Falcons Hold Off LWC For First W!

The Notre Dame College Falcons led by a solid running game and a couple of big stands by a upstart defense held off the Lindsey Wilson College Blue Raiders 14-10 on Saturday afternoon in the Blue Raiders inaugural game in Columbia, Kentucky.

The Falcons got off to a quick start in front of a capacity crowd at Blue Raider Stadium. LWC began the game with the ball and went 3 and out. The Falcons then got a pair of big plays. On the first offensive play for NDC Sophomore RB Tim Donald scampered for 32 yards. Then it was Freshman quarterback James Flowers who hit Wide Receiver Derrick Pastor for a 23 yard gain down to the LWC 16. The drive would stall at the Blue Raiders 12 as a 29 yard Jeremy Geier field goal would be blocked. The Blue Raiders would then get a huge 53 yard pass on a double pass that would lead to a 43 yard Mark Corbett field goal.

The Falcons would then get the ball back and with Dak Britt at QB would go on a 65 yard scoring drive capped by a 10 yard touchdown run by fullback Khalid Harrison. The Falcons would lead 7-3 early in the second quarter as they had the first touchdown in the school's history. Harrison had 5 carries for 41 yards on the drive and Britt would also have a 16 yard scamper for the "blue and white".

The turning point in this game would occur in the waning seconds of the first half. The Blue Raiders looked to be content heading into the locker room down 7-3. Looking like the first year program that they were LWC would not score before the half due to terrible clock management. Ricky Bowling of Lindsey Wilson would hit tight end Devon Jones with a 32 yard strike down to the NDC 1 yard line. The Falcons defense would clamp down and stop the Blue Raiders on three consecutive running plays to take a 7-3 half time lead. LWC coach Chris Oliver chose to try and take the lead before the half instead of attempting a 18 yard field goal.

The Falcons would score another touchdown in the third quarter to go up 14-3 as this time it was Pedro Powell with a 1 yard touchdown run. As soon as it looked as though the Falcons were in command back came the upstarts from Columbia (Ky). Richard Kennedy would break free for a 94 yard kickoff return on the ensuing kickoff. All of the sudden it was 14-10 Falcons. The NDC defense would come up big late and preserve the win for the Falcons.

Tim Donald and Khalid Harrison led a solid ground game for the Falcons. Donald had 47 yards on 8 carries while Khalid Harrison had 10 carries for 40 yards. Derrick Paster led the receiving corps with 4 catches for 39 yards. Kayle Chapman also played a big role in this one for NDC. The Falcon punter playing in only his second football game ever had 8 punts for a 36.8 yard average. Of those 8 points though, 3 were inside the LWC 20 yard line. The Falcons had 191 yards of total offense. They eliminated some miscues from a week ago but NDC still did have 10 penalties for 78 yards. Flowers and Britt were both adequate as the Falcons had 85 yards passing on the day. Defensively the Falcons were led by Bo Grunder (7 tackles), Sylvester Flowers (7 tackles) and Bob Hanson (5 tackles, 3 sacks).

Lindsey Wilson had only 32 yards rushing on 33 carries. The Blue Raiders had 162 yards passing for a total of 194 yards of offense. LWC had 60 yards in penalties. They were led by Cameron Zeuisdorf who led the receiving corps with 57 yards on 3 catches. De Michael Wallace had 15 carries for 54 yards. Ricky Bowling was 11 for 24 for 88 yards and Grey Young was 5 for 6 for 74 yards. Each threw a pick. It was a dogfight by two of the newest programs in college football. Notre Dame(1-1) will be back in action Saturday September 11th vs Fairmont State. Kickoff from Fairmont, West Virginia is set for 1 PM. The Fighting Falcons come into Saturday with a 1-0 record in the battle of the Falcons.