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Flashes open with shutout as Jarvis sparkles

KENT , OHIO – Three years ago under the lights at Dix Stadium, the Kent State Golden Flashes were humiliated 44-0 at the hands of the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Thursday night, on the same field, they registered their first shutout since 1994 as they blanked the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 18-0 before 16,481 fans on a perfect night for football.

The win was the Flashes second in the last three season openers, and their eight of the last nine lid-lifters at home (the lone exception was the Minnesota game).

The shutout was the first for Kent State in 163 games (22-0 over Ohio). In a season opener since 1958 (22-0 at Xavier), and in a home opener since 1967 (35-0 Northern Illinois)

“The good things about the game were things we haven’t had here in a long time” Flashes head coach Doug Martin said after the game. “We played a really good football team tonight.”

“We had a lot of respect for Kent State coming into this game” Chanticleers head coach David Bennett said afterwards. “We had a chance to win the game, but our offense just couldn’t get the job done”

Running back Eugene Jarvis rushed for 141 yards and a touchdown, and added three receptions for 30 yards.

Jarvis, a fifth-year senior from Pittsburgh, also made the big play of the game as a punt returner.

In the third quarter with Kent State holding onto a tenuous 2-0 lead, thanks to a safety in the second quarter, a Flashes punt was downed at the Coastal two-yard line.

The Kent State defense held on three consecutive plays, forcing a punt which Jarvis fielded at the Chanticleers 38 yard line and returned 33 yards to the five.

“We knew coming into the game special teams was going to be big in this game so we practiced hard. On the kick the pursuit was coming at me, my teammates did a great job in setting up a wall and then try to make a play” Jarvis said.

From there it took just three plays, the score was 9-0 as Junior running back Andre Flowers went around the left side and into the end zone for the touchdown.

From that point on, Kent State was never threatened.

“Tonight we won a game with special teams. That has been our Achilles heel for us for a couple of years” Martin said.

For their entire 2008 season, Kent State had a grand total of 90 yards in punt returns; they had 77 alone in this game.

The game started as a defensive battle with neither team moving the ball effectively,

On Kent State’s second offensive possession they moved the ball from their own 10 to the Coastal 26 when on a third down, quarterback Georgio Morgan looked for Kendrick Pressley on a post pattern near the end zone, but cornerback Marcus Lott was in perfect coverage and intercepted the pass.

Lott’s interception marooned the Chanticleers on their one-yard line which led to the game’s first score.

On the first play after the interception, running back Tommy Fraser was tackled in the end zone by defensive end Sean Hogan to give the Flashes that 2-0 lead.

Morgan, who was redshirted last year, started his first game since 2007 and looked shaky at times, dropping the ball on a couple of occasions in the first half, but the sophomore from East Pointe, Georgia completed 21-of-35 passes for 207 yards and had two interceptions.

“I like the way we threw the ball for the most part” Martin said. “But he (Morgan) has a great arm and we have receivers like we haven’t had here before”

Wide receiver Tayshon Goode, a true freshman from Syracuse, New York, led the Kent State receivers with six catches for 84 yards.

As the first quarter became the second, the game turned into a battle of punts and field position before Kent State went on the move.

The Flashes moved the ball from their own 23 yard line to the Coastal 27 where they faced a fourth down and seven yards to go. Martin declined the opportunity to go for a 44-yard field goal attempt instead went for it and failed as Morgan’s pass for Pressley fell incomplete.

“He (Cortez) can hit that, I just did not want to have his first college kick to be from 44 yards.” Martin said. “I just wanted to get him off to a good start. I just didn’t want to have a true freshman to kick it that far”

The Chanticleers took possession on downs with 3:53 remaining the first half and moved the ball effectively for the first time in the game. Moving the ball from their own 27 to the Kent State 39.

But on first down, a blitz by linebacker Cobrani Mixon hit quarterback Zach McDowall as he threw, the ball was defected and into the hands of safety Brian Lainhart who returned the ball 16 yards to the Kent State 40.

With 1:22 remaining in the half, Morgan got the Flashes offense in high gear hitting three of four passes in the drive for 45 yards reaching the Chanticleers 15 yard line.

