Wilson, N.C.----After 475 days without football, the Wingate University Bulldogs opened the 2021 spring season in style, rolling to a 55-14 victory at Barton in NCAA Division II football action Saturday afternoon. Wingate moves to 1-0 on the year, while Barton falls to 0-2.

THOUGHTS FROM JOE REICH

"It's been a year to the day since we sent all the students home. It was just a blessing to be back out there for all of us. Back to a bit of normalcy. I thought we played a good solid game today. Barton obviously is in the early stages of their program but they have a nice scheme on both sides of the ball and will get better as they grow. I thought we played with great effort tonight. It was also great to get so many players experience "

KEY STATS

- Wingate outgained Barton 480-286 in total yards
- The 'Dogs had 302 passing yards compared to Barton's 98
- WU had 178 rushing yards; Barton ran for 188 yards
- The Bulldogs outscore Barton 28-0 in the first quarter and led 41-7 at halftime
- Wingate averaged 7.6 yards per play while Barton went for 5.3 per play
- The Bulldogs piled up four sacks on the day
- WU won the time of possession battle by over two minutes
- The 'Dogs were four-of-11 on third down; Barton went three-for-12
- Wingate was one-for-one on fourth down; Barton went zero-for-one
- The 'Dogs had 19 of the 29 first downs in the game
- Barton had the only two turnovers on the day, one interception and one lost fumble

KEY BULLDOGS

- Shaw Crocker was nine-for-16 for 175 yards and two touchdowns
- Jacob Satterfield went six-for-six for 103 yards and a TD
- Kevin Henderson had 72 rushing yards and three touchdowns
- Alex Wilson had six carries for 78 yards and a score
- Kendall Lewis had three catches for 106 yards and a touchdown
- Bo Giwa added a 51-yard TD
- Kamal Desor had three grabs for 40 yards
- Trevor Grant had a 13-yard TD reception
- Mark Burks had two pass break-ups, two blocked kicks and a touchdown
- Ricky Smith had six tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss
- Dontorian Best and Davon Gilmore added six tackles each
- Justin Rhodes, Jesiah Carlton and Marquise Fleming each registered a sack
- Carlton also forced a fumble
- Austin Richardson had an interception for the Bulldogs
- McLean Robertson made all five extra points he attempted; Hayden Kilgore added two PATs
- Ethan Evans had three touchbacks on four kickoffs and went for 42 yards per punt on four punts; long of 58

FIRST QUARTER

- Wingate went 59 yards on four plays on the opening drive
- Wilson started the drive with a 31-yard run, while a 23-yard catch for Lewis got it to the BC five
- Wilson punched it in the next play to make it 7-0
- Burks blocked a 34-yard Barton field goal attempt to give the ball back to Wingate
- WU went 82 yards on five plays to go on top by 14
- Wilson went for 30 yards on the first two runs of the series
- Crocker hit Giwa on third and nine for a 51-yard TD
- A 15-yard punt return from J. Max Swaim set Wingate up on the Barton 46
- Crocker hit Henderson for a 20-yard pass to get it to the red zone
- Crocker connected with Grant from 13 yards out to make it 21-0
- Burks gave the 'Dogs a four-score lead when he blocked his second kick of the day
- He blocked a Barton punt from their own 26 and returned it 15 yards for a TD to make it 28-0

SECOND QUARTER

- Barton got on the board four minutes into the second to make it 28-7
- The Bulldogs had the answer, going 39 yards on seven plays to go back on top by 28
- Giwa's 30-yard return got it to the Barton 39
- Crocker connected with Desor for 22 yards to get it inside the 15
- Henderson scored from a yard out to make it 35-7
- Wingate scored in the final minute, capping a 12-play, 76-yard drive to go on top 41-7 at halftime
- Crocker hit Desor for 10 yards on fourth and two to keep the drive alive
- Jarrett Dutton's seven-yard run got it down to the one
- Henderson scored from a yard out to cap the drive

THIRD QUARTER

- Wingate needed only one play to get on the board in the second half
- Satterfield hit Lewis for a 71-yard touchdown to put the 'Dogs on top 48-7 with 13:16 left
- The 'Dogs went over 50 on the next drive
- Grant had a 10-yard run, while a Satterfield completion to Zyone Easterling got it inside the 20
- Henderson scored his third TD of the day from six yards out to make it 55-7

FOURTH QUARTER

- Barton found the end zone with 6:51 to go to make the final margin 55-14

UP NEXT

- Wingate is back in action in two weeks, hosting Catawba March 27 at 6 p.m.
- The 'Dogs are home the following Friday, hosting Lenoir-Rhyne at 6 p.m. on April 2