THE #TEAM136 REPORT: Week 4: #11 Randolph-Macon 70, Guilford 14

If you were wondering why our weekly look inside Randolph-Macon College Football is a few days removed from Saturday's game in being posted, there's a good reason.

There needed to be time to fully consume everything which took place at Herb Appenzeller Field on the campus of Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina.

#11 Randolph-Macon never punted, scoring touchdowns on their first five possessions of the first half, and the first three possessions of the second half, breaking the 70-point barrier for only the fifth time in the program's 136-season history, and for the first time since 1985.

However, the Yellow Jackets threw two interceptions, both of which resulted in touchdowns for Guilford, including a second half pick-six.

The backup offensive lineman put on a show in the second half, when Randolph-Macon churned out 203 of their 269 rushing yards in the contest. The team had ten different ball carriers, led by Cameron Chatmon's 61 yard, two touchdown afternoon. Nick Hale scored his eighth and ninth touchdowns rushing this seasons thanks to two short drives that began due to Quaker turnovers, while Mitchell Johnson added two and Kwesi Clarke had one.

After starting 6-of-6, quarterback Drew Campanale went 5-of-9 down the stretch in the first half, throwing three touchdown passes, and one pick. He also committed two illegal forward pass penalties and was the signal caller for two delay of game infractions. The team had an uncharacteristic six flags thrown against them.

Yellow Jacket fans certainly had plenty to cheer about, but it can also be said that head coach Pedro Arruza and his staff have had plenty to discuss with their team during practice heading into this Saturday's Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) home opener against Averett, who fell just short at home Saturday against Washington and Lee 25-20.

"I thought we were a little unfocused, especially offensively," Arruza noted after the game, pointing back to another week of uneven practice performance. "I thought (Guilford) did some things that did present some challenges. We knew they were going to blitz and move their guys around up front quite a bit, but, yeah, it wasn't a very clean first half."

Ahead 42-7 entering the third, Arruza opted to send Campanale out for one more drive, which was classic Randolph-Macon football, a nine-play, 95-yard journey that saw Campanale go 2-of-3, including a 41-yard strike to David Wallis, who scored on a 52-yard pass in the first half. Clarke ran the final three plays of the drive, scoring from eight yards out to increase the lead to 49-7.

Guilford lost starting quarterback Bailey Baker late in the first half to what appeared to be a shoulder or arm injury and did not win, greatly limiting the playbook for the Quaker offense under backup Nathan Poindexter. Guilford only threw two passes in the second half.

Linebacker Daniel Eliasek was hurt during the first half of the game and did not return. There is no word on his status. The defense took advantage of five Quaker turnovers, including four fumbles recovered by the Yellow Jackets. By holding Guilford to minus two yards rushing for the game, Randolph-Macon bettered its Division III leading rushing defense to an average of just 10.5 yards per game.

"We did a lot of really good things, we won a game, but like I told the players at halftime and again after the game, there's your capability, and you know, your performance and what you're willing to give," Arruza explained. "And, right now, we're just inconsistent. We have days where we have great practices and we have days where we're not practicing at the level we should be."

As the calendar turns to October, a veteran squad that tasted NCAA triumph just eleven months ago should be able to drill down on what is causing the inconsistency Arruza rightfully pointed out. Mental mistakes that draw penalties, average blocking technique, blown defensive assignments, even extra point snaps to the holder, any and all of these elements, when not executed correctly, could come back to haunt a team that certainly has the talent to go with the aforementioned experience that could take Team 136 to places never visited before by the Yellow Jacket program.

The nation is noticing. Randolph-Macon cracked the Top 10 at #10 for the first time ever in the D3Football.com Top 25, as well as the American Football Coaches Association poll this week. The last time the Yellow Jackets made the top ten was in 1984, finishing #5 overall.

The offense has scored 231 points in four games. That's an average of 57.75 points per contest. The Yellow Jackets converted on 12 of 14 third down tries Saturday. Nine red zone trips equaled nine touchdowns. No settling for three.

The next opponent, Averett, led for much of the second half at home Saturday evening against Washington and Lee. At 14-8, Averett drove down the field, but missed a 44-yard field goal attempt. Five minutes later, the Generals connected from 47 yards to cut the margin to three at 14-11.

The Cougars (0-1 ODAC, 3-1) couldn't stop the Generals in the fourth as they scored a touchdown with 7:04 left to take the lead, added another nearly five minutes later, then survived a frantic Averett comeback attempt, scoring on a 70-yard drive that took just 30 seconds. 

After Saturday, the other 1-0 conference teams are waiting, with a trip to Bridgewater October 14th, followed by home dates with Shenandoah October 21st and Washington & Lee on October 28th. As is always the case, a four-way tie after a week of conference play.

"We've been inconsistent, and that's on the leadership," Arruza noted. "We'll figure it out. We had some of the same issues at the beginning of last year and I think we might even be a little bit further along that we were last year at this time."

A super sign of hope along a journey where, sometimes, you need to just take a step back, take a few moments, and soak it all in. 

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(File Photo: Kwesi Clarke scores during Randolph-Macon's win over Southern Virginia in September, 2022. Photo by Rachel Witham)