On Saturday, the Captains football team took the field to face off against Southern Virginia University to open their 2023 football season.
Captains quarterback and two-time reigning Conference Player of the Year Matt Dzierski opened up the scoring with two rushing touchdowns on the first two possessions, giving the Captains an early 14-0 lead. Dzierski finished the game with 45 rushing yards along with going 13/15 for 129 yards in the passing game.
After a blocked punt that put the Captains at Southern Virginia’s 23-yard line, Sophomore running back Gunner White ran in a touchdown to give the Captains a 21-0 lead. White finished the game with 69 yards, 2 scores, and another where he was marked just short of the endzone at the 1-yard line.
“Our guys up front were simply bigger and stronger than theirs, they truly dominated the line of scrimmage,” said White, when asked how Christopher Newport was able to dominate Southern Virginia on the ground.
The Captains were able to control the game on offense, winning the time of possession battle 39:07 to 20:53. The Captains offense was firing on all cylinders with 310 total yards of offense.
The defense also came through on their part of the bargain, pitching a shutout. This was something the Captains were not able to achieve all of last season. They were also able to hold Southern Virginia to 54 yards, including 28 rushing yards on 24 attempts.
The defensive performance was truly a team effort as 27 Captains recorded tackles. Things were led by last year’s Conference Defensive Rookie of the Year, Yasir Geter. He recorded four total tackles including an early tackle for loss that set the tone for the rest of the game.
The Captains were also able to score points on defense. The score came when Taizuan Brown returned an interception for 32 yards, which was the final score of the game for the Captains.
The Captain’s defensive line also saw significant improvement from last season as they recorded two sacks, with one by Senior Christian Lee and one from Junior Marquis Kimble respectively.
With such an all-around win, the team has to be confident moving forward through the season. The Captains have now won 7 of their last 8 games dating back to last season and will look to continue the success against a hot Johns Hopkins team.
The Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins were ranked 18th in the preseason national poll from D3football.com and will look to move up after a hard-fought win against the number 9-ranked team in the nation, Ithaca College. With the Captains rolling into week 2, Saturday’s matchup is set to be intriguing.