GW takes to the air in victory

ROXBORO, N.C. – George Washington overcame having its powerful running attack stifled as the Eagles took to the air to defeat Person County (N.C.) 14-7 Friday night to improve to 2-0 for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

Kevin Shuler completed 4-of-8 passes for 92 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tim Moore on a third-and-14 play early in the fourth quarter, to overcome a brutal Person County defense.

“Everybody looks for GW to run the ball,” Moore said, “so that’s why Coach told me he was going to put me in at tight end, to throw the defense off. They didn’t look for me to receive the ball and I was wide open.”

GW countered with a staunch defense of its own, erecting a brick wall when the Rockets (1-2) had possession and limiting the hosts to just a single rushing yard on 20 carries and out-gaining them 258 yards to 83.

Person County managed just 24 yards of offense in the second half.

DeVaughn Benion rushed for 84 yards on 15 carries, including his final run of the night, a 25-yard burst down to the Person 3-yard line with seconds remaining in the game. Terrance Jackson also put in a good deal of work on the ground, toting the ball 20 times for 59 yards.

“(Person County’s) defense was outstanding tonight. Their coach prepared them very well for exactly what it was we were going to do,” GW coach Dan Newell said. “And they stuffed us up in there pretty good, but they took some chances in their coverage because of it. We knew that we were going to have to be able to throw the ball. … We were not going to be able to run the ball down their throat. It just wasn’t going to be that kind of night. They had too many in the box and they were too well coached for us to do what we normally do.”

Both teams struggled to gain any traction on offense for a majority of the evening and entered intermission with the Rockets leading 7-6 after trading special teams touchdowns.

Kevin Miller blocked a Person County punt with his gut and corralled the ball in time to dance into the end zone from 12 yards out for a 6-0 GW advantage with less than 1 minute remaining in the first quarter.

“The outside man went to block somebody else, so I went in unblocked,” Miller said. “It happened fast. I just grabbed it and took off.”

The Rockets responded with a special teams touchdown of their own, when James Thorpe returned a punt 53 yards for a score and a 7-6 Person County lead a little more than 3 minutes before the half.

GW found greater success on the ground in the second half, toting the ball a combined 46 times for 166 rushing yards in the game, but finally took control of the contest by throwing the football as Shuler completed a pair of third-and-longs on the decisive scoring drive.

“We’re predominantly a running team, so the running game really wasn’t working,” Shuler said. “They knew that, so they started cheating up on the run and that really opened up the passing game, which helped us win the game.”

GW seemed to be in business on its first drive of the game, marching from its own 20-yard line to the Person County 29 when the Eagles fumbled the ball away. The drive accounted for 51 of GW’s 69 total yards of offense in the first half. Person County was equally ineffective in the first half, however, accounting for just 59 total yards of offense.

Person began two of its five first-half drives in GW territory, including setting up shop once on the Eagles 30, but came away empty-handed both times. The Rockets lost 4 yards on that drive and on their subsequent drive missed a 33-yard field goal attempt.

The teams traded fumbles near midfield to begin the second half, with Person County losing the ball on the opening kickoff and the Eagles giving it right back a few plays later.

Moore nabbed his third interception of the season, setting the Eagles up at the Person 45, and Moore finished the drive by hauling in the 38-yard touchdown pass as GW recaptured the lead. Benion caught the two-point conversion to extend GW’s advantage to 14-7 with 11 minutes left in regulation.

“They threw the ball tonight a few times and I credit our defense. Actually that was sort of our game plan going in,” Person County coach Don Donevan said. “I knew they didn’t throw the football a lot and we wanted to try to make them do something that they don’t normally do. That’s a pretty simplified thing. And I felt like we did, we just let that long pass get away from us where they went up on us. We were there, it was just a great pass, a great play, and that’s football.”

GW 14, Person County (N.C.) 7
GW 6 0 0 8 -  14
Person 0 7 0 0 -  7
First quarter
G-K. Miller 12 blocked punt return (kick failed), :50
Second quarter
P-Thorpe 53 punt return (Zandt kick), 3:23
Fourth quarter
G-Moore 38 pass from Shuler (Benion pass from Shuler), 11:02

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: GW-Benion 15-84, Jackson 20-59, Ferrell 3-17, Wiles 3-14, Shuler 4-(-7), Team 1-(-1). Person-Allen 11-7, Woods 5-10, Clayton 1-0, Burton 1-(-6), Oakley 2-(-10).
RECEIVING: GW-Moore 1-38, Petty 2-23, Smith 1-31. Person-Downey 3-41, Burton 3-30, Woods 2-11.
PASSING: GW-Shuler 4-8-0-92. Person-Oakley 8-19-1-82.
RECORDS: GW 2-0, Person 1-2