Spring football

The Charlotte 49ers White team scored a 50-29 victory over Green in the annual Spring Game, Saturday at Jerry Richardson Stadium.  The game pitted the offense (White) against the defense (Green) and used a modified scoring system that awarded points for big plays in addition to scoring plays.

“Overall, it was pretty good — guys flew around and for the most part were taking care of each other,” head coach Brad Lambert said.  “This spring —  really pleased with the way our guys have progressed.  Tonight was a lot of fun.  Overall, really pleased with the guys and how hard they played.”

RS-junior quarterback Hasaan Klugh connected on 12-of-14 passes for 93 yards to lead the White’s attack. RS-senior wideout Trent Bostick had five catches for 65 yards in his return after red-shirting the 2016 season.

“It’s truly a blessing just being out there and getting in a groove with the teammates,” said Bostick. “I missed it.  Being back on the field, I just appreciate it a lot more.  Being out there with those guys and lining up beside them and I see the intensity in their eyes just makes me push forward and go hard.”

The White squad scored touchdowns in each of the first three quarters and added two field goals in the fourth quarter to pull away from Green.  The defense received points for tackles for loss, sacks, three and outs, turnovers and red-zone stops.  The defense piled up  11 tackles for loss, led by Alex Highsmith and Alex Duncan, who has two apiece.  Anthony Butler led the defense with seven tackles and one TFL followed by Highsmith (6) and Duncan (5).

Akease Rankin scored the White’s first TD on a three-yard run in the first quarter.  Robert Washington added a six-yard TD carry in the second and Brooks Barden hit TE Ben Jacques for a seven-yard TD pass in the third quarter.  Barden finished the game 5-of-9 in pass attempts for 61 yards and that TD.  RS-freshman QB Joe Thompson was 5-of-7 for 35 yards in his debut.

Jackson Vansickle kicked field goals of 26 and 33 yards and Kyle Corbett added a 29-yard field goal.

“We had to look at our young defense linemen  and pushed on them and our offensive line was really limited in numbers.  We got through 15 practices with 10 guys (on offensive line) and not one guy missed a practice.  Those guys got a ton of reps.  Really proud of that group upfront.  Those two  positions are positions that we need to continue to build and get better.  Proud of those two groups — really came along and did a nice job, ” Lambert added.  “I like the way we’re been working.  We pushed on that. Our guys have responded from January all the way through.  I’ve pushed on them hard this spring and they’ve responded to that.”

The White team put up 274 yards of total offense (189 passing; 85 rushing) and scored on 5-of-7 red zone chances.  The Green team held the offense to 3-of-13 on third down and was credited with six red-zones stops by either forcing a field goal attempt or stopping a possession.

Charlotte will open the 2017 season, Sept. 1 at Eastern Michigan.  The 49ers 2017 home opener will be Sept. 16 vs. North Carolina A&T.

2017 season ticket packages are available at charlotte49ers.com or by calling 704-687-4949.

DAVIDSON, N.C. – Davidson football released the 2017 schedule announced by head coach Paul Nichols. The slate features six games at Richardson Stadium including 3-of-4 in the opening month.

Davidson begins the season at home against Brevard on Sept. 2 before hitting the road to Western Carolina (Sept. 9). The final non-conference tilt is back at Stephen B. Smith Field against Guilford (Sept. 16). The Wildcats have not played in-state foe WCU since 1985 and will clash with Brevard for the first time in program history.

The Wildcats begin Pioneer Football League play after the open week at home against Marist (9/30).

October sees Davidson on the road in 3-of-4 games starting with consecutive trips to the Sunshine State, at Jacksonville (Oct. 7) and at Stetson (Oct. 14). Davidson’s lone home game of the month features Dayton (Oct. 21) before the squad heads back out to Drake (Oct. 28) to end the month.

The final stretch of the season features a pair of home games beginning with Campbell (Nov. 4) and ends with a Senior Day tilt against San Diego (Nov. 11). The ‘Cats conclude the 2017 campaign with a trip to Morehead State (Nov. 18).

Ticket information and game times will follow in the coming weeks, but the schedule is tentative and subject to change.  More information is available at www.davidsonwildcats.com

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