CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Citadel retained the Silver Shako for another year in the Military Classic of the South as it defeated VMI, 41-14, Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 11,184 spectators at Johnson Hagood Stadium.

In the first meeting between the two state-supported military colleges since 2007, the Bulldogs blocked three punts which led to 21 points and rushed for 358 yards to even its overall season mark to 4-4. Four different Bulldog backs rushed for at least 50 yards led by redshirt senior running back Rickey Anderson with 81 yards. Sophomore running back Darien Robinson and sophomore quarterback Ben Dupree each scored two rushing touchdowns.

VMI redshirt senior running back Chaz Jones rushed for a season-high 112 yards on 16 carries and logged his eighth rushing touchdown of the season to highlight the VMI offense, but the Keydets could muster just nine completions for 68 yards through the air on the afternoon.

VMI won the toss and elected to defer and take a strong first half wind and forced a fumble on Citadel's opening drive when redshirt freshman Logan Staib pounced on Dupree's fumble at the VMI 34. Citadel forced VMI to punt after the Keydets were unable to register a first down, but senior Cameron Murray's punt was blocked by Bulldogs Carson Smith and redshirt junior Chris Billingslea scooped up the ball and raced 19 yards to the end zone for the game's first score. Ryan Sellers tacked on the extra point to put the hosts up, 7-0.

The Keydets went 3-and-out on their second drive and punted to the Citadel 14. The Bulldogs covered 86 yards in eight plays chewing up 3:51 off the clock as Dupree capped the scoring drive with a 23-yard option keeper run around the right side. Slotback Van Dyke Jones ripped off a 14-yard rush on the drive's first play and a VMI face mask penalty tacked on following a 13-yard run by Anderson sparked the possession. The Bulldogs took a 14-0 lead at the 4:13 mark of the first quarter.

VMI answered by taking advantage of good field position when return man Tracy Hairston took the ensuing kick back 45 yards to the Citadel 46. Back-to-back penalties by The Citadel allowed the Keydets to advance even further to the Bulldog 31 before Jones rushed six consecutives reaching the end zone on a three-yard thrust at the :51 mark of the opening quarter. Junior kicker Jeff Sexton booted the extra point to half the Keydet deficit 14-7.

VMI's defense stiffened in the second quarter and limited the Bulldogs to just 13 rushing yards on 13 attempts including five tackles for loss after The Citadel had generated 129 yards on the ground in the first quarter.

Both teams punted twice on their first two possessions of the second quarter, but a second blocked punt by The Citadel as VMI attempted a boot from its own 33 led to a Robinson one-yard touchdown run 1:36 before halftime. VMI escaped further damage after an Eric Kordenbrock interception on the ensuing possession at the VMI 34 was negated one play later by a Michael Johnson pick off of a Duprre pass at the VMI 5.

The Citadel led 21-7 at half and broke the game open by scoring on its first four possessions after intermission.

The Bulldogs hallted VMI at the Citadel 30 on its opening drive of the third quarter when the Keydets attempted to convert a fourth-and eight pass to Tracy Hairston against a stiff wind. The Bulldogs took over and ripped off runs of 30 and 26 yards to the VMI 14 before VMI stiffened with consecutive tackles for loss by outside linebacker Logan Staib with help from inside backer Josh Sneed. The Citadel settled for a 24-yard field goal by Sellers and the Bulldogs led 24-7 with 9:42 left in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs registered their third blocked punt of the day on VMI's next drive when redshirt senior John Synovic blocked a Murray punt that was recovered at the VMI 34. The Citadel wasted little time hitting the end zone three plays later on a 13-yard touchdown rush by Robinson at the 7:25 mark of the third quarter boosting the Bulldog lead to 31-7 following Sellers extra point conversion.

The Bulldogs added a an eight-play 63 yard scoring drive 39 seconds before the end of the quarter Dupree scored his second TD of the day on a nine yard end around run. Thomas Warren added a 37-yard field goal on the next possesion to push the margin to 41-7 as the game headed into the final period.

The Keydets assembled their longest scoring drive of the fourth quarter when freshman back Jabari Turner tallied his first career collegiate TD at the 2:39 mark with a two-yard rush capping a 12-play, 65 yard drive.

VMI returns to Big South Conference play next Saturday when it travels to Lynchburg to face Liberty at Williams Stadium in a 3:30 p.m. kickoff.                  

VMI Head Coach Sparky Woods -  

"Congratulations to The Citadel. They played harder than we did. We have to start with the kicking game and we couldn't protect the punter. We can't let punts get blocked and certainly have to move the football and make first downs. It seemed like we couldn't complete a forward pass today and credit them - they did a nice job on defense. We could make a play or two, but the worst thing that can happen against The Citadel is to get behind. We starting out with a chance to get field position early and they ended up blocking a punt for a touchdown which kind of set the tempo for the day."

"We came down with a lot less players that are hurt and beat up. I hope we can get some of those players back. But the biggest thing I see is that we have to straighten out the kicking game, field kick-off returns cleanly so we can run it up the field, and we have to protect our punter and contain their punter and not let them run for a first down. On defense, we've got to be able to not let them keep the football so long and get down the field. The biggest thing I see that is the kicking game and the inability to throw the football on offense. If we can fix those two things, then we can make some progress there along with getting some of the players that have been out recently back on the field. 

"I think the defense played inside pretty well but we didn't play well on the alley when they came outside. We gave up too many long runs down the sideline playing the pitch. Overall, a poor performance by our team and we have to evaluate everything we are doing - certainly the kicking game as well as offensively and defensively. We've got to look closely at how we are preparing our players and got to get them to response when adversity hits."