Cavs Post Thrilling Thursday Night Win Over Hawks

October 20, 2005
Game Stats

Rome, GA – In a special Thursday night gridiron contest, the University of Virginia's College at Wise worked it way to a 14-point second half lead before seeing a game-winning 38-yard field goal by host Shorter College fall short to seal the 29-27 victory.

The Highland Cavaliers evened its season record to 4-4 and 1-1 in the Mid-South East Division. The win also helped UVa-Wise surpass the three-win mark which they had been stuck at the past three seasons. The first tough first year program Shorter College saw its season record fall to 2-5 and 0-2 in the Mid-South East.

After a score to pull to within 29-27, Shorter was able to recover its onsides kick at their 40-yardline. The Hawks moved the ball 39 yards on three plays to the Cavs' 21-yardline to setup a game-winning field goal try. Kicker Lukas Gonzales was unable to hit the ball properly and the 38-yard attempt with nine seconds remaining did not come close to keep the final of 29-27 UVa-Wise.

The Cavs played its best first half over the past few weeks. After an opening drive touchdown by the Shorter, quarterback Randy Hippeard, who made his first start in four games, drove UVa-Wise 80 yards on 12 plays before hitting Ra'Shad Morgan on a roll out to the left from five yards out to make it 7-6 as the extra point was mishandled.

The game remained 7-6 into the second quarter when Bryan Tolbert recovered a Shorter fumble at the home 28-yard line. The Cavs took advantage and took its first lead in the last four games when Hakeem Abdul-Saboor plunged in from two yards and accounted for all but two of the 28 yards on the short drive to take a 12-7 lead with 12:00 minutes left in the second frame.

Shorter took over two possessions later but saw quarterback Caleb Jordan fire over the middle but was intercepted by linebacker Corey Wheeler who returned the ball back to the UVa-Wise 45-yard line. The Cavs methodically moved down the field by running off 6:09 on the clock on 15 plays culminating with a 26-yard field goal by Ray Damm to make it 15-7 late in the second.

Wheeler came up big a second time in the half. Shorter drove from its own 22-yard line to the UVa-Wise 11-yard line on seven plays. On the seventh play, Jordan tried to a Hawk receiver in the corner of the endzone but Wheeler snatched the ball from the air to keep the tally 15-7 at the intermission.

UVa-Wise rode the first half momentum on the opening drive of the third quarter. Taking exactly half of the third quarter, Hippeard guided the Cavs on a long drive with key passes of 25 and 24 yards to Morgan. Fullback Tremayne Edwards rumbled into the endzone from seven yards to cap the 79-yard scoring drive for a 22-7 lead.

Shorter quickly answered with its own score. The Hawks went 57 yards, all on the ground, to see Fabian Daniel run in from three yards for the touchdown and then carried in the two-point conversion to cut the margin to 22-15 with 6:12 in the third quarter.

On the second drive of the fourth quarter, the Cavs took over on the Hawk 48-yard line. Morgan took over from there. He carried three times of five, 13 and one yards to start the drive and then after two Edwards rushes ran for nine more yards on two carries. Edwards took the ball three yards to the home nine before Morgan knifed to paydirt on the next play for a 29-15 lead with 7:10 left in the game.

Shorter scored quickly once again. In only 1:49, the Hawks found the endzone on a Chris Chapman seven yard run with 5:01 left in the contest to make it 29-21 after a missed extra point. UVa-Wise had a chance to run out the last five minutes of the game but saw a third down and six pass from its 48-yard line fall incomplete with 2:30 left.

The Hawks drove 72 yards on nine plays over 1:48 as Daniel ran in from five yards. Chapman was stopped on the insuing two-point conversion to make it 29-27 with 42 seconds left in the game before setting up the onsides kick.

With Hippeard back under center, the UVa-Wise offense totaled 406 yards of total offense. Hippeard had a solid outing by completing 14 of 23 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown without an interception. Morgan carried 20 times for 116 yards and one score while catching three balls for 54 yards and another score. Godfrey Pestana added 67 yards on 14 tries. Abdul-Saboor hauled in three passes for 38 yards and Kyle Allen had his best night as a Cav with three receptions for 36 yards.

Punter/kicker Ray Damm had his best outing of the year with a 43.5-yard per punt average on four punts with a long of 57 yards. He also made both extra point attempts and connected on a 26-yard field goal. Wheeler added nine tackles and one tackle for loss to go with his pair of interceptions. Safety Donnie Avant posted 11 stops and defensive end Jon Nacy eight.

UVa-Wise will next host nationally-ranked University of the Cumberlands at Carl Smith Stadium next Saturday, October 29th for a 5:00 p.m. start.

-Go Cavs-