Emory & Henry might have had a dismal running game with only 26 rushing yards on Randolph-Macon’s Day Field. The Wasps might have had only three-quarter the total offensive yards that the Yellow Jackets amassed. They may have held the ball less time and punted the ball more often.

  Yet Emory & Henry left Ashland with a 17-10 victory over the host Yellow Jackets in both teams’ Old Dominion Athletic Conference opener on Saturday.
  The Wasps (1-0 ODAC, 4-1) were led by last week’s ODAC Offensive Player of the Week, quarterback Kyle Boden. The sophomore completed 33-of-42 passes for 268 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.

  “It’s a real big win, because since I’ve been here, we’ve never beaten Randolph-Macon on their home field,” said Emory & Henry coach Dan Montgomery. “It tells all of our kids that what we’re working on and what we’re doing is working.”

  Emory & Henry finished with 294 yards total offense to 397 for Randolph Macon (0-1, 4-1). They held the ball for only 26 minutes, compared to nearly 34 minutes possession time for the Yellow Jackets.

  But they were solid on third downs, with 8-of-14 third-down conversions compared to only 3-of-13 for Randolph-Macon. They earned three scores from three trips inside the red zone, compared to only two scored in five trips by the Yellow Jackets. And they picked off Randolph-Macon freshman quarterback Zac Naccarato four times.

  Emory & Henry took a 10-0 lead in the first half while the Yellow Jackets were 0-for-6 on third-down conversions. R-MC’s troubles started at the beginning of each set of downs. The Yellow Jackets gained more than two yards on only five of 13 first down plays in the first half.

  “I thought we had a tough time running the ball at times,” said Randolph-Macon head coach Pedro Arruza. “We were just too inconsistent. … It doesn’t come down to just one guy. It seemed like we sort of took turns. Whether it was a guard, or a quarterback, or a receiver dropping the ball, or whatever the case might have been, it just wasn’t a good day.”

  The Yellow Jacket defense likewise struggled to contain Emory & Henry’s arsenal of receivers. Boden had no fewer than nine targets to call upon during the game. He was deadly on the Wasps’ bubble-screen passes.

  “That’s a built-in play that sets up our whole offense,” Montgomery said. “That’s been the thing that’s been most productive.”

  Naccarato, on the other hand, got off to a slow start. He threw two interceptions in the first quarter – the second one, at the end of R-MC’s first sustained drive, was tipped by a Yellow Jacket receiver into the hands of Emory & Henry’s J.T. Jacobs.

  On their next drive – after the Wasps had taken a 3-0 lead on a 35-yard field goal by Matt Turchin – took the Yellow Jackets into the red zone for the first time. They drove from their 23-yard line to the Emory & Henry 4. On a third-and-goal, a Naccarato pass was again deflected, this time into the hands of Devan Sproles for his second interception of the day.

  Randolph-Macon’s offense heated up in the second half. The Yellow Jackets twice entered the red zone in the third quarter. The first time, the drive ended in a 14-yard field goal attempt by Josh Storm that went wide. The second time, however, Storm nailed a 31-yard field goal for Randolph-Macon’s first score to make it 10-3.

  After another Emory & Henry touchdown, the Yellow Jackets drove 80 yards to score on an 8-yard run by Naccarato with 7:52 left to make it 17-10. The defense quickly put a halt to the Wasps’ next drive, forcing them to punt.

  Randolph-Macon had 5:32 left to drive 85 yards and possibly tie the game. The Yellow Jackets entered the red zone for the last time with a first-and-10 at the Wasp 10. They got no closer than third down at the 15-yard line before Nacarrato’s final pass was intercepted by Ross Ellis at the 4.

  Take away the four interceptions and Naccarato had a good day throwing the ball. Only four of his passes went uncaught as he finished the day 18-of-26 for 223 yards.

  “We had our chances. We just couldn’t get it done,” Arruza said. “I always tell the guys we’ve got 24 hours to get it together, figure things out and regroup. We’ve got to come back with a positive attitude. We’ve got to play better.”

  Randolph-Macon has little time to rebound from their first loss of the season as they travel to Catholic for a rare night game, this Friday at 7 p.m.
 
Emory & Henry…... 0 10 0 7 — 17
Randolph-Macon… 0   0 3 7 — 10

EHC – Turchin FG 35
EHC – Ross 5 pass from Boden (Turchin kick)
RMC – Storm FG 31
EHC – Williams 11 pass from Boden (Turchin kick)
RMC – ZNaccarato 8 run (Storm kick)

RUSHING: Emory & Henry – Boden 11 carries 22 yards, Pugh 4-4, Jordan 1-3, Young 3-(minus 1), team 2-(minus 2). Randolph-Macon – Scruggs 26-98, Sanders 10-55, ZNaccarato 4-12, Cook 3-10, Team 1-(minus 1).

PASSING: Emory & Henry – Boden 33 completions 42 attempts 268 yards, 1 interceptions. Randolph-Macon – ZNaccarato 18-26-223-4.

RECEIVING: Emory & Henry – Jennings 11 reception 50 yards, Pugh 5-66, Williams 5-43, Edmonds 3-43, Young 3-20, Ware 2-14, Ross 2-12, Wicks 1-18, Jordan 1-2. Randolph-Macon – Cook 6-35, Hendren 4-68, Scruggs 3-24, Sellers 2-30, Egerton 1-46, Williamson 1-15, Sanders 1-5.

Records: Emory & Henry (1-0 ODAC, 4-1), Randolph-Macon (0-1, 4-1).

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