The Urbana University football team shut Concord out for three quarters in Saturday’s 24-7 win as both teams battled through soggy weather at UU Stadium.
With a third straight win, Tyler Haines clinched his first winning season as a head coach and the Blue Knights improved to 6-2 on the year. Concord fell to 0-8 with its 10th consecutive loss.
UU’s defensive front dominated, starting with Onajai Davenport’s sack on the first play from scrimmage, as the Blue Knights got to the quarterback eight times. That’s tied for the fifth most in school history and also the second most in the MEC this season. The Blue Knights held the Mountain Lions to just 208 yards of total offense, including 76 on the ground, and limited the visitors to just 3 of 15 on third down.
Davenport finished with a career-high three sacks and four tackles for loss while Brandon Tiassum rolled up a pair of sacks. Redshirt freshman Philip Hawkins also recorded his first career sack. Chris Richardson led with 11 total tackles while LA Kelly added seven.
UU led 10-0 at halftime after a 27-yard field goal by Erick Ware and a two-yard TD plunge from W.R. Sanders Jr.
The Blue Knights added a 16-yard TD pass in the third quarter as Eddie Stockett found Jesse Bray over the middle. Stockett finished 14 of 24 for 169 yards with his 14th passing score. Bray led with five catches for 58 yards while grabbing his fourth TD.
UU hoped for its first home shutout since 2011, but both teams traded scores in the final period. Sanders scored for the second time following a Concord fumble at its own one-yard line with two minutes remaining.
The Blue Knights totaled 311 yards on offense with 142 on the ground, and went 5 of 12 on third downs. Freshman punter Anthony Padovano had his best game of the year with three punts landing inside the 20 and twice at the CU 1 to help the Blue Knights control field position.
Sanders led the ground game with 73 yards on 12 carries, posting his third multi-touchdown game and running his total to 10 on the year. The junior from Gary, Ind., is two touchdowns shy of breaking the school’s single-season rushing touchdowns record, currently held by DJ Mendenhall (‘13) who had 11 rushing scores in 2011.
Running back Isaiah Young added 60 yards on a team-high 14 carries and wideout Justin Dennis caught four passes for 32 yards.
Concord freshman quarterback Matt Shearer got the start and finished 7 of 12 for 106 yards. Running back Josh Maxwell led with 52 rushing yards on seven carries, including a two-yard TD dash. The scoring drive, which came after a UU fumble, was extended by two UU penalties including a pass interference on fourth-and-goal.
UU travels on a short week to West Liberty University for Thursday’s 7 p.m. game at West Family Stadium.
