to midfield. Neither scored, however, and overtime followed.
SVU got the ball first and scored in four plays thanks in large part to a 21-yard pass from Pinkston to Skylar Johnson. Three plays later, Wilmington faced a 4th-and-9, but Larimer, who took a low snap, found Lathan Jones for the first down. A pass interference penalty setup the Quakers with 1st-and-goal at the two, but a rush for loss and three straight incompletions ended the game.
Wilmington ran 95 plays and gained 472 yards compared to 424 yards on 61 plays for SVU. The Quakers were led offensively by Larimer, who competed 36-of-58 passes for 366 yards and two touchdowns. Itika Wynn Jr. hauled in six receptions for 98 yards while Dallas Rawlings, also WC's leading rusher at 43 yards, caught six passes for 61 yards and two touchdowns.
Pinkston finished 15-of-28 for 355 yards and three touchdowns. Wester and Johnson were his favorite targets, combining for 171 yards on seven catches. Wilmington did shut down the SVU running attack as the Knights mustered just 69 yards on 33 carries for an average of just over two yards per carry.
Defensively, Brandon Weaver, Deven Speck, Jarod Lee and Tre'Quez Parks had tallied at least one sack while Xzerious Stinnett led the squad in tackles with seven. Leka Apodaca had a team-best 15 tackles for Southern Virginia.
"We obviously would have loved this one to open the season, but I like our group of players and coaches in this program," said Moore. "We are going to have to coach and play our way out of this start."
Wilmington (0-1) opens Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play at Heidelberg University next Saturday.