Charlotte surprised everyone last season finishing 6-6 and showing
signs of growing into a good team. Royce Scott began to finally show
some maturity and signs of becoming the QB that everyone has believed
he could be, but that wasn't the real surprise last season. The real
surprise came from running backs Kelvin Ingram and Tony Sessions.
Everyone wanted to know how these guys had seemingly slipped in under
the radar to make perhaps the best backfield duo in the league. Both
are fast, smart, and have plenty of good years ahead.
Meanwhile Asheville seemed to be going in the opposite direction.
Falling from the wild card team to 4-8 it was obvious that Marshall
Moss was done as an effective back and that the receiving core had
aged out of being effective. It was obviously rebuilding time.
Coming into the opening game of the 2008 season most fans were
expecting a rather solid victory by Charlotte, but what they got
instead was a nail biter that saw kicker William Patterson as the
almost goat turned hero.
The first quarter and a half was a game of field position. Charlotte
showed signs of being able to move the ball, and they were keeping
Asheville pinned in. The first break came on a good play from Royce
Scott. Scott broke away from a sack and hit FB Robert Smith in the
open for a 22yd pickup to get to the Asheville 26yd line. A couple of
plays later Scott hit WR Trey Howard for 10yds, then WR Tommie Lambert
for 12yds to get to the Asheville 3yd line. But there the Asheville
defense stood their ground, stopping HB Kelvin Ingram on three
straight plays. Charlotte had to settle for a field goal from William
Patterson to go up 3-0.
Charlotte's defense continued to hold Asheville and their second
opportunity came on a holding penalty that setup a first down inside
Asheville territory with under two minutes left in the half. Scott
managed to move Charlotte inside the 20, but had to settle for another
Patterson field goal to go up 6-0 by the half.
The second half saw much more back and forth with two blown scoring
opportunities for Charlotte both off of Erik Waters' interceptions.
One in the 3rd led to a missed 48yd field goal. Then in the 4th
Patterson missed a 22yd field goal. Finally with only :59 left in the
game Asheville made a big play when Waters hit WR Charles Fipps for
48yds to the Charlotte 9yd line. Next play Waters hit WR Richmond
Dumas for a touchdown to nab the lead 7-6.
In a game that had seen little offense it seemed that Asheville had
won it, but as the old saying goes it ain't over. WR Richard McLeod
kept up the excitement with a 43yd kickoff return to the Asheville
48yd line. Royce Scott then hit WR Mike Owens for 16yds to the
Asheville 33 with :24 left. Then Charlotte went with their bread and
butter HB Kelvin Ingram for a 16yd pickup to the Asheville 17yd line
with :12 left, clinched by Patterson's 3rd field goal of the game
leaving :05 on the clock.
The game was not as anticipated. Tony Sessions had no carries and
Ingram was held to only 75yds on 28 carries. Royce Scott was the big
bright spot on offense going 23/32 for 229yds. They will need to be
able to convert more scoring opportunities if they hope to improve
upon their 6-6 record. LB Alfred Miller was the leader of defense
with 10 tackles and 1 sack.
Asheville's big offensive star QB Erik Waters struggled going 13/24
for 150yds with 2Ints and 1TD. HB Brett stinson didn't do bad out of
the backfield with 34yds on 10 carries, but Asheville needs Stinson to
really have a big season because their receiving core is not going win
any games. Their defense though played well and kept them in it
something it was not able to do last season. CB Berkeley Walker led
the defense with 9 tackles and 2 knockdowns, but they were never able
to force any turnovers. And with the weak running game and passing
game on offense this defense is going ot have to produce some points.
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