WINGATE ----For the ninth consecutive season and 19th time in 21 years under head coach Joe Reich, the Wingate University Bulldogs have started the season with a victory, jumping out to a 30-0 lead en route to a 30-7 victory over the visiting Shaw University Bears in NCAA Division II football action at Irwin Belk Stadium Thursday night. Wingate starts the season 1-0, while the Bears fall to 0-1.
THOUGHTS FROM HEAD COACH JOE REICH
"For a first game, it was fairly clean. We did some good things, executed some things really well. It was good to see. Obviously we made some mistakes and we've got plenty to work on, but for a first game, with the way it laid out, there were certain things we executed that we thought looked pretty good. I felt like we were hitting the throws we needed to make. Shaw has a veteran group on defense with a good front eight, that we figured would be tough to run against, but Nijere was able to get some yards, then we were able to roll some guys in during the first half. Defensively, our first group played really, really well, which was great to see. We have some things to clean up, but it was a solid first game. As a team, we probably play as many guys as anyone, regularly. We like to roll guys through, be fresh, keep everyone going, we feel it builds our program. Tonight we were able to go even deeper than usual, which was definitely a great thing for our guys."
NOTES
- Wingate is 19-2 in season openers under Reich
- The 'Dogs move to 39-13 overall since the start of the 2016 season
- Wingate is 71-35 at Irwin Belk Stadium since 2001
- The Bulldogs move to 12-2 under the lights at Irwin Belk
- 30th straight victory for Wingate when scoring at least 30 points
- 18th time scoring at least 30 points since the start of the 2018 season
- The Bulldogs have won 21 of their last 24 regular season home games
- Career high receiving nights for RJ Mobley and Ryder Martin
- 14th career game with at least 200 passing yards for Shaw Crocker
- 10th career game with at least 90 rushing yards for Nijere Peoples
KEY STATS
- The 'Dogs had 25 of the 38 first downs
- Wingate had 224 passing yards and 169 rushing yards
- Shaw had 114 rushing yards and just 74 passing yards
- The 'Dogs had the lone turnover of the night
- Wingate was four-for-10 on third down; Shaw went two-for-14
- The Bulldogs scored on all five red zone trips with four touchdowns
- The Bears never entered the red zone
- The 'Dogs held the ball for 33:41 compared to Shaw's 26:19
- Wingate had the only three sacks of the night, adding eight QB hurries and six pass break-ups
KEY BULLDOGS
- Mobley had five catches for 68 yards and a score
- Desor added five catches for 60 yards and a TD
- Martin had 64 receiving yards on four receptions
- Peoples went for 92 yards on 15 carries
- Kalen Clark added 29 rushing yards and a touchdown
- Jaquan Edwards led the 'Dogs with seven tackles, including a sack, adding a pass break-up and QB hurry
- Matthew Ellis-White contributed six tackles and a pass break-up
- Justin Armwood and Dontorian Best each had five tackles with a tackle for loss apiece
- Sirod Cook added four tackles and a sack
- Daquan Mosley contributed three tackles and a pair of pass break-ups
- McLean Robertson made all three PATs and converted a 20-yard field goal
- Ethan Evans averaged 39.1 yards per punt and had three touchbacks on six kickoffs
FIRST QUARTER
- Wingate went 66 yards on 10 plays in the opening drive of the season
- Crocker hit Martin for 17 yards, while a Myles Dillon 11-yard run got it to the Shaw 14
- Clark scored from three yards out to get the Bulldogs on the board
- Wingate held Shaw to 11 yards on its next possession, forcing another punt
- The 'Dogs went 54 yards in eight plays to score again
- Crocker hit Desor for 12 yards to get it close to midfield
- Crocker found Mobley for 21 yards on second and 15 to get it to the Shaw 14
- Crocker connected with Desor for a 16-yard touchdown to make it 14-0
SECOND QUARTER
- Peoples started it with runs of eight and seven yards
- Crocker found Mobley for 21 yards on third and eight to get it inside the 10
- Mobley scored on a six-yard run the next play to make it 21-0
THIRD QUARTER
- Crocker hit Mobley for 14 yards on the drive to get it to the Shaw 21
- Back-to-back Clark runs got it to the five
- The 'Dogs settled for a 20-yard Robertson field goal to make it 24-0
FOURTH QUARTER
- A 26-yard completion to Martin got it into Shaw territory
- Crocker hit Dillon and Martin to get it inside the 10
- Crocker connected with Mobley from five yards out to make it 30-0
- The Bears got on the board on a 59-yard touchdown run from Christian Peters
UP NEXT
- The 'Dogs open SAC play at Carson-Newman Sept. 18
- WU returns home the next two weekends to host Catawba and Tusculum
