Bulldogs come up short vs. WVSU in opener

A football game that was there for the taking for the Barton College football team in Thursday night’s season opener against West Virginia State at Truist Stadium, fizzled into a frustrating 27-24 loss for the Bulldogs.

Barton took the lead on Jackson Parrish’s 1-yard touchdown run in the final seconds of the third quarter but the Yellow Jackets of the NCAA Division II Mountain East Conference engineered a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown drives. The Bulldogs, playing their final season as football members of the South Atlantic Conference, gave themselves a chance on Connor Stanley’s blocked punt and subsequent return for a TD with 3:42 to go but couldn’t muster another scoring drive in the final minute.

“It’s frustrating because we gave them too many things,” said Barton head coach Chip Hester. “We didn’t do a good enough job of running the football and then we didn’t do a good enough job stopping the football. That’s pretty frustrating because that’s not the formula for us winning.”

Barton, which has been among the national top 20 in rushing yardage the last three seasons, averaged just 2.1 yards per carry in finishing with 51 yards on 24 attempts compared to 248 (6.7 per carry) by WVSU. However, Bulldogs first-year quarterback Trevor Nored, a transfer from Rhode Island making his first collegiate start, was impressive in completing 24-of-39 passes for 310 yards with an interception and a sack. His primary target was Jayden Flood-Brown with nine catches for 140 yards. Former Greene Central High standout Zakvil Smith grabbed five passes for 65 yards.

Both teams scored each of their first two possessions. The Yellow Jackets marched 75 yards in 11 plays after receiving the opening kickoff. Joel Felder ran 26 yards, part of a 178-yard night on the ground for him, for West Virginia State’s first points with 9:17 to play in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs moved the ball on their initial possession, but a first-and-goal at the WVSU 8-yard line resulted in just three points on true freshman kicker Andrew Bontekoe’s 22-yard field goal.

West Virginia State responded with Brennen Schmitt’s 24-yard field goal before the Bulldogs tied the score with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Nored’s 7-yard TD run. He hit Jevon Myers for 29 yards to set up the TD.

Barton had another promising drive before halftime that ended with an interception, the only turnover of the game.

The 10-10 halftime tie was broken by Schmitt’s 44-yard field goal in the third quarter. Hester sent Bontekoe out for a 51-yard attempt that was blocked by the Yellow Jackets. The return ended up at the 33 of Barton but WVSU had to settle for three points.

Barton constructed its most impressive possession of the game to end the third quarter. Nored completed 4-of-5 passes for 58 yards, including a 20-yard toss to Smith to the 1-yard line. That set up Parrish’s go-ahead TD.

But the Yellow Jackets responded with scoring drives on their next two possessions, converting three third downs in the two marches.

“It just comes down to discipline,” groused Bulldogs senior linebacker Matt Smith, who led Barton with 15 tackles. “We had way too many times on third down we just couldn’t get off the field. We were jumping, we were holding receivers, getting PIs (pass interference calls) left and right. We’ve got to be able to get off the field and that comes with discipline during the week. We’re just not locked in enough.”

Justin Pessoa ran 3 yards for one TD while quarterback Nolan Johnson found Amare Ary for 23 yards for the other score to put WVSU up 27-17 with 8:49 to go.

Stanley’s blocked punt that turned into a scoop-and-score breathed new life into the Bulldogs’ sideline. However, Felder ripped a 19-yard gain on third-and-2 to run more time off the clock after the Yellow Jackets got the ball. By the time Barton got the ball back on downs at its own 20, the Bulldogs had 55 seconds and no timeouts to get into Bontekoe’s considerable range. After getting tackled twice, Nored found Flood-Brown for 36 yards to the WVSU 42 as the clock hit zeroes.

Hester looked for positives after the loss.

“I saw a team that didn’t quit,” he said. “I saw a team that could have quit and didn’t. I saw a team that competed and gave itself a chance.”

Barton will play at Chowan on Saturday, Sept. 14.

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