BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –The Samford football team dropped a 34-3 decision to the West Georgia Wolves in the season opener for both teams Thursday evening at Pete Hanna Stadium.
With the loss, Samford is now 0-1 on the young season. West Georgia improved to 1-0 with the win.
"It was a pretty poor showing by the Samford Bulldogs," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "I didn't have the team ready to play. We had too many miscues in the special teams. Offensively, this was about as poorly as I've coached in a long time. Defensively, I thought we played really well. We've got a lot of work to do. I would like to say, what a great crowd we had. Our students were awesome."
For Samford offensively, starting quarterback
Quincy Crittendon completed 22-of-29 passes for 154 yards. Backup quarterback
Brady Stober completed 10-of-15 passes for 93 yards.
Preston Bird led all Samford receivers with 11 catches for 95 yards.
Defensively for Samford,
Jaden Mosley led the way with eight tackles, including four solo tackles.
Malik Thornton and
Gumbo Gaskins had an interception each for the Bulldogs.
For West Georgia, Davin Wydner completed 18-of-34 passes for 209 yards. Wydner also had a rushing touchdown. Latrelle Murrell rushed 11 times for 129 yards. T.J. Lister rushed for one touchdown for the Wolves as well. Jay Carter led the West Georgia defense with 11 tackles, including five tackles for loss. Chancellor Bryant and Geoffrey Speight had a fumble recovery each, with Speight returning his 50 yards for a touchdown.
Neither team could score on their first possession. A muffed punt by Samford, however gave West Georgia the ball at the Samford nine-yard line. The Samford defense, however, held and the Wolves had to settle for a 23-yard Tommy Holden field goal for a 3-0 West Georgia lead with 8:56 to go in the first quarter.
With 3:04 left in the opening period, West Georgia's Wydner scored on a one-yard run to push the Wolves' lead to 10-0.
On the opening kickoff of the second half, West Georgia's DeAndre Buchannon returned the kick 92 yards for a touchdown to make the score 17-0 with 14:47 left in the third period. West Georgia's Lester scored on a three-yard run with 13:43 left in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 24-0.
Holden kicked a 49-yard field goal to make the score 27-0 with 7:06 to go in the game. Samford's
Ty Ippolito kicked a 36-yard field goal to cut the lead to 27-3 with 4:15 left in the contest. With 1:46 to go, Speight recovered a fumble and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown to make the final score 34-3.
Next week, Samford will open Southern Conference play by playing host to The Citadel on Saturday, Sept. 6. The game is set for a 2:30 p.m. start from Pete Hanna Stadium.
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