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♦ A > A 4k * • M, ■ SPORTS Turnovers continue to torment Quakers in ioss to Averett September 23, 2011 By Zach Morgan Sports Editor You can tell a lot about a football team by the way it handles adversity. Some crumble while others stand and look adversity in the face and claw right back at it, refusing to be beaten. Guilford College showed the latter moxie Saturday, Sept. 17 in Armfield Stadium as they opened their home schedule with a bang. After jumping out of the gate with a defensive gem in the first game of the year against Greensboro College, Guilford has dropped their last two games. They have played their hearts out, but they have one factor of their game that continues to rear its ugly head: turnovers. As the Quakers took on the Averett Cougars, in an out-of-conference battle, they entered the game 1-1 after the previous week's loss to Methodist University. Still riding high behind the confidence that Head Football Coach Chris Rusiewicz and his staff has instilled in the team, they took the field in front of a frenzied home crowd. With skies overcast and rain drizzling throughout the evening, the game figured to be an interesting one. And from the beginning of the game it did not disappoint. After one quarter, the Cougars, who had only scored 13 points total in the season, exploded and jumped on top of the Quakers 21-0. But still playing with pride, the Quaker offense was able to muster a second-quarter touchdown when quarterback Grady Gamble found wide receiver Ben King for a 6-yard score. The lead was cut to 28-7. Guilford threatened once more in the first half as they were knocking on the Cougars' door, but was denied when Gamble was picked off in the end zone. The teams headed to halftime. "We can't turn the ball over," said Rusiewicz. After the returning alumni were announced and the rain subsided, Guilford took the field for the second half. You could tell they were a new team, although the same players came out. At the 4:00 mark, the Quaker offense took the field and two plays and 29 seconds later, freshman Josh Williams was in the end zone with a 24- yard touchdown jaunt up the right sideline. "1 told the guys, we had five starters go down during practice so this week we are going to face adversity," said Rusiewicz. "Last week we faced adversity and we couldn't get through it. This week we faced it and fought all the way to the end." As the teams traded possessions back and forth during the second half, it became apparent that the Guilford squad was not going to roll over and take the loss. "The loss is disappointing, but at the (above) Senior Kyle Ennis (L), junior Branson O'Hara, and first-year Tyler Eller react from the bench to early plays at the start of the match-up against Averett University. (below)The Quakers prepare for a first down play during the third game of their season on Saturday, September 17th. same time an achievement," said first- year defensive back Dashawn Johnson. "We saw a lot of improvement out there tonight. We are a team and we knew, just because we were down, the game wasn't over. Our coaches told to just keep fighting and we did." It's not often that a loss has such a positive impact on a team but, in this case, I understand. When the Quakers found themselves down in the first half they could have packed it in and allowed Averett to run them off the field. But they didn't. "Hey man. I'm excited," said Rusiewicz. "To only lose by 14 points with all those turnovers I'm impressed. ... I'm excited. We can get better and build on it. I told my team that I don't care if we are 0-2. We can go 6-0 in the conference from here and be champs. If these kids keep improving the way they are, we can go up to and beat Washington and Lee in two weeks." That heart of a lion beats in every one of the players on this team. They play from the beginning of the game the same way that they play at the end: hard and with confidence. "I was still proud of my teammates even when we were down 21-0," said sophomore return-specialist Quan Parker. "I felt like we could come back and we almost did. Those are my brothers and we are always going to be together taking something positive out of the game. We never give up until that clock hits triple zeros in the 4th quarter. We don't give up." In a game that saw Guilford playing many young players and players that had not seen action this year, they almost made the miracle comeback. There is a diamond- in-the-roughness to this team and soon enough it will begin to shine and the wins will begin to come. Coach Rusiewicz and his staff will certainly see to that. "The talks at the half pepped us up," said sophomore QB Sam Griffin. "We had a different game plan in the 2nd half, and it worked. We all believe in this coaching staff wholeheartedly." The Quakers play their next game, and first conference game, at Washington and Lee, Oct. 1 at 1:30 p.m. Whats Going On in Guilford S last WEEK'S games AND MATCHES FOOTBALL: SEPT 17 GUILFORD 21 AVERETT 35 MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY: MEN-5TH OF 9 IN ADIDAS CROSS COUNTRY TOURNAMENT WOMEN-9TH OF 10 IN ADIDAS CROSS COUNTRY TOURNAMENT MEN’S SOCCER: SEPT 17 GUILFORD I COVENANT 2 SEPT 18 GUILFORD 3 EMORY 0 WOMEN’S SOCCER: SEPT 17 GUILFORD 0 WASHINGTON & LEE 0 SEPT 18 GUILFORD I EMORY & HENRY I VOLLEYBALL: SEPT 17 GUILFORD 2 VIRGINIA WESLEYAN 3 SEPT 18 GUILFORD 0 RANDOLPH MACON 3 UPCOMING GAMES AND MATCHB MEN'S SOCCER: SEPT 24 GUILFORD @ LYNCHBURG SEPT 28 GUILFORD V GREENSBORO WOMEN'S SOCCER: SEPT 24 GUILFORD V SWEET BRIAR SEPT 25 GUILFORD V AVERETT VOLLEYBALL: SEPT 23 GUILFORD @ N.C.WESLEYAN
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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