Tigers rout Faulkner on Homecoming

Georgetown celebrated Homecoming on a perfect Saturday afternoon at Toyota Stadium with a dominating 45-14 win over Faulkner to start conference play 1-0.

After a strong offensive performance against Reinhardt last time out, the Tigers started this day with more of the same. Darius Neal's 1st 2 carries of the game went for 16 yards. On a 2nd & 3 near midfield, Gehrig Slunaker hit a streaking Matt Miller for a pickup of 36 to the Faulkner 16. 3 plays later, Slunaker hit Jahmir Ackerson in the flat and watched the Tiger tailback coast in from 13 yards out. The 7-play, 70-yard drive gave Georgetown an opening 7-0 lead.

Faulkner's first drive lasted less than 2 minutes before a punt gave Georgetown the ball back on its own 28. Chunk plays gave Georgetown a scoring shot again as Slunaker floated a ball down the left sideline to a diving Chandler Godby for another gain of 36. 2 plays later, Darius Neal burst up the middle, bouncing off and carrying defenders for a run of 23 yards to the Faulkner 11. The 2 big plays led to a 29-yard field goal from Drew Rader. Georgetown took a 10-0 lead with just under 5 minutes left in the opening quarter.

The Eagles took their turn with chunk plays as their next drive began with passes of 17 and 28 to move to the Georgetown 30. The drive reached the Georgetown 19, where Faulkner's Cole Porch was set up for a 36-yard field goal. Georgetown pushed through the interior and Ethan Mulbah got a hand up to block the kick. The teams traded punts with Georgetown's next movement starting from its own 12 with 7 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. 2 runs of 12 yards from Jahmir Ackerson gave the Tigers room to operate. Gehrig Slunaker found Chandler Godby over the middle for a gain of 35 to put the ball at the Faulkner 41. The drive culminated in a 13-yard Jahmir Ackerson TD run to put the Tigers ahead 17-0. After a Faulkner punt, Georgetown took the ball back with 2:31 to go until the half. Short passing moved the ball to the GC 36 before Slunaker hit Jamarcus Robinson down the right seam. Robinson weaved and circled through and around defenders to ultimately pick up 56 yards on the play to put the Tigers in a goal-to-go situation. 3 plays later, Darius Neal punched in a 3-yard TD run with 21 seconds left in the half to give the Tigers a 24-0 lead at the break.

Faulkner started the 3rd quarter with 2 dropped passes, leading to a 3 & out. On Georgetown's 2nd play, Darius Neal broke loose up the right side on a 37-yard run to the Faulkner 14. On the next play, Gehrig Slunaker went for a long pass down the left seam but was intercepted and Faulkner took over on its 14. On Faulkner's 1st play from scrimmage, a pass on the right side was picked off by All-American Chad Holleran. The senior linebacker weaved and hurdled would-be tacklers en route to a 20-yard pick 6 and a 31-0 lead. The excitement in the stadium hit another level moments later. On the very next Faulkner play, Clayton Melcher lowered his helmet onto the football during a Faulkner run. Javyn Martin showed off his loose ball skills as he picked up the fumble and broke 2 tackles for a 14-yard scoop-and-score. Georgetown stunningly had 14 points in 8 seconds and a 38-0 lead just 2:02 into the 3rd quarter.

With the game in hand, the Tigers turned to its overall depth to keep Faulkner at bay in the 2nd half. Later in the 3rd, Tyler Windau came in at QB and completed his 1st 2 passes to Reese Johnson and Trey Schoen for a combined 44 yards. Drew Baker capped off a 9-play, 51-yard drive with a 2-yard TD run to push the lead to 45-0 with just over 1 minute left in the 3rd. Faulkner scored twice in the 4th quarter for the 45-14 final score.

For the 2nd straight game, the Georgetown offense went over 200 yards rushing (249) and 500 total yards (504). The defense held Faulkner to just 59 yards on the ground and 2.8 yards per carry. Gehrig Slunaker finished the day 12-18 for 211 yards, 1 TD and 1 pick. Darius Neal toted the rock 14 times for 114 yards and a score. Jahmir Ackerson tallied 54 all-purpose yards and 2 touchdowns. Chandler Godby led a receiving core that saw 9 Tigers haul in a reception on the day. He finished with 4 grabs for 77 yards.

Chad Holleran led the defense with 6 tackles and the pick-6. Drew Rader nailed all 6 extra point tries and the 29-yard field goal and averaged 46 yards per punt. Nate Craft was stellar on kickoff duty as he racked up 7 touchbacks.

Georgetown next hits the road to take on a dangerous Cumberland (TN) team that upset 4th-ranked Bethel on this Saturday. Kickoff next Saturday in Lebanon, TN is set for 2:30pm ET.