Special teams dominated the game against Kentucky Wesleyan College Saturday as two touchdown kickoff returns and one touchdown punt return helped build their lead.
The first play of the game was successful not only for the Racers but also for one very lucky Racer fan, Amy Pervine, who won $10,000 from Parker Ford for freshman DeQavius Walker’s 84-yard kickoff return.
The Racers carried this momentum into their next touchdown drive as junior receiver Janawski Davis caught a 37-yard pass from redshirt sophomore quarterback K.D. Humphries.
The Panthers cut the score down by three points as sophomore kicker Cole Woodburn kicked a 30-yard field goal.
Junior runningback Pokey Harris added a 26-yard rushing touchdown to the Racers lead before Davis returned a Panthers’ punt 64 yards for his second touchdown of the game. Junior kicker Carson Greifenkamp missed the extra point and the lead remained 27-3.
Kentucky Wesleyan got their first touchdown of the game with just 30 seconds left in the first quarter. Junior quarterback Dalton Oliver connected with junior wide receiver Xavier Mitchell to make the score 27-10 as the quarter ended.
Sophomore runningback Marcus Holliday started the second quarter scoring with a 5-yard rushing touchdown less than two minutes in. Kentucky Wesleyan quickly returned the favor as freshman runningback David White carried the ball just one yard to the endzone to cut the lead to 34-16.
Harris got his second touchdown and also the Racers’ second kickoff return touchdown of the game as he carried the ball 75 yards downfield to increase the score to 41-16.
The Panthers weren’t giving up with a fight, however, as White tacked another short rushing touchdown onto his stats.
With just 43 seconds left in the half, White scored once again to cut the lead to 41-29 going into halftime.
The Racers were relentless in the second half as they tallied 7 unanswered scoring plays, including two rushing touchdowns by Humphries, both a 40-yard pass touchdown and a rushing touchdown from Holliday and a 40-yard field goal from Greifenkamp in the third.
Senior quarterback C.J. Bennett entered the game for Humphries in the fourth quarter and got a touchdown of his own less than two minutes in. Freshman runningback Nick Taylor also recorded a 37-yard rushing touchdown to increase the score to 86-29. The clock continued to run as the Racers took a knee and ended the game at that score.