Hatters Handle Davidson for 26-13, Happy Homecoming win

Karsceal Turner – I Got NEXT!

All of a sudden, it looked as though the Hatters had played this game a full 60 years instead of a return from a 57-year hiatus. Ryan Tentler passed for 296 yards and rushed for 108 more to lead Stetson to a 26-13 Homecoming victory over Davidson, Saturday at Spec Martin Memorial Stadium.

The win snapped Stetson’s seven-game losing streak and earned the Hatters their first-ever Pioneer Football League victory.

Return of the Red Hat guy

Yes, once again, your friendly neighborhood “Red Hat” guy was on the field handling timeout duties.

I thoroughly enjoyed the homecoming atmosphere, which was my second of this football season. I must point out some differences between a Stetson University Homecoming and a Bethune-Cookman University Homecoming. The atmosphere was similar, tailgating activities similarly included Barbeque, burgers, a whole lot of red cups. The gridlock into Spec martin Stadium was similar,

Homecoming comparison and contrast

Now, allow me to draw up some differences. Obviously the band performance was different. I had a good vantage point to see the Stetson University band, which played throughout the contest. I must say even though I didn’t dance (as I do at B-CU games); I thoroughly enjoyed their performance, which was synchronized with the Hatter Cheerleaders.

Speaking of the Cheerleaders, they were right behind me for the duration of the game. Guys, we should ALL be so lucky. Oh don’t you wish you could be a “Red Hat” guy? Anyway, calling media timeouts is the least of my blessings, I actually write stuff….and now, back to the game.

Tentler passed for 296 yards and rushed for 108 more to lead Stetson to a 26-13 Homecoming victory over Davidson before an overflow crowd of 6,544 Saturday. Got to love homecoming!

I went about the business of calling timeouts. You see, there are three media timeouts per quarter (out of four quarter). It is my job to get the attention of the referee and make certain action is stopped at those intervals. I actually run out onto the field at the 10-yard line and stand there with my stopwatch for exactly 90 seconds (a minute and a half). I then signal the referee and scoot my narrow ass off the field. Indirectly, yours truly controls the action. They got the right one for the job because positive action leads to achievement, get it?

Ryan Tentler’s emergence

Let us keep in mind, as we look at Stetson’s roster, one will see a plethora freshmen football players with limited (if any) collegiate experience. As I see it, they are taking these lumps but will solidify as a team and bond as brothers on the field. Get ready to speak highly about the Stetson Hatters.

Tentler was 24-of-31 passing, including a pair of touchdowns. He also rushed 17 times and scored once, on an 85-yard run late in the third quarter. Davidson drew first blood when David Rogers broke free for a 49-yard touchdown run with 4:07 left before halftime. The Wildcats failed on a two-point conversion and led 6-0

The Chicago native feels the Hatters always the potential to perform well. Tentler spread the ball around, completing passes to 11 different receivers. Darius McGriff led with five receptions for 66 yards; Mike Yonker had four catches for 75 yards.

James LaGamma kicked a 40-yard field goal with 10 seconds left in the half to get Stetson on the board before halftime. Overall, the Hatters collected a season-high 520 total yards on offense. They were good for 224 yards rushing.

“We have the athletes to do this all year, we are slowly getting to where we are supposed to be,” Tentler said. “When we actually do things that we practice this is the result. We could have scored more points tonight. We had 26 points but we should have had 50.”

A full game

“Obviously I am very pleased with not only with us winning, but how we won,” said head coach Roger Hughes. “We got behind, we came back and we found a way. I told the kids this week that our motto is six for 60. Six full seconds every play for 60 full minutes and we did that today. I thought our defense played extremely well and we basically shut them down with the exception of a couple drives,” he added.

While Stetson’s offense was burning up the field, the Hatter defense was holding Davidson in check. The Wildcats gained just 286 total yards and quarterback Jonathan Carkhuff was harassed all day. He completed just nine of his 27 pass attempts for 164 yards and was sacked four times, a season-high for the Stetson defense.

Overall, the Hatters set or tied 12 season highs, including first downs (24), total plays (78), rushing yards (224) and passing yards (296)….nice.

I’m telling you this team is going to develop a knack for making some noise in Volusia County if not the Pioneer football league. They aren’t exactly last in PFL play…that honor goes to Davidson (0-7, 0-10 overall), whom just suffered their seventh consecutive beat down. Their nickname ironically is Wildcats. There is another difference between Stetson and B-CU, who are county rivals in terms of basketball, baseball, and softball.

Perhaps we can look forward to a Stetson vs. B-CU football game in the future. You heard right here. Maybe I can serve as the “Red Hat” guy cause I Got NEXT!