Paul Dukes Action
Jesse Hutcheson

Football

CNU Football Sets School Record for Points...Captains Sail Past Panthers at Ferrum, 58-12

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FERRUM, Va.- The CNU football team ended the regular season with a flourish Saturday afternoon, scoring a school record 58 points in a 58-12 victory at Ferrum. For the Captains, it was their fourth straight win, and completes the regular season with a record of 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the USA South.

CNU now awaits word on Sunday as to whether they will receive an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

"We got the offense going early this week and didn't let up," Head Coach Matt Kelchner said. "We really dominated on both sides of the ball. Our guys deserve a lot of credit, that was a great way to finish the regular season."

The Captains jumped out to an early lead by going 80 yards on nine plays on their first drive of the day. Sophomore Storm Parker scored from one yard out to open the scoring, and CNU never looked back.

CNU led at the half, 24-12, and proceeded to out-score the Panthers in the second half, 34-0.

Ferrum ends the season with four straight losses and a final record of 2-8 and 2-5 in the USA South.

Junior quarterback Marcus Morrast led the CNU attack, throwing for three touchdowns to junior wide receiver Rudy Rudolph. Morrast also rushed for a four-yard score late in the third quarter. Morrast finished the game 9 of 13 passing for 186 yards and also rushed 17 times for 118 yards.

Rudolph caught four passes, three for scores, for 148 yards. He has now scored 23 career touchdowns, fourth on the CNU all-time list.

Sophomore running back Paul Dukes carried the ball 17 times for 109 yards. Dukes scored on a one-yard run early in the third quarter. Dukes, the USA South's Offensive Rookie of the Year last season, finished his sophomore season with 981 yards, and went over the 100-yard mark for the fourth time this seaosn.

Christopher Newport's defense was again superb, forcing two Ferrum fumbles and intercepting two passes from Panthers quarterback Tim Reynolds. Sophomore Cameron Barlow made nine tackles, forced both fumbles, recovered one of the fumbles, and intercepted both passes to lead the defense. Barlow, who ended the season with five interceptions, returned one of his picks in the fourth quarter Saturday 65 yards for a CNU touchdown.

"Our defense was there for us all year, and they were fantastic today," Kelchner said. "They just made plays all day long and kept up the intensity. You can see why we're in the top 10 nationally in points allowed."

CNU also scored Saturday on a 42-yard field goal from Mason Studer, his 11th of the year on 14 tries.

The final touchdown of the day came on a fourth quarter scoring pass from senior Lyndon Garner to sophomoe Justin Cormier.

The victory over Ferrum was the 10th straight for CNU in the series. The Captains now lead the all-time series, 12-1.

The 58 points scored surpassed the previous school high of 55 set against Ferrum in a 55-7 win at POMOCO Stadium in 2006. It was the first time the Captains have gone over the 50-point mark since 2011.



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