Written by: Gil Pound- The Union Recorder
Milledgeville, GA
Following a turnover-heavy performance in its road opener, the Georgia Military College football team (1-1) cleaned things up a bit Saturday to defeat visiting ASA-Miami 13-0.
The victory marked the first for new Bulldogs head coach Rob Manchester, who had been the team's longtime defensive coordinator, so a shutout was a fitting result.
"It's alway's great to get a W," Manchester said. "It wasn't pretty at times, but the kids played well and fought hard. We've just got to keep getting better and better."
The Silver Storm from South Florida dropped to 0-2 on the season with the loss.
GMC welcomed a big crowd to Davenport Field for the home opener Saturday. The college honored first responders in light of the Sept. 11 date, giving them free admission to the game and recognizing them on the field during halftime. They and the fans in attendance were treated to a hard-hitting, low-scoring contest that really was not decided until the fourth quarter.
Early on it looked as though the Bulldogs' turnover troubles would carry over into their second game. They gave the football away four times in the Sept. 4 opener at Monroe College, and were on track to at least match that negative statistic with two turnovers early Saturday. Luckily for the offense, the GMC defense and special teams stood tall. Freshman cornerback Justin Richardson came streaking around the defensive left end to block an ASA field goal attempt the very first drive of the game to keep the game scoreless.
The Bulldog offense quarterbacked by Suwanee native Peyton Rich put together a long drive in response, but the freshman threw an interception inside the red zone. The Storm got a big return off that turnover, but the play was called back due to an illegal block. The two contenders played to a scoreless opening period filled with many more miscues and flags thrown.
GMC made its first impression on the home scoreboard with a pair of Daniel Gibbs field goals in the second. The Veterans High School (Warner Robins) product hit from 29 and 36 yards to give his team a 6-0 lead heading into the half.
"We just couldn't finish some drives, but I thought we moved the ball pretty well," Manchester said of his team's offense that finished with just under 300 total yards.
Most of that movement came thanks to the offensive line and the tough running of Riley Myers. The 6-foot, 186-pound freshman RB from Lexington, S.C. totaled 122 yards on the ground and had the Bulldogs' only touchdown Saturday. That score came in the fourth quarter following GMC's longest play from scrimmage, a 32-yard pass from Rich to wideout KJ Rose. The quarterback threw the 50-50 ball up to his receiver up the right sideline, and Rose came down with it despite heavy opposition. Rose so far this season has five catches for 129 yards and one touchdown to pace GMC pass catchers. His big play followed by Myers' scoring rush helped salt the game away for the home team.
The Bulldog defense, coordinated now by Taylor Burks, also obviously had a strong performance. Jalynn Tarver, Shi Gaskin and Andrew Lacy all tied for the team-high with five total tackles apiece, and six different GMC players collected sacks on the afternoon. Even better, 13 Bulldogs helped the defense get to 13 tackles for losses against the ASA-Miami offense. Those high tackle for loss and sack numbers actually pushed the Silver Storm into negative yardage when it came to running the football. Linebacker Thomas Douglas filled up the stat sheet with three total tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and one of the team's eight quarterback hits.
GMC this season is carrying a larger roster than ever before, and Manchester believes his team's depth and level of conditioning both played a big role in the Saturday afternoon heat.
"Our kids have basically been here since June 7, and have really only gone home on the weekends," the head coach said. "We've been here a long time, so our guys are definitely in shape."
The Bulldogs will see if they can turn their first win into some momentum as they get ready to host the Georgia Knights, a postgrad prep football program, Saturday at 1 p.m