Now wait a minute. Isn't UC the team that runs the ball? You'd have never known it by watching Saturday's showdown with Seton Hill.
Terrance Spencer caught three long scoring passes from DaRante' Hunter in the first half and the University of Charleston rode that momentum - along with six Seton Hill turnovers - the rest of the way for a 44-21 West Virginia Conference victory over the Griffins at UC Stadium.
Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008 - The University of Charleston's Chris Almonte (97) raises the ball after recovering a fumble as Stephen Howard (21) and Chris Woomer (41) look on. Charleston took the conference lead, winning 44-21 win over No. 18 and previously unbeaten Seton Hill.
Spencer, who caught eight passes for 180 yards, had touchdown receptions of 26, 61 and 65 yards for a team that leads the WVC in rushing but ranks last in passing yardage. Hunter also ran for three scores and threw for 214 yards.
The win puts the Golden Eagles (6-2, 5-1) slightly in front of the wide-open WVC race, a half-game ahead of Seton Hill (7-1, 4-1) and West Virginia State (6-1, 4-1), with Glenville State (4-3, 3-1) also in the running.
"This is probably the biggest win since we've been here,'' said Tony DeMeo, UC's fourth-year coach. "That's a great football team we beat. Seton Hill is certainly no slouch. The ball just didn't bounce their way today.''
When the ball wasn't floating from Hunter's hands into those of Spencer, it was being fumbled or thrown away by the Griffins. Seton Hill lost four of six fumbles and threw a pair of interceptions. UC turned three of those turnovers into scores.
"We knew we had to play a perfect game to be competitive with them,'' said Griffins coach Joel Dolinski, "and we weren't even close. Six turnovers against a team like Charleston and you can see what's going to happen. They just beat our ass all day. We've had a few problems with ball security [this season], but it was just awful today ... awful.''
Two of UC's defensive leaders were junior linebacker Joey Lindamood of Parkersburg (11 tackles, two forced fumbles, sack, interception) and senior defensive lineman T.L. Asbury of Winfield (six tackles, two forced fumbles, sack, fumble recovery, batted pass).
"The opportunities were there,'' Asbury said. "The ball bounced our way. We didn't do anything special. We just did what we were taught to do and we were lucky enough the ball came our way and we were there to recover it. Every opportunity we had, we knew we were going to have to take advantage of it, and we did today. We put our offense in great field position, and they did the rest.''
Now wait a minute. Isn't UC the team that runs the ball? You'd have never known it by watching Saturday's showdown with Seton Hill.
Terrance Spencer caught three long scoring passes from DaRante' Hunter in the first half and the University of Charleston rode that momentum - along with six Seton Hill turnovers - the rest of the way for a 44-21 West Virginia Conference victory over the Griffins at UC Stadium.
Spencer, who caught eight passes for 180 yards, had touchdown receptions of 26, 61 and 65 yards for a team that leads the WVC in rushing but ranks last in passing yardage. Hunter also ran for three scores and threw for 214 yards.
The win puts the Golden Eagles (6-2, 5-1) slightly in front of the wide-open WVC race, a half-game ahead of Seton Hill (7-1, 4-1) and West Virginia State (6-1, 4-1), with Glenville State (4-3, 3-1) also in the running.
"This is probably the biggest win since we've been here,'' said Tony DeMeo, UC's fourth-year coach. "That's a great football team we beat. Seton Hill is certainly no slouch. The ball just didn't bounce their way today.''
When the ball wasn't floating from Hunter's hands into those of Spencer, it was being fumbled or thrown away by the Griffins. Seton Hill lost four of six fumbles and threw a pair of interceptions. UC turned three of those turnovers into scores.
"We knew we had to play a perfect game to be competitive with them,'' said Griffins coach Joel Dolinski, "and we weren't even close. Six turnovers against a team like Charleston and you can see what's going to happen. They just beat our ass all day. We've had a few problems with ball security [this season], but it was just awful today ... awful.''
Two of UC's defensive leaders were junior linebacker Joey Lindamood of Parkersburg (11 tackles, two forced fumbles, sack, interception) and senior defensive lineman T.L. Asbury of Winfield (six tackles, two forced fumbles, sack, fumble recovery, batted pass).
"The opportunities were there,'' Asbury said. "The ball bounced our way. We didn't do anything special. We just did what we were taught to do and we were lucky enough the ball came our way and we were there to recover it. Every opportunity we had, we knew we were going to have to take advantage of it, and we did today. We put our offense in great field position, and they did the rest.''
In the second quarter, former Capital standout Dominique Green knocked the ball out of Seton Hill quarterback David Wess' hands, and Marcus Young covered it for UC at the Griffins 2. Hunter had his first scoring run on the next play for a 21-7 lead.
Asbury recovered a fumble at the Seton Hill 36 in the third quarter, leading to a 23-yard field goal by Wes Sherrill and a 30-14 advantage. On the Griffins' next offensive play, Lindamood forced a fumble by running back Antwarn Jones and UC's Chris Rotello fell on it at the Griffins 44. Three plays later, Hunter was in the end zone again on a 29-yard run. Hunter's final TD capped a 67-yard drive.
UC's other three touchdowns all came from Spencer.
The last one was the best, as he took a short toss on the bubble screen, went toward the left sideline to pick up a wall of blockers and weaved his way to the end zone to complete a 65-yard play.
The first two were long strikes from Hunter as Spencer got behind a confused Griffins secondary, which was likely expecting something else from a team ranked No. 6 in the country in rushing (239.9 yards per game).
"Watching them [on tape], they always keep their eyes in the backfield, so play action was the key for us,'' Spencer said. "As long as our running was working, we get them on the play action. That's how I got them. They say we're always about running, we don't pass a lot. But today, we got 'em.''
Seton Hill's three TDs were, at least, interesting.
Wess' 36-yard TD pass to Derek Thompson in the first quarter was set up by a fake punt that picked up a first down. Wess' 3-yard run 10 seconds before halftime came on a fake field goal, and Sammy Tranks returned a punt 70 yards in the fourth quarter after he appeared to make a fair-catch signal.
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