Ferrum's football team closed their home season out yesterday and came up on the short end of a 45-14 final score. The UNC Pembroke Braves came in with a 7-2, 5-1 record and were playing to get a shot at the conference championship and a trip to the NCAA playoffs. There was no question that Pembroke would be a tall order for Ferrum. The Panthers came in with a 3-6, 3-3 record, and while there had been many bright spots for Ferrum, and we had seen some successes, this was a game that would highlight the differences in the top tier of the conference and Ferrum who was the fourth place team of seven.
To this point, Ferrum had some good wins, close losses, and a few games where they just were not really in contention. After giving up an opening drive touchdown to the Braves, Ferrum came back and moved methodically down the field on an eight play drive and tied the score 7-7. While that was a positive, and it was just what Ferrum needed, that would be the only Ferrum score of the first half. Pembroke would progressively move down the field on each of their possessions and score to give them a 31-7 halftime lead..
Ferrum kicked off in the second half, and while the Panthers were in a hole, the beginning of the third quarter gave me a glimmer of hope as on their first play of the second half, Ferrum forced a fumble, .and recovered the ball at the Pembroke 19 yard line. One play later, Foutz hit Tate-Blanks on a 19 yard pass to make the score 31-14. The nest Braves possession, Ferrum's defense stiffened, and forced the Braves to punt. Ferrum's offense stalled on the next drive and punted back to the Braves who would take the ball down the field on an eleven play drive and score to make the score 38-14. Pembroke would add one more touchdown in the fourth quarter leading to the final score of 45-14.
In all, There were some bright spots as on both scoring drives Ferrum was able to take advantage of UNC Pembroke mistakes. On the second touchdown by Ferrum, UNC Pembroke incurred an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which was assessed on the ensuing kickoff. Ferrum was kicking from the 50 yard line, and from my perspective, I was expecting the Panthers to kick an on side kick. It may not have worked, but if it had, it could have been a large momentum shift. But that was not to be.
Overall, Pembroke gained 558 yards on offense (279 passing, and 279 yards rushing...I'd call that a balanced attack). In the end Pembroke was just a bigger, faster and stronger team than Ferrum. This was an important game as it shows where Ferrum should aspire to be. I have seen a lot of improvement with the Panther team this year. The team building will continue, and I think you will see steady improvement as time goes on.
Ferrum closes their season next week as they travel to Concord West Virginia to take on the Concord University Mountain Lions (7-3, 5-3). I am curious about one thing...Why are we playing them? This is a non conference game, and I understand that we need to fulfill the commitment to a two game contract, but all of the other teams in the conference had a ten game schedule. Now I know that Conference Carolinas has the final game between the top two teams, but no one else is playing next week. I worry that this is a high risk with little reward type of game. It has no playoff implications, will involve additional travel expenses for the college, and there is always the risk of injury. Initially I thought that DII schools must play an 11 game schedule, but that is not the case as far as I can tell. To me, it's a head scratcher.
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