Box Score
INTERVIEW - Coach Reich
INTERVIEW - Lawrence Pittman
INTERVIEW - Steven Jacobs

Gaffney, S.C.----The Wingate University football team scored two defensive touchdowns en route to a 38-10 NCAA Division II victory over Limestone College Saturday afternoon at The Reservation. The Bulldogs improve to 12-2 overall in season openers under 14-year head coach Joe Reich. The contest was the first game in history for the host Saints (NCAA box score).

"It is nice to see our defense step up big with two scores," Wingate head coach Joe Reich says. "(We are glad) to get the first one in the books so we can see where we must get better."
 
Wingate redshirt senior defensive end Steven Jacobs (Pembroke, N.C.) started the second half scoring for the visitors, returning a fumble 12 yards for a touchdown. The six points came courtesy of a quarterback sack by classmate and defensive end-mate Nick Napolitano (Shallotte, N.C.). The extra point by redshirt senior place kicker Patrick Smith (Hickory, N.C.) made the score 17-3 Bulldogs.
 
In the fourth quarter, Wingate junior defensive back Brandon Hathaway (Smyrna, Tenn.) found pay dirt in his first game in the Navy Blue and Vegas Gold. The Murray State transfer scooped up a Limestone fumble and ran 49 yards for a TD. Smith did the PAT honors again, giving the Bulldogs a 24-3 advantage.
 
The Saints scored their first touchdown in school history on the next series, as redshirt freshman DeAnthony Neal (Winston-Salem, N.C.) concluded a 10-play, 74-yard drive with a one-yard plunge. LC freshman place kicker Jonathan Ray (Sumter, S.C.) booted the extra point to cut the hosts' deficit to 24-10. Ray had a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter.
 
The Bulldog ground game accounted for the South Atlantic Conference member's final two scores. Redshirt junior tailback Mycah Gaylord (High Point, N.C.) scored on a four-yard run to conclude a six-play drive, while senior tailback Nestor Lantigua (Wellington, Fla.) posted a six-yard scoring scamper to complete a nine-play march and the Wingate scoring with 2:22 to go.
 
After a scoreless first quarter, Smith got the Bulldogs on the board with a 25-yard field goal with 12:16 remaining in the second stanza. The three-pointer resulted from a seven-play, 46-yard march. Smith had a big day, nailing five-of-five extra points and the one field goal. In 2013, he converted six-of-seven field goals and 35-of-39 extra points.
 
Wingate freshman running back Lawrence Pittman (Charlotte, N.C.) scored his first collegiate touchdown nine minutes later, putting the cherry on top of the 10-play, 74-yard ice cream sundae with his eight-yard run (3:32 on game clock). Smith's PAT finished the first half scoring as the Bulldogs took a 10-0 edge to the halftime locker room.
 
"Our run game really came up big on a day when we struggled to throw the ball," Reich says. Gaylord and Lantigua did some nice things today. I am glad we were able to get Pittman a few repetitions."
 
The game was a family reunion for both coaching staffs, as Limestone head coach Bobby James served six years as Wingate's defensive coordinator. James and LC assistants Drew Anthony, Craig Kerr, Louis Swaba and Billy Hall all spent time on Reich's Bulldog staff. "I think Coach James will do great things at Limestone," Reich says.