Oct. 17, 2009

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LYNCHBURG, VA. - The Coastal Carolina University football team headed to Lynchburg, Va., to take on two-time defending Big South Conference champion Liberty and came away with a 58-13 loss to the Flames, Oct. 17. The Chanticleers dropped to 3-3 on the year and 1-1 in Big South play, while the Flames moved to 4-2 and 1-0 in the conference.

Liberty took the opening kickoff and got down the field, keyed by a Tommy Beecher's 47-yard pass to Chris Summers to get the ball to the Coastal 5. However, the Chanticleer defense held on the eight-play, 60-yard drive, forcing a field goal attempt. Kicker Matt Bevins hit from 24 yards and gave the host Flames a 3-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.

Coastal answered on its first possession, where another long pass kicked-started the drive. Quarterback Zach MacDowall hit wide receiver Adrian Sullivan on the first play of the drive for a 35-yard gain to the LU 23. The Chants then put points on the board from it, as Durham connected from 33 yards to knot the game at three with nine minutes remaining in the first.

The Flames moved the ball down the field again on their next drive. Running back Aldreakis Allen dove in from one yard out for the score, capping off a 12-play, 75-yard drive over 5:40. Bevins hit the point after attempt, and Liberty led 10-3 with 3:18 to play in the first.

Liberty again moved down the field, this time going 74 yards in 13 plays and 7:18 on the clock. The Flames extended their lead on Bevins 39-yard field goal, making it 13-3 with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half.

Another Liberty field goal pushed it to 16-3 advantage late in the second quarter. Bevins hit his third of the game, this time a 42-yarder with 54 seconds to go in the half to extend the lead to 13.

Coastal took the kickoff and 49-yard runback by Jake Owen gave Coastal the ball at the Flames' 46 with 46 seconds to play in the half. The Chants moved to the Liberty 21 and Durham attempted a 38-yard field goal on the final offensive play of the half. Durham connected on his school-record eighth consecutive field goal with less than one second remaining to trim the lead to 16-6 at the break. The Flames controlled the ball for more than 22 minutes in the first half, running 40 offensive plays to the Chants' 17.

Liberty grabbed the momentum back with a 5-play, 49-yard drive on its second possession of the half. Allen posted his second touchdown of the game with a 14-yard run and Bevins extra point made it 23-6 with 4:55 to play in the third.

The Flames struck quickly after intercepting MacDowall and returning it to the Coastal 47. On a reverse pass on the first play, Mike Brown connected with Summers for a 47-yard touchdown to put the make it 14 points in less than a minute and a 30-6 lead with just over four minutes to go in the third.

Allen put the game out of reach with his third score of the day with a 13-yard scamper in the end zone. The run ended Liberty's 56-yard drive and made it 37-6 early in the fourth. Then an 82-yard run by running back Danny Broggin made it 44-6 LU less than a minute later. Then SirChauncey Holloway took advantage of another Chanticleer interception on the first play from scrimmage and scored from 14 yards out to make it 51-6. The Flames added one last touchdown, again by Holloway, with 5:11 to go for a 58-6 margin. The Chants trimmed the final margin to 58-13 as Akeem Wesley caught his first collegiate pass for a touchdown from Jamie Childers in the final minute.

In handing Coastal its largest defeat in a conference game, the Flames dominated the offensive statistical categories, outgaining the Chants 575-175 and holding a commanding 36:12-23:48 time-of-possession advantage. Coastal was held to just 40 rushing yards on 26 carries on the afternoon, while Liberty had 47 rushes for 300 yards.

The Chanticleers continue the three-game road trip next weekend, heading to New York to take on Stony Brook, Oct. 24. Kickoff at LaValle Stadium is set for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be televised in Myrtle Beach on WWMB-21 as part of the Big South Conference television package.