The Buccaneer offense may have had trouble scoring last weekend against Pittsburgh, but had no trouble against Gardner-Webb, particularly in the first half.
The Bucs marched down the field on the opening drive going 77-yards on 11 plays, culminating with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Matt Wilhjelm to Cecil Moore as the Bucs defeated the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs 30-17 on Saturday night at Memorial Center.
“I had hoped we could get through this and get a win,” said head coach Paul Hamilton. “Our offense played really sharp in the first half. I’m proud of the way he (Wilhjelm) came out and played aggressively early on.”
Wilhjelm, playing in front of his home crowd for the first time as starting quarterback, completed all five of his pass attempts for 72-yards in the opening drive. The former Science Hill quarterback also completed his first 11 passes without a miss.
“We wanted to take it right at them and score quickly,” said Wilhjelm, who completed 16 of 25 passes on the night for 228-yards. “In the first half offensively the only thing that stopped us was ourselves . that’s a good football team we played tonight.”
Wilhjelm got a lot of help from his receivers; especially Moore who had eight catches on the night for 117-yards.
“We are on the same page,” said Moore of his quarterback and himself. “Matt knows what I like and what I can do.”
Hamilton was also pleased with the continuity displayed between his quarterback and starting wide receiver.
“Matt and Cecil showed consistency together,” he said. “We got guys open in the passing game tonight.”
The Bulldogs, however, were not going to go quietly as they evened the game up with 1:38 to go in the first quarter when quarterback Jeremy Martin found William Andrews in the endzone with a three-yard pass.
The Bucs, however, answered immediately at the start of the second quarter off fullback Scott Carter’s 15-yard touchdown run. After Con Chellis’ kick the Bucs led 14-7.
Carter, who had 14 carries for 68-yards, did not wait long before he struck again.
With 7:43 remaining in the half, the ETSU fullback marched into the endzone on an 11-yard run, giving the Bucs a 21-7 lead after the extra point.
“Scott (Carter) is one of those guys you don’t hear a lot about,” Hamilton said. “But he wins football games and he played very physical inside tonight.”
Gardner-Webb closed to within a touchdown with 29 seconds remaining in the half on an eight-yard run by running back Justin Richardson, making the score 21-14.
Richardson had 24 carries for 144-yards for the Bulldogs.
At the start of the third quarter, Gardner-Webb made the score even closer after kicker Andrew Harmon’s 32-yard field goal, cutting the Bucs lead to 21-17.
The Buccaneer defense then began to take over the football game.
Cornerback Tony Tiller intercepted Martin’s pass, giving the Bucs good field position and setting up Chellis’ first of three field goals, a 34-yarder with 4:34 to go in the third quarter.
“He (Chellis) was down a lot last week,” Hamilton said. “I commend him for his kicks, he made the difference in the football game.”
Chellis then connected on a 27-yard field goal his second of the night with six seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The Bucs’ defense held Gardner-Webb the rest of the way.
The Bulldogs came into the game with on a six-game winning streak, having scored 45 points with 471 total yards in their season opener, but the Buccaneer defense held them to 352 yards and 17 points.
The Bucs defense also held Martin to just 13 completions off 31 attempts and forced two interceptions.
“In the second half our defense won the football game,” Hamilton said. “The defense made plays and stayed out on the field.
“I’m proud of our defensive players, they played strong and upbeat through the fourth quarter.”
The Bucs increased their lead on a 30-yard field goal by Chellis with 4:14 remaining in the game, giving the Bucs a 30-17 lead, which would be the game’s final score.
Wilhjelm was also pleased with Chellis’ performance and the defensive effort by the Bucs.
“Our defense and Con Chellis really gave us a chance to win,” he said. “I have to be more consistent, I couldn’t hit anything in the second half.”
Linebacker Marco Bryant led the Bucs’ defense with 14 tackles (five unassisted), as Tiller came up with two interceptions and a total of seven tackles.
The Bucs open their SoCon schedule next week at VMI.

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