20170907 - #02 Wilkins #03 Kinnick Run Play 01

Football 9/7/2017 9:19:00 PM

Yellow Jackets Drop 34-24 Decision at UVa-Wise

Box Score

      The WVSU football team won the statistical battle Thursday night at UVa-Wise.
      But in the end four turnovers proved to be just too costly as the Yellow Jackets lost the game 34-24 on the road.
     "That's what it came down to," Head Coach John Pennington said. "Turnovers and we had some costly penalties."
      Even though they were going on short rest having played Saturday while the Cavaliers had a full week to prepare it was the Jackets who looked to have the most energy at game time.
      WVSU started the opening possession off from its 21-yard line. After Wise was called for back-to back penalties and senior quarterback Matt Kinnick hit Quinton Gray for a nine-yard pick-up and freshman Calil Wilkins took a handoff and went 54 yards off the right side for a touchdown just 1:14 into the contest.
       Wilkins would end up with 201 yards on 23 carries to better last week's 191 yard effort.
       The Jackets' 7-0 lead did not hold up for long though.
        After the squads traded punts the Jackets took over at their own 20. On second and nine WVSU looked to try and setup a screen pass to the right butt he Cavalier defense saw it coming and jumped in front of Kinnick's pass and returned it 21 yards to tie the game 7-7.
         Again the teams traded punts and it looked as if the Yellow Jacket drive was going to stall after a penalty forced them into a third down and 22 on the Wise 40 yard line. But in a pair of sudden change events Kinnick hit Zach Pate over the middle and Pate took the ball to the 10 yard marker for a first down but was stripped at the end of the play and the Cavaliers recovered and returned the ball 42 yards to the WVSU 48.
        Wise drove the remaining distance in four plays to take the lead with a minute still remaining in the opening period.
         Neither team was able to get anything going in the third period until the Yellow Jackets put together an 81-yard drive capped off by a 21-yard pass from Kinnick to Dionta Brown to tie teh score with 1:46 to go before halftime.
           But the host Cavaliers answered immediately with a 90-yard scoring drive that included pass plays of 44 and 38 yards to retake the advantage going in the break.
           The momentum swung back to the Yellow Jackets in the second half as they forced Wise to punt after five plays and then drove 90 yards on 13 plays that ate up 7:08 on the clock. Kinnick connected with Gray for an 18-yard score to tie things up once more.
             After a 38-yard kickoff return the Cavaliers again answered with a 53-yard scoring drive but missed teh extra point leaving them with a 27-21 lead.
            The WVSU offense put together another nice drive midway through the fourth period and thought they had tied the game up again when Kinnick hit Torrey Johnson on the left side of teh end zone. But the officials ruled he did not come down in bounds so the Jackets had to settle for a 24 yard Aaron Ball field goal to make the score 27-24 in favor of the host team.
            The Yellow Jacket defense forced Wise to punt on its next possession and WVSU took over on their own 14 with 5:26 to play.
             A sack on second down forced WVSU into a third and long situation and a Cavalier stepped in front of Kinnick's pass on the right sideline to give Wise the ball abck with 4:07 showing.
             Starting from the 17 the Cavaliers ran the clock down to 21 seconds and pushed in the game clincher.
              "I was proud of how hard the guys played," Pennington said. "We just have to play better."
              The Yellow Jackets had more first downs, 27-20, and more total yards of offense, 477-404, than their host.
              Kinnick finished 15-of-33 for 195 yards. He also picked up another 47 yards on the ground.
              Trent Williamson paced the defense with 10 tackles including a sack while Kyle Alexander broke up four passes and picked off one.
              The Yellow Jackets next game is Saturday, September 16 when they host Notre Dame at noon.

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Players Mentioned

#18 Kyle Alexander: DB; 6' 0"; Junior

#17 Zach Pate: WR; 5' 7"; Junior

#2 Calil Wilkins: RB; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#41 Aaron Ball: K/P; 5' 8"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#18 Kyle Alexander
: 6' 0"; Junior
: DB

#17 Zach Pate
: 5' 7"; Junior
: WR

#2 Calil Wilkins
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: RB

#41 Aaron Ball
: 5' 8"; Senior
: K/P