Senior punter Tyler Rabb had a career day with 475 yards punting with a long of 70
Box vs. Davidson
Davidson, NC – The Johnson C. Smith University football suffered a lop-sided 35-7 loss to the Wildcats of Davidson College on Saturday night inside Richardson Stadium. JCSU moves to 2-2 overall, while Davidson improves to 2-1 competing out of the Division I FCS Pioneer Football League.
Taking a look at the score and then glancing at the 566 yards of total offense by Davidson; it would appear obvious to blame this loss on the Golden Bull defense. But it was actually the JCSU offense that failed to click.
J.C. Smith entered this contest averaging 460 yards of offense and 37.7 points per game (second only to Winston-Salem State in the CIAA). However, the Golden Bulls only produced 266 yards of offense against Davidson. This is also the second straight week that JCSU has scored just seven points.
Johnson C. Smith struck first with a touchdown toss late in the first quarter. Freshman quarterback and reigning CIAA Rookie of the Week
Keahn Wallace (Homestead, FL) went 4-of-5 on a seven play, 65 yards drive to score. Wallace connected with sophomore receiver
Daniel Taylor (Columbia, SC) on a 15 yard touchdown reception in the right corner of the end zone.
The score remained 7-0 in favor of Johnson C. Smith until the 12:08 mark of the second quarter. The Wildcats tied the score on a 66 yard TD reception from Jonathon Carkhuff to Tim Hines. Carkhuff threw another touchdown reception before the end of the half. He found Nick Orobello on a fade route to put Davidson ahead 14-7 with 4:27 on the clock.
Penalties began to add up and J.C. Smith fell in a deeper hole late in the third quarter. After a 70 yard punt by senior
Tyler Rabb (Shelby, NC), Davidson started a drive on their own two yard line. Carkhuff marched the Wildcats 98 yards in eight plays for a touchdown. He linked up with Hines again on a 20 yard TD reception. JCSU was penalized 25 yards on this drive for holding and unsportsmanlike conduct.
Down 21-7 in the third, the Golden Bulls gave up two more touchdowns before the close out. From the one yard line, Carkhuff completed a huge pass to Lanny Funsten taken 99 yards for a touchdown. JCSU allowed 35 unanswered points to account for the final score.
JCSU was penalized 15 times for 127 yards in the game. This was their first and only contest this season at night (7:00 p.m. kickoff) and on artificial turf.
Wallace passed for 168 yards off 11-29 passing with a touchdown and an interception. He also led the team in rushing with 48 yards off 20 carries. Taylor had one catch for 15 yards and a touchdown. Senior receiver
Rico Poole (Atlanta, GA) caught three balls for 42 yards.
Carkhuff passed for 427 yards and five touchdowns for Davidson. He completed 23 of his 45 pass attempts with two interceptions. Clem Butler rushed for 120 yards off 16 carries. Both had career days in yardage.
Sophomore safety
Gabriel Franklin (Casselberry, FL) led the team in tackles with seven (six solo). Junior linebacker
Michael Coats (Greenwood, SC) had five tackles (three solo) and an interception. Coats returned his interception for a touchdown; however it was overturned due to a personal foul penalty on the return. Junior defensive back
Lance Harris (Encino, CA) had three solo tackles and an interception.
Rabb represented the special teams unit well with his punting duties. Along with his 70 boot, Rabb had 10 punts for 475 yards with three inside the 20. He averaged 47.5 yards per game and made Davidson start two drives inside their five.
Johnson C. Smith will continue their road schedule next week against Winston-Salem State University. The Golden Bulls are set to face WSSU on Saturday, October 1st at 1:00 p.m. inside Bowman Gray Stadium. The Rams remain the lone unbeaten team in the CIAA at 4-0. Winston-Salem sits atop the Southern Division at 3-0 and will host JCSU for their Homecoming contest.
