Losing to your rival hurts. Beating yourself while playing against your rival hurts even more. Deserving of a win, the Quakers needed a hug after Saturday’s 12-7 loss, which snapped the team’s four-game win-streak against Greensboro College Pride in the annual Gate City Soup Bowl.
Although Greensboro’s band drowned out the Guilford cheerleaders, the Guilford defense proved to be the noisiest. Led by stout senior captain Markus Brunson on the defensive line, the Quaker defense held the Pride attack to just seven first downs and only 12 points.
Senior linebacker Richie Paul, Brunson, and sophomore Chris Jessup combined for 20 tackles, which held the Pride’s run-defense to negative yardage. But the Quakers’ secondary was unable to stop the passing efforts of Pride’s senior quarterback, Mike Caparaso, who passed for 123 yards, and a touchdown.
Despite giving up 183 yards of total passing yards, the Quaker defense did show some potential. Sophomore cornerback Kenny Hyman patrolled the secondary when he leaped, and twisted to his right to knock down a touchdown pass at the end of the first half.
The offense also showed flashes of potential. Running back duo Justin Parker and Mike Williams ran with purpose, tearing through would-be tacklers with ease as they combined for 126 yards on the ground. Parker ran for a touchdown early in the second half from inside the five.
With Parker’s touchdown, and a 7-0 lead with less than eight minutes left in the third quarter, fans at Grimsley High School’s football stadium felt confident that the Quakers would prevail.
Guilford outgained Greensboro 312 yards to 170 yards. The Quaker’s ran 74 plays to the Pride’s 41.
So why did the Quakers lose?
“Little mistakes,” said sophomore offensive lineman T.J. McCay.
With 3:32 left in the third quarter, junior Billy Watkins threw an interception at midfield. Greensboro channeled the momentum shift, threw deep on the very next play, and cruised into the end zone to an echo of groans from the Guilford fans.
The Quakers held on to a lead by blocking the extra point attempt, but they would lose the lead after a costly fumble. Despite Watkins’s effort to pounce on the loose ball, the Pride’s defensive end Brandon Drumgoole recovered the fumble on Guilford’s 22-yard line, which set up a one-yard touchdown run by Caparaso.
Caparaso wasn’t the only quarterback that rushed for yardage. On the Guilford side, Watkins and sophomore Luke Vandall showed athleticism in their debuts at quarterback by running for a combined 77 yards, and completing nine of 15 passes – four of their completions were thrown by Watkins in an 84-yard drive which lasted eight minutes in the final quarter.
Unfortunately, the Quakers’ fourth-quarter drive was stopped 11 yards short of a touchdown. With 26-seconds left in the 13th annual Soup Bowl, the Quakers ran out of time.
“We turned the ball over, that’s why we lost,” said coach Kiesel.
The Quakers will attempt to limit the turnovers on Saturday when they travel to Methodist College for a 1:00 p.m. contest. To follow the game, listen to “Quakers on Demand” on Guilford’s athletic page.