The St. Andrews Knights huddle together before resuming play out of a weather delay during an Aug. 26 game against Webber International in Laurinburg.
File photo
BLUEFIELD Va. — The first four nonconference matchups for St. Andrews have been a brutal stretch to begin the season, as they’ve gone up against Webber International, current Top 10 ranked NAIA programs Lindsey Wilson (No. 10) and Bethel Tenn. (No. 6), and NCAA Division I FCS program Davidson.
The Knights still have one more nonconference game left against the Mid-South Conference’s Cumberland (Tenn.), but that will be put on pause as they enter into Appalachian Athletic Conference play Saturday at Bluefield.
“We’re feeling good,” St. Andrews head coach Bob Curtin said. “They understand the gauntlet is over, but the challenges still remain. There’s the psychological piece that they’ve got to overcome. But then it’s got to be reinforced with successes on the field. So, just to say we’re playing at a ‘not as tough’ team, and we’re going to be okay, it’s not going to happen. It’s still a really good team, and we need to see successes on the field.”
Davidson defeated St. Andrews (0-4) by a score of 84-6 last Saturday, but the Knights looked completely different than they did in their previous three contests. A veer option offense was put into effect by Curtin in hopes of trying to throw Davidson off guard.
“We made some wholesale changes,” Curtin said. “I directed that we’re going to run a veer option because we needed to help our defense out. We have struggled to stop all the teams we’ve played. I needed to put in an offense that could control the clock. We controlled the ball for 26 minutes against a Division I football program.”
Curtin plans on continuing to run the veer option for the foreseeable future.
“What I think you’ll see this week (is) a lot of that veer option,” Curtin said. “This is the way we’re going to control folks until we can get our defense a little bit more experience.”
With the new offensive gameplan came a change with the Knights’ starting quarterback — the third-straight week it’s occurred. After Jalen Dodd started St. Andrews’ first two games and Dylan O’Banks started at Bethel, Darius Holly made his first appearance this season against Davidson, playing the entire game.
Asked if the decision is a permanent one, Curtin said, for now, it’ll be.
“Going in (to Bluefield), it’s going be Holly,” Curtin said. “We put him in there because he picked up our veer option the quickest. We want to establish the run; we want to run significantly. Jalen Dodd played exceptionally well for us. And Dylan played a good game for us. We know that they’re the future.”
The Bluefield Rams are 2-2 overall, with their losses coming to a pair of similar opponents as St. Andrews in Bethel and Lindsey Wilson; Bethel defeated Bluefield 61-14, and Lindsey Wilson beat the Rams 45-28.
Bluefield is the top passing team in the NAIA, with an average of 364.5 yards per game. Quarterback Nathan Herstich leads the attack for the Rams and has passed for 1,432 yards and 11 touchdowns with five interceptions. Herstich is also coming off a game against Lindsey Wilson, where he set AAC records in passing yards (467), completions (30), and TDs (four). Having stellar receivers to throw to helps Herstich, too.
Thomas Lee has caught 20 passes for 482 yards and three TDs; Nate Monroe has 22 receptions for 337 yards and three scores; and Jewels Gray has 29 grabs for 289 yards and two TDs. Gray set an AAC record with 11 receptions against Lindsey Wilson.
“Those guys are standouts; they’re exceptionally good,” Curtin said about Herstich, Lee, Monroe and Gray. “Their head coach, Dewey Lusk, is a phenomenal offensive-minded guy. They sling that ball around there. And, they dare you to stop them through the air. They put 500 yards on Lindsey Wilson. I think their strength’s in their offense, for sure.”
While Bluefield has plenty of success throwing the ball, it’s not that way with their run game, as no running back or player has 100 yards rushing for the Rams this season; RB Cortavius Gilmore leads the team in rushing with 87 yards on 24 carries and two TDs.
Bluefield’s defense has had its difficulties, as well. The Rams allow 43.5 points per game and 539.3 total yards, with 227 of their yards coming on the ground and 312.3 from the air.
Curtin feels it’s the perfect matchup to get Holly acclimated with passing the ball under center.
“Now that the offense and the O-line are very comfortable, the running backs are very comfortable, you’re going to see us open the playbook,” Curtin said. “And now that we’re able to integrate some of the pass plays being under center, I think we’re going to be a very different-looking team than we were the first (four) games. I’m not saying we’re not going to pass a lot. But when it makes sense, and we think we have the advantage, we want to pass.”
Defensive lineman Quincy Robinson leads the Rams with 28 total tackles (21 solo), 5 1/2 tackles for loss, and 2 1/2 sacks, and Defensive back Tyrese Wolfe has a Rams-high two interceptions and three pass breakups. The player that catches Curtin’s attention, though, is linebacker Logan Patron, who has 14 total tackles (eight solo), 3 1/2 tackles for loss, a blocked punt, and a blocked kick.
“I find (Patron) deceivingly good; he’s really, really good,” Curtin said.
As the season rolls on for the Knights, their roster lessened after their game with Davidson. Curtin didn’t name any specific players who left the program but said he only wants guys dedicated to the team’s rebuild.
“We’ve narrowed down our core players to those guys that have really committed to the program,” Curtin said. “For our guys, we have a lot of youth. When your one-year football team is comprised of a lot of young guys, and they finally get their first taste of what college football is like, they realize (that) there is a difference between high school and college. So those guys that we know are completely committed to the program, they’re completely committed to the way forward.”
St. Andrews and Bluefield are 3-3 in the all-time series between both schools. The Rams have won the past two contests against the Knights, including a 50-12 result last year in Laurinburg.
Kickoff for this weekend’s game is at 7 p.m.
Reach Brandon Hodge at 910-506-3171 or by email at bhodge@laurinburgexchange.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @BrandonHSports.