PEMBROKE — For the 11 seniors on The University of North Carolina at Pembroke football team, after an up-and-down 2019 season, Saturday’s mission was simple — finish with a victory.
After some strong play from several of those seniors, that mission was accomplished as the Braves earned a 20-7 win over Virginia-Wise in the season finale Saturday at Grace P. Johnson Stadium.
Senior running back Josh Sheridan and the Braves defensive unit as a whole each had arguably their best performance of the season in the victory.
“We got the win today and send our seniors out on the right note,” UNCP coach Shane Richardson said. “I think it’s healthy for the program, with what we’ve been through in these last few weeks, to be able to end this way.”
“I’m very content, because there’s a lot of people that can’t say they won their last game,” Sheridan said.
Sheridan rushed for 107 yards on 14 carries with a touchdown run and an additional 52-yard run, and also caught two passes for 13 yards with a touchdown. The scoring plays give Sheridan 21 career touchdowns and 11 this season.
“I thought he had some really good runs and showed some really good electric flashes at times, which is who Josh Sheridan is,” Richardson said. “I thought it really helped us out today, and he’s been that way on a consistent basis this year.”
His motivation went beyond himself, as the Lumberton native also wanted to play one more game for those close to him.
“I was very motivated,” Sheridan said. “I wanted to play for (injured senior teammate Quadrin Williams), for my dad, today was his birthday, and also for my mom. She wasn’t able to walk out with me today, because her aunt passed, so she went to the funeral and then came here.”
The Braves rushing attack, one which has struggled throughout the season, ran for 204 yards in the game.
Defensively, UNCP (4-7) forced five Virginia-Wise (2-9) turnovers, with four interceptions and a fumble recovery. Senior Yavel Morris had one of the interceptions.
“It was a big blessing,” Morris said. “It’s my first interception since coming back from my ACL. I’m happy that I could express to my guys how grateful I was they had the opportunity ride with me on my last ride, and they just gave me the confidence to go out there and do my best. I was happy that I was able to go off on a high note.”
Michael Clark had two interceptions and Luke Brooks had one, while Masanka Kanku recovered the fumble. Amari Brice-Greene led the Braves with 11 tackles.
The Braves held the Cavaliers to 93 rushing and 89 passing yards in the game.
“We knew from last week that we could play with the best teams … we can really fight, we’re just trying to get over that hurdle,” Morris said. “Today we went into it, like, ‘if we could do the same things we did last week, and finish,’ we would have no problems.”
Braves quarterback Josh Joes left with an injury in the second quarter, and was replaced at quarterback by freshman Rodney Smith. Smith, who had attempted four passes all season, completed four of his 12 passes with one interception, and did a serviceable job running the offense in Jones’ absence as the Braves nursed a lead in the second half.
“We were excited to see that Rodney got some reps there,” Richardson said. “Getting that look today, it adds to the experience, it adds to the mistakes he needs to make to get better from them. The numbers may not match up, but I’m excited about his future and what he brings to our team.”
Conditions were difficult for each offense on a cold, windy day in Pembroke, and neither team had a first down through their first two drives. UNCP scored on its third on a 7-yard pass from Jones to Sheridan, and the Braves held the 7-0 lead through the end of the first quarter.
After Jones was intercepted on the next Braves drive, Sheridan’s 52-yard run set up a 12-yard Sheridan touchdown run for a 14-0 lead with 10:12 left in the half. Clark’s first interception and Morris’ pick came during the balance of the second quarter, and UNCP carried the two-score lead to halftime.
Virginia-Wise scored on its second drive of the second half on a 6-yard run by Terrence Lambert, who led the Cavaliers with 66 rushing yards; the score cut the UNCP lead in half at 14-7 with 8:51 left in the third.
Two drives later, Hunter Braswell kicked a 25-yard field goal to take a 17-7 lead with 14:11 remaining. After Brooks’ interception and Clark’s second one, in addition to a Cavalier turnover on downs, UNCP padded its lead with another Braswell field goal, a career-long from 40 yards, with 2:31 to play.
Virginia-Wise drove as far as the Braves’ 9-yard line on the ensuing drive, but time expired before the Cavaliers were able to score.
After the win, UNCP finishes the season at 4-7, a two-win improvement over each of the last two seasons, and a 4-1 record at home. While the win snapped a four-game losing streak over the second half of the season, Richardson says he could see the growth through each loss, culminating with the season-finishing win Saturday.
“Our program has improved a ton, and I was really proud of the second half of the season. If you could be inside these walls, and the nuts and bolts of what this team is going through right now, you would know there’s so much improvement, there’s so much growth, there’s so much great things happening within our culture.”
