Rocky Mount, N.C. - North Carolina Wesleyan's football team posted a dominating 33-16 win over Ferrum College on Senior Day at Rocky Mount Athletic Stadium. Junior Jacques Alston racked up 205 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns, while freshman Travonne Marshall tallied seven tackles and two picks to pace a Bishop defense that shut out the Panthers for three quarters.
Prior to the game, head coach Jeff Filkovski honored the six senior members of his squad: Greg Edwards, Hakime St. Cyr, Frank Willis, Derrick Gray, Bryron Johnson and Macdonald Payoute. Edwards then wasted no time getting the Bishops on the board, hauling in a 54-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Robbie Lanier on Wesleyan's first possession.
The Bishops put 16 more on the board in the second quarter, beginning with 31-yard field goal by freshman Chris Richardson at the 12:07 mark. Lanier then found sophomore John Young for a 48-yard TD five minutes later, and after forcing a Ferrum punt on the ensuing possession, Alston broke free for an 86-yard run up the right sideline.
The Panthers threatened to break into the scoring column by driving down to the NCWC-20 with under two minutes left in the half. Freshman Bobby Tucker, however, picked off FC quarterback Tim Reynolds at the 1-yardline to send Wesleyan into the break with a 23-0 lead.
NCWC managed 10 more points in the third quarter, as Richardson got things started with a 30-yard field goal midway the period. As the Bishop defense continued to dominate by forcing another punt, Lanier executed a 12-play, 74-yard drive that ate up over five minutes of clock and was capped by a 9-yard Alston run for the TD.
Ferrum managed a pair of TDs in the fourth quarter, but it was too-little-too-late as Wesleyan cruised to the 33-16 win.
Lanier and back-up Dustin Midgett combined to go 19-for-32 through the air for 318 yards, while Alston's 205 yards on the ground marks just the fourth 200+ yard game in program history and is the third highest total all-time. Elsewhere on offense, Edwards finished with seven catches for 119 yards and Young five catches for 100 yards.
Defensively, the Bishops tallied eight tackles-for-loss and a trio of interceptions on the day (Marshall 2, Tucker 1).
The Bishops (2-7, 2-4 USA South) will enjoy their bye week before wrapping up their 2013 season at Methodist University on November 16th in Fayetteville.