Concord Mountain Liolns lose to Braves

By JEFF HARVEY

ATHENS — If the game plan for the University of North Carolina-Pembroke Braves Saturday was to control the ball for a little over 38 minutes and control the Concord Mountain Lions’ two main offensive weapons, the Braves accomplished their mission. They did both en route to defeating Concord 27-9 at Callaghan Stadium on Concord’s Senior Day.

The first score of the game came about as the result of a botched snap for the Braves, as the ball rolled past quarterback Cory Smith and out of the end zone for a safety, making the score 2-0 Concord at 13:07 of the first quarter.

The Braves made it 7-2 on their next series, an eight-play, 58-yard one, as Smith hit Jamal Williams with a nine-yard scoring pass with 8:17 left in the first quarter. The drive, which was set up by Jamaral Reese’s recovery of a Dennis Cole fumble at the Pembroke 42-yard line, featured Rashon Kennedy’s 21-yard run.

The score went to 14-2 with 2:29 left in the first as Keith Gore ran it in from one yard out, ending a seven-play, 67-yard drive. The drive featured an 11-yard run by Kennedy, plus a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Concord.

Concord made it 14-9 as Steven Hearons hit Rashid Baker with a seven-yard scoring pass with 7:12 left in the third quarter. The seven-play, 87-yard drive saw a 13-yard Hearons to Nathan Tanner, a 15-yard defensive pass interference penalty against Pembroke and two consecutive passes of 27 yards and 16 yards from Hearons to Thomas Mayo.

With 4:02 left in the third quarter, the Braves made it 21-9 as Travis Daniels rushed in from one yard out, ending a seven-play, 57-yard drive. Daniels opened the drive with a 36-yard run.

The next scoring drive, an eight-play, 24-yard drive, made it 24-9 with 14:52 left in the game as Baskett hit a 24-yard field goal. The drive was set up by a Cole fumble forced by Terrell Partlow and recovered by Ben Kurti.

The final score, a 42-yard field goal by Baskett made it 27-9 with 1:58 left in the game, ending a six-play, 25-yard drive.

UNC-Pembroke (7-1) was led by Kennedy with 112 yards rushing on 19 carries and Daniels with 95 yards in 15 attempts with a touchdown. Smith went 14-20 passing for 133 yards with a touchdown and an interception apiece. Williams caught five passes for 31 yards and a touchdown. L.J. Johnson caught three passes for 27 yards and Daniels caught one pass for 23 yards. Daniels had 118 yards total offense and Kennedy 112. Fred Williams had eight tackles, five solo. They controlled the ball for 38.01 minutes total.

Concord (5-4) was led by Brian Kennedy with 107 yards in 16 carries. Hearons went 20-36 for 185 yards and a touchdown and an interception apiece. Baker caught five passes for 51 yards with a touchdown and Mayo caught three passes for 55 yards. Kennedy had 216 total yards (107 rushing, four receiving and 105 in kick returns). Joe Greenway had nine tackles, six solo.

Concord travels to Fairmont State to play the Falcons Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.

— Contact Jeff Harvey at jharvey1@frontiernet.net or delimartman@yahoo.com.