Averett succumbs to Ferrum’s offense

Dave Harper had seen enough. The Ferrum College associate coach left his spot in the press box shortly before halftime and marched down to the Panthers sideline, where his calm approach and a few words of wisdom changed the complexion of the game.

“Out of six plays we missed three checks and three blocks and we had no yards, no first downs, nothing,” Ferrum coach Dave Davis said. “The checks were in the quarterback’s hands. Coach Harper thought that it would be a benefit for him to come down and talk to the quarterbacks face to face and get that straight.”

The Panthers, who managed 16 total yards of offense in the first 26 minutes of play, responded by rattling off 30 unanswered points to send Averett University to a 30-9 loss in the Cougars’ USA South Conference opener on Saturday in Danville. Harper’s sideline visit preempted a 65-yard, 11-play touchdown drive to basically end the half and Ferrum scored on two of its first three possessions after the break to send Averett reeling to its second straight defeat.

Marques Wilson grabbed an 11-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Mayo as Ferrum (4-1, 2-0) cut its deficit to 9-7 with 25 seconds left in the first half and the Panthers, aided by three Averett (1-3, 0-1) turnovers after intermission, went on to have their way with the Cougars. Mayo scored on runs of 7 and 3 yards and running back Mike Vann added a 30-yard scoring jaunt after the break.

Averett quarterback Shan Fairbanks, starting for the second straight week in place of the injured Philip Kwiatkowski, who was a game-time decision, completed 17-of-30 passes for 161 yards and tossed two critical interceptions in a span of three plays. The senior was eventually replaced by freshman Matt Mitchell, the Cougars’ third-string quarterback.

“Shan I’m not sure was getting anything done throwing the football. … We’re giving our quarterback plenty of time, I think, to make some plays and we’re not getting it done,” Averett coach Mike Dunlevy said. He expects Kwiatkowski to start next week.

“I told the team at halftime, I said, ‘We need to go out and get one turnover, protect the football and not get any penalties,’ and that’s not what we did,” Dunlevy said. “We did the exact opposite.”

After Ferrum captured a 14-9 lead on its first drive of the second half by marching 80 yards on eight consecutive running plays, back-to-back Averett drives were halted inside the Panthers’ 10-yard line. On the first drive, Watson was stuffed on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line and on the second, Dennis Hardy intercepted Fairbanks at the 6.

Mark Williams saved a touchdown by tackling Hardy at the Averett 28-yard line, but it took Ferrum all of two handoffs to score anyway. Vann, who torched Averett last year for five touchdowns and more than 300 all-purpose yards, took off down the right sideline before breaking back inside for a 30-yard touchdown run and a 22-9 Cougars lead. Vann had been held to seven yards on four carries at the half. He finished with 39 yards on six touches.

“The defense, we really played well. We broke down for maybe a couple of plays,” Averett linebacker Mario Huffman said. “We’ve just got to get better in the third quarter. We break down in the third quarter.”

Fairbanks was again picked off, this time by Demetrius Brown at midfield, two plays later. Mitchell replaced Fairbanks, completed 1-of-3 passes and also tossed an interception. Anthony Squillini paced the Averett offense with nine catches for 111 yards.
The game started out so well for the Cougars.

Huffman, a Tunstall graduate, blitzed and dropped Ferrum quarterback Matt Dobson in the end zone for a safety to hand Averett a 2-0 lead in the second quarter. The Cougars built a 9-0 advantage when Dontavious Watson finished a 48-yard drive on the ensuing possession with a 3-yard touchdown run off right tackle on fourth down.

It only took one more Ferrum three-and-out on its next possession though — its sixth straight to open the game — to prompt Harper’s game-changing visit to the sideline.

“I just settled them down,” Harper said, dismissing any tactical changes. “I told them that I still believed in them. ‘Those series were over and done with, let’s just start from right now and this is a new whole game. New series, new thing, just settle down and let’s play.’”