
St. Andrews’ Tierell Milligan (51) celebrates after making a play during an Aug. 26 game against Webber International in Laurinburg.
File photo
DAVIDSON — As the St. Andrews Knights come off their open week, they’ve put a 77-0 loss against the Bethel Wildcats behind them and shifted their focus toward a Wildcats team of a different caliber — the Davidson Wildcats of the NCAA Division I FCS.
And after three straight games of increasingly tough competition for the Knights — which has resulted in an 0-3 record — head coach Bob Curtin would love nothing more than for his team to get their first win Saturday when they play Davidson — their biggest test yet — at Richardson Stadium with the odds stacked well against them.
“I hope that’s the day we turn the corner,” Curtin said. “We really needed the rest week. Our preparation the last two weeks (has) been very good. We’ve really keyed in on just doing the little things correctly — being very disciplined, maintaining our composure, minimizing our mistakes, trying to match the level of discipline and football IQ that Davidson has.”
Davidson (1-2, 1-0 Pioneer Football League) started their 2023 season with back-to-back losses to VMI and NCAA Division II school Barton. The 12-7 win for VMI wasn’t as unexpected as the 33-31 victory for Barton was, though, which has helped boost the morale of St. Andrews.
“I think subconsciously, a lot of the players are thinking about that,” Curtin said. “We have young kids that are thinking, oh, man, Davidson got upset already. I don’t want them to focus on that, but I know that’s sitting some where in the back of their minds. And if it gives that individual a glimmer of hope like, hey, I can play with these guys, then I’ll take that for what it’s worth.”
The Davidson Wildcats rebounded last weekend with a 49-21 win over Marist in their Pioneer League opener. Curtin believes that outcome was significant for Davidson because they “finally figured out their strengths.”
“They run an option offense, so we want to shut that down; we’ve got to stop that run,” Curtin said. “They don’t air it out as much as the teams that we have played. I’m hoping because we are smaller and faster than most of the teams they’ll have seen, (that) we can present some problems with them, mixing some things up.”
On the ground, Davidson has netted 641 yards this season. The rushing attack has been successful primarily because of running back Mari Adams, who has totaled 51 carries for 235 yards and a touchdown.
“That running back, we’ve got to gang tackle him,” Curtin said about Adams.
Pounding the ball may be Davidson’s biggest threat, but the passing game is nearly as efficient. Starting quarterback Coulter Cleland has 445 passing yards with six TDs and only one interception this year — formulating a passer efficiency rating of 200.44.
“Coulter Cleland is a good quarterback, and he’s got great ratings,” Curtin said. “But more than that, he makes good decisions. We can’t give him a whole lot of time back there. If we’re not having him throw in three to four seconds, we’re hurting the secondary.”
While the Davidson Wildcats have had no trouble on offense — averaging 390.3 total yards and 29.0 points per game — the same can’t be said for the Knights, who have averaged only 166.7 yards and 9.3 points in their contests.
Because of the lackluster production, Curtin has not yet named his starting QB for this weekend. Jalen Dodd was the starter for the first two games — going 25-of-43 passing for 268 yards with a TD and an interception — while Dylan O’Banks started against Bethel and went 13-of-28 passing for 58 yards and was picked-off twice. But Darius Holly — a transfer from the University of Arkansas — has also entered the competition.
“Dylan, Darius and Jalen … the three of them were splitting reps (in practice),” Curtin said. “It’s a tight race. And you may see one quarterback, you may see two quarterbacks. We’ll figure out who has the hot hand and who’s picked up the nuances, the slight changes. We are really fond of all those guys. By no means has anyone lost the job. It’s just, who’s going to adapt to those nuances?”
Another reason why Curtin hasn’t picked a starting signal-caller is because of the tweak he discussed last week in wanting to run the ball more.
“We’ve got to control the clock a little bit better,” Curtin said. “We have the athletes; we’ve got the players to do it. And against that defense, it’s not going to be an easy task because they practice every day against their run team.”
The Davidson defensive line is led by Julian Rawlins, who has three tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble. Defensive back Daniel Carter leads the team with 27 total tackles (12 solo), while linebacker Cam’ron Willis follows behind with 19 (seven solo).
For the St. Andrews defense, one of their most-effective players, LB Austin Hunt, will be unavailable against Davidson as he continues to work his way back into physical condition from an Aug. 26 incident where he was stretchered off the sideline against Webber International due to dehydration.
“We want to make sure we safeguard Austin,” Curtin said. “He is the field marshal back there. He’s been practicing with us, and he’s been helping us get the guys prepared, which has been a huge success. He’s very professional, and he’s very encouraging; that’s helping our young guys.”
The loss of Hunt is massive for the Knights and makes the challenge of trying to defeat Davidson even more difficult, but the game means more than winning or losing to Curtin.
“I definitely want to always play a team like Davidson,” Curtin said. “Not only because it’s a money game; that helps a little, we’re not getting a whole lot from them, but they’re giving us enough to make it worth our while. I want our guys to see what a really good program looks like. I don’t need it every week. Once in a while, we really need that. We have a lot of kids that need to learn how to be part of a really good program, and we’re trying to become a really good program, and we are on the right path.”
Davidson and St. Andrews met on the gridiron for the first time last season on Sep. 17, 2022, where the Davidson Wildcats defeated the Knights 56-6.
Kickoff for Saturday’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.