Mizzer's 206 yards keys VMI football past Davidson, 31-9

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Mizzer's 206 yards keys VMI football past Davidson, 31-9

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- VMI sophomore slotback Sean Mizzer (Prince Frederick, Md./ Calvert) ran for a career-high 206 yards to lead the Keydet football team (1-1) to a 31-9 win over Davidson (0-2) at Stephen B. Smith Field on Saturday afternoon. The Keydets used a 21-point third quarter to overcome a 9-0 halftime deficit and rally for the victory.

Mizzer became the first VMI player to rush for over 200 yards since Thomas Haskins ran for 241 at Appalachian State on Nov. 23, 1996. The Keydets ran for a total of 367 yards, the first time a VMI team topped the 300-yard rushing mark since rolling up 338 yards last year against Liberty.

On VMI's initial drive, all running plays, the Keydets drove 41 yards on 11 plays, before senior slotback T.J. Snelling (Chester,Va./ L.C. Bird) fumbled a pitch from redshirt freshman quarterback Jonathan Wilson (Lexington, Va./ Rockbridge County), giving the Wildcats the ball for the second time of the game.

After a Davidson punt, a Keydet drive stalled in VMI territory and freshman punter Adam Peters (Roanoke, Va./ Patrick Henry) got off a punt of -9 yards (fielding an faulty snap) that went out of bounds at the VMI 11-yard line. Three plays later, Davidson senior kicker Chris Costello kicked a 31-yard field game to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead with 42 seconds left in the first quarter.

Snelling got VMI's next drive off to a fast start, returning the kickoff the Davidson 44-yard line. Senior kicker Matt Sharpe (Chesterfield, Va./ L.C. Bird) narrowly missed a 52-yard field goal wide left, 47 seconds into the second quarter.

Davidson then took the ball 55 yards in 11 plays and capped off the drive with a 27-yard field goal by Costello, raising the Wildcat lead to 6-0 with 9:17 remaining in the second quarter.

VMI then drove 73 yards on its next possession, but Snelling fumbled the ball at the Davidson seven-yard line. Wildcat safety Kebin Saunders returned the ball to their the Cat 10.

After forcing Davidson punt, Wilson threw a pass intercepted by sophomore Davidson linebacker Mark Wilkerson, who returned the ball to the VMI 33-yard line with 57 seconds remaining in the first half. Costello then connected on his third field goal of the game, kicking a 22-yarder with six ticks left in the half to give the Wildcats a 9-0 lead.

VMI responded in the second half by scoring on its first four possessions to take control of the game.

The Keydets got on the board with 8:31 left in the third quarter as Mizzer ran 24 yards to the endzone for his first touchdown of the season. Sharpe's extra point cut the Davidson lead to 9-7. The TD was set up by a 29-yard pass from Wilson to Snelling on the previous play.

After forcing Davidson to punt from its own end zone, the Keydets started their next drive from the Davidson 38-yard line. The Keydets capped off a seven-play drive and took their first lead of the game (14-9) when Wilson threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Zohn Burden (Virginia Beach, Va./ Salem) on a third down play. The touchdown pass was Wilson's first of his young career.

The Keydets extended the lead to 21-9 with 2:17 remaining in the third quarter on a 23-yard TD run run by Snelling (who finished with 109 yards on the day). The score was set up by a 35-yard run by sophomore slotback Gary Price (Woodbridge, Va./ Potomac) on the previous play, a career-long to start the two-play drive.

The 21 points scored in the third quarter were the most for VMI in a quarter since the Keydets scored 21 in the second quarter vs. Samford on Nov. 17, 2001.

Sharpe gave the Keydets a 15-point lead (24-9) by kicking a 27-yard field goal with 12:52 left in the fourth quarter. The FG was set up by a Mizzer 45-yard run to the Davidson 35-yard line earlier in the drive.

VMI thwarted a Davidson scoring opportunity with 7:56 left in the third quarter when freshman defensive end Mike Watson (Burke, Va./ West Springfield) intercepted a Tom Cook pass at the Keydet six-yard line.

After Davidson turned the ball over on downs in its next possession, VMI junior quarterback Josh Lyles (Hampton, Va./ Bethel), replacing Wilson latein the game, scampered 10 yards for a touchdown. A Sharpe extra-point capped the scoring at 31-9.

The 31 points scored in the second half were the most scored by a VMI team in a half since Oct. 21, 2000, when the Keydets scored 31 vs. Charleston Southern in the first half.

VMI junior strong safety Maury Pauling (Hampton,Va./ Phoebus) intercepted his second pass of the season at Davidson's 23-yard line to preserve the Keydet victory with 26 seconds left in the contest.

Keydet senior linebacker Derik Screen (Lynchburg, Va./ Heritage) led the team in tackles with 10 (nine solos with two for loss). VMI registered five sackson the day and 10 for loss.

The 563 yards total offense piled up by VMI was the most under a Cal McCombs coached team, surpassing the 558 yards posted against Davidson in 2002. It was the most rushing yards in a game by a VMI since 398 were logged against Chattanooga in a 35-29 OT win against Chattanooga on Oct. 16, 1993.

VMI will play host to William & Mary next Saturday at Alumni Memorial Field. Kick-off for the Keydets' home-opener will be at 1 p.m. The game will be part of Keydet Club Weekend.

VMI HEAD COACH CAL McCOMBS - "We weren't as sharp as we needed to be for the rest of the season, but I think you have to give Davidson alot of credit because they lined up in that 50 defense and they gave us a lot of different looks."

"When you turn the ball over three times in the first half, you have a chance to be behind at halftime. To come back, you feel if you can get things going on those first set of downs, things will turn. We were able to key off our defense which didn't allow a touchdown the whole game, and we got some long runs from Mizzer and Snelling."
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