After a rush that lost two yards, and a timeout, Morgan connected with Jarvis for 11 yards down to the Coastal Carolina six.

After Morgan’s pass intended for Goode fell incomplete, freshman placekicker, Freddy Cortez, came out to attempt a 22-yard field goal.

Cortez, who beat out senior incumbent Nate Reed for the job, had his first kick as a collegian blocked.

Defensive back Dominique Davenport made the block, scooped up the ball, and started running toward the Flashes end zone returning the ball to the Kent State 26 yard line with two seconds remaining in the half.

“(Robert) Balkunas that was all him” Davenport said. “He created a crease for me as soon as the ball moved I was shooting through the gap. I was surprised I got there so quick and I was able to take it off his (Cortez) foot”

The Chanticleers, who had just 118 yards in total offense in the game’s first 30 minutes, still had a chance to take the lead going into halftime. However, placekicker Justin Durham missed a 43-yarder wide left and Kent State took that slim two-point lead into intermission.

“Our kicker is wide eyed and bushy tailed just watching the game…He was not ready to kick” Bennett said.

After the Flowers touchdown, the Flashes defense clamped down on the Coastal Carolina offense and specifically on McDowall

“ Kent State did a great job tonight. They brought a lot (defensively) at us…11 (Mixon) and 31 (Lainhart) are great players” He said. They moved around a lot. They showed us some stuff we had not seen”

“Our offense just couldn’t get it going. They ( Kent State) did a great job of bringing pressure” Bennett said

A transfer from Wake Forest, McDowall completed just 12-of-26 passes on the night for just 107 yards. The second lowest yardage total in his 12-game career as a starter.

Last season, McDowall passed for 2,064 yards last season completing 61.3 percent of his passes with 16 touchdowns and just six interceptions.

The Chanticleers had one final chance to get back into the game late in the third quarter.

After an exchange of punts, they took possession on their own 16 yard line and moved to the Kent State 37 when on a second down; McDowall was hit by linebacker Monte Simmons jarring the ball loose and was recovered by Hull.

The Kent State defense on the night, held an offense that averaged 369.8 yards per game to just 185 over the full 60 minutes and just 67 yards in the second half.

“We did not do anything extra ordinary, we just followed what our coaches told us to do. They have us a good game plan so wall we had to do was make plays” Mixon said.

In the fourth quarter, the Flashes took advantage of a second Coastal Carolina short punt, taking possession on the Chanticleers 31 yard line, thanks to a 27-yard return by Jarvis.

After a Morgan completion to junior tight end Jonathan Simpson moved the ball to the seven yard line. Two runs by Jarvis got the ball into the end zone and extended the Kent State lead to 16-0.

The scoring was completed late in the fourth quarter, when pinned deep in their territory, Coastal attempted a punt. The snap however, sailed over the head of punter Ben Erdman and out of the end zone for a safety to make the final score 18-0.

Kent State has won four of their last six games dating back to last season, but will have a much tougher assignment on Saturday September 12 th as they travel to Boston College facing the Eagles at Alumni Stadium up on Chestnut Hill

Coastal Carolina prepares for their home opener, also on the 12 th, against the Monmouth (NJ) Hawks out of the Northeast Conference.

NOTES: The game was the first ever meeting between the two schools…Eugene Jarvis-KSU reached the 100-yard rushing mark for the 17 th time in his career (33 games) and his third quarter touchdown was the 27 th of his career moving him into eighth place on the all-time list…The win moved Kent State’s record in season openers to 34-45-7 (19-9-4)…Kent State is 28-22 lifetime against the Football Championship Subdivision (2-0 against the Big South Conference)…Brian Lainhart-KSU interception in the second quarter was the ninth of his career moving him into a tie for eleventh on the all-time list…Head coach Doug Martin is 5-0 lifetime against the FCS…Coastal Carolina is 0-2 against the Football Bowl Subdivision (lost at Penn State 66-10 in the season opener last year)…First ever game against MAC opposition…Coast Carolina fell to 3-4 lifetime in season openers and have lost their last four overall and four on the road… Coastal has been shutout the last two games dating back to last season and has not scored since the second quarter of their game at Presbyterian a span of 10 quarters