Barton uses an all around game plan to soundly defeat Chowan 41-0
Wilson, NC — The 2023 football season kicked off for Barton College (1-0) in commanding fashion by beating Chowan (0-1) 41-0 in a Thursday night matchup.
The Bulldogs were convincing in their efforts: multiple scores on offense, a score & forced turnovers on defense, and points scored by the special teams unit. Outside of a few penalties, the Bulldogs played a sound game all around. When you are hitting on all cylinders and scoring in all three facets of the game, you will find yourself on the winning side more times than naught.
#QB0 Jaquan Lynch returned to his first game action since being shut down halfway through the 2022 campaign, and did so with a bang. Lynch started Barton's scoring off with a nine yard scramble for the score. Not even four minutes later on the game clock. Lynch found himself again finding pay dirt with a goal line dive attempt. Lynch would also add his first passing touchdown of the season in the third quarter when he found WR Kameron "Jay" Johnson for a 14 yard pass and catch. Johnson (7 rec, 80 yds, 1 TD) would also contribute a spectacular one-handed catch in the second half as well as a great punt return.
No Barton game would be complete without a heavy dose of RB Jordan Terrell tearing up the field. Terrell was his usual self with 186 total rushing yards. While he did not find the end zone in this game, he did break several tackles with his patented stiff arm, and also came two yards short of a 48 yard score in the first half. Terrell finished with 19 attempts with an average of 9.8 yards per attempt.
With the lead in hand, head coach Chip Hester and offensive coordinator Landon Mariani gave some game snaps to the rest of their talented RB corps. RBs Tyquan "Bama" Patterson (5 att, 31 yds), Tay Long (3 att, 30 yds), Gage Taylor (2 att, 13 yds), and Cam Powell (3 att, 12 yds) all saw action and each made a few impressive runs in their own right. Whether it was the shiftiness of Patterson and Powell, or the gritty power from Long and Taylor, the entire RB room contributed throughout the game and put some impressive snaps on film.
On defense, the night was highlighted by DB Mike Webb's two interceptions as well as DL Alex Gowda's fumble scoop & score. Sprinkle in a herculean effort by LB Shane Perry (8 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL, 1 FF) and a great game of coverage & tackling by DB Kermit Solomon (6 tackles), the Big Dawgs kept Chowan on their heels throughout the contest.
LB Matt Smith (4 tackles, 1 FF), LB Keno Jones (3 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack), and DE Milton Chandler (3 tackles, 1 TFL) each kept Chowan's offense unbalanced as they did not know which direction the pressure was coming from in defensive coordinator Treiston Burnette's new look defense.
While multiple Bulldogs on offense and defense contributed to their side of the ball, it was a one man, sorry, one BEAR show on special teams. P/K Bear Huggins handled both punting and kicking duties for Barton. With the departure of senior Jackson Brooks in 2022, Huggins found plenty of work versus the Hawks. Huggins with 4 punts (43.8 yd avg, long of 63 yards), 3 touchbacks on kickoffs, two FG (30 yds, 29 yds) and all 4 XP conversions. Actually, the Godfather of Kicking at Barton College, K Graham Walston, did contribute an extra point at the end of the game.
In week two, Barton finds itself traveling again to Davidson, NC to be the home opener for the Davidson Wildcats (0-1). Davidson, a member of the Division I Football Championship Subdivision, defeated Barton 37-17 in 2022 in their first ever meeting. While Barton did start the game off strong last season, the Wildcat option-based offense eventually wore the Bulldogs down. While it was evident that Davidson had bigger athletes, Barton was definitely up for the challenge none the less. I would not expect anything less this Saturday.
Kickoff from Richardson Stadium kicks off at 7:00 pm. If you cannot make the game, radio flagship WDWG 98.5 will be broadcasting the game live.
