Samford 45, Central Arkansas 16

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford football team opened the 2015 season and the Chris Hatcher era with a  45-16 win over the Central Arkansas Bears Thursday night at Seibert Stadium.

"I'm extremely excited for our team," Hatcher said. "We had a dominating performance tonight in all three phases of the game. Early on, we got down a little bit, but we fought through the adversity. It was a complete performance in all three phases."

Samford senior quarterback Michael Eubank completed 21-of-37 passes for a career-high 372 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. Eubank completed touchdown throws of 66, 55, 35 and 16 yards in the contest.

"Mike played a great game," Hatcher said. "He led the team well. He did a great job before the game of getting the team fired up. He went out there and was very accurate, he threw the deep ball exceptionally well."

Freshman wide receiver Kelvin McKnight turned in an impressive performance in his collegiate debut. McKnight caught six passes for 157 yards and a touchdown. Karel Hamilton had seven catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. Vaquan Small caught one pass for a 35-yard score.

Denzel Williams rushed 15 times for 91 yards and a touchdown, and he had one receiving touchdown as well. K'rondis Larry had seven rushes for 68 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively for Samford, linebacker Josh Killett led the way with 10 tackles, including two tackles for loss. Justin Cooper, Josh Kimberlin and Trey Wesley added eight tackles apiece for the Bulldogs.

For Central Arkansas, Taylor Reed completed 43-of-63 passes for 312 yards. Dominique Thomas rushed nine times for 69 yards and a touchdown for the Bears. Desmond Smith led UCA in receiving with 11 catches for 75 yards. Defensively, George Odum led the Bears with nine tackles, including two tackles for loss.

Central Arkansas struck first when Thomas scored on a 29-yard run. Jace Denker added the extra point to give the Bears a 7-0 lead with 5:48 to go in the first quarter.

Samford answered just two plays later when Eubank hit Hamilton for a 55-yard touchdown. Anthony Pistelli kicked the extra point to knot the score at 7-7 with 5:03 left in the opening quarter.

The Bulldogs took the lead early in the second quarter. Eubank hit Small for a 35-yard touchdown with 10:56 left before halftime. Pistelli's extra point gave Samford a 14-7 lead.

Samford added to its lead when Williams scored on a 49-yard run with 9:09 to go in the second quarter. Pistelli added the PAT to push the Bulldogs' lead to 21-7. Central Arkansas came back with a 26-yard field goal by Denker to cut the Samford lead to 21-10 with 6:24 left in the second quarter.

Eubank hit McKnight for a 66-yard touchdown with 1:18 left in the second quarter, and Pistelli's PAT stretched Samford's lead to 28-10. Central Arkansas' Matt Cummins nailed a 50-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to end the first half with Samford holding a 28-13 advantage.

The first points in the second half came with a 21-yard field goal by Pistelli to make the score 31-13 with 4:55 to go in the third quarter. With 13:33 to go in the fourth quarter UCA's Denker kicked a 34-yard field goal to cut the Samford lead to 31-16.

Samford's Larry added to the Bulldogs' lead with a 54-yard touchdown run with 12:41 left in the fourth quarter. Pistelli added the extra point to make the score 38-16. Samford stretched its lead to 45-16 when Eubank hit Williams for a 16-yard touchdown, and Pistelli added the PAT with 9:13 to go in the game.

As a team, Samford rolled up 536 yards of total offense, while Central Arkansas finished with 462 total yards.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 12, when the Bulldogs host Florida A&M. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. kickoff from Seibert Stadium.

 

Ball State 48, VMI 36

MUNCIE, Ind. - Al Cobb threw for 399 yards and three touchdowns and Aaron Sanders had 13 receptions for the VMI Keydets, but the Ball State Cardinals grabbed a 17-point lead after three quarters and held on for a 48-36 win in non-conference college football action Thursday night in Muncie, Ind. The game was the season opener for both teams.

VMI (0-1) had closed to within 10 at 34-24 and had the ball early in the fourth quarter, but Ball State (1-0) was able to force a Cobb fumble deep in Keydet territory with 9:56 to go. The Cardinals then took over at the VMI 32 and ran James Gilbert six straight times, the last of which was a 14-yard TD, and the Keydets never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.

The Keydets were led by Cobb, who had the second-most passing yards in school history and fell just one yard shy of throwing for 400 yards for the first time in his career. He finished 33 of 47 for 399 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Sanders added 118 yards on his game-high 13 catches and true freshman Dontae Mauck had 131 yards receiving on just two grabs, including an 80-yard first-half touchdown. Defensively, Allan Cratsenberg (15), Ryan Francis (12) and Greg Sanders (11) all finished with double-digit tackles, and Alijah Robinson had the game’s lone interception.

After the Keydets went three and out to open the game, Ball State promptly marched 76 yards in 16 plays. The Keydet defense stiffened inside the 10, however, and forced a 24-yard Morgan Hagee field goal that gave BSU a 3-0 lead at the 8:16 mark. In direct opposition of what was to follow, the two teams would combine for just two first downs the remainder of the quarter, and the score remained 3-0, BSU.

Ball State extended the margin to 10-0 with a three-yard Darian Green touchdown run at the 12:09 mark of the second quarter, and after another VMI three and out, Hagee drilled a 27-yarder to push the lead to 13-0. The momentum changed quickly on VMI’s next possession, however, as on the second play of the drive, Cobb found Mauck for his first collegiate reception, an 80-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 13-7. The play was tied for the 10th-longest pass play in school history and it seemed to start the shootout, as Green scored again just 1:47 later to push the lead back to 13, 20-7.

The Keydets would take advantage of Robinson’s interception late in the half, as Dillon Christopher kicked a 31-yard field goal with 29 seconds remaining in the second quarter that accounted for the halftime score, 20-10.

BSU scored two touchdowns in the first 5:40 of the second half, helped in large part by a Keydet fumble on a kickoff return, and seemed to be on the verge of breaking the game open. The Keydets, however, fought back.

A quick four-play, 66-yard drive saw Brice Tucker bolt 36 yards for a touchdown that made it 34-17. That came with 7:34 on the third quarter clock, and after being pushed back to its own one-yard line on BSU’s ensuing punt, VMI promptly marched 99 yards in 17 plays. Cobb found Sanders for a six-yard touchdown to cap the incredible drive, an effort that put the Keydets back within 10, 34-24, with 12:18 left to play.

VMI got the ball back after forcing another punt, but on third and seven with 9:56 to go, Cobb fumbled the football after being hit. Osazuwamen Igbinosun recovered for the Cardinals, and six plays later, Gilbert marched in from 14 yards out to put the Keydets in a 17-point hold once again. Cobb did connect with Sam Patterson for a 15-yard touchdown with 4:55 left, but after a failed onside kick, Green put the game out of reach, 48-30, with a 46-yard touchdown run.

Derrick Ziglar had a one-yard TD run with 2:48 remaining to account for the final margin.

For the Cardinals, Green led the way with four touchdowns, three of which were on the ground as Ball State ran for 231 yards. Milas had 338 yards passing and Jordan Williams had eight receptions for 99 yards.

VMI football returns to action Sept. 12, as the Keydets play host to the Morehead State Eagles at Foster Stadium. Game time in Lexington is set for 1:30 p.m.