BUENA VISTA, Va. – Frostburg State shook off a sluggish start and racked up 228 yards on the ground en route to a 42-7 victory over Southern Virginia in New Jersey Athletic Conference action, Saturday.
The Bobcats scored in all four quarters, including 28 second-half points as they open the season at 2-1 for the second time under second-year head coach DeLane Fitzgerald. The game also hands Fitzgerald a win over the Knights (1-2, 0-1) where he served as head coach from 2009-13.
"We played very sluggish today, especially in the beginning of the game," said Fitzgerald. "We were not clicking on offense or special teams. However, we were able to make enough plays to pull away from them in the end."
The offense and special teams made up for it in the second half with a passing and rushing touchdown and a punt return for another score.
The defense, however, was just fine from start to finish as it held SVU to just 109 yards in total offense. The Knights threw for just 53 yards against the Frostburg secondary, including three interceptions.
Freshman Gavin Lavat ran for a game-high 66 yards in 12 carries and a pair of touchdowns. He scored the game's first touchdown with just 1:18 left in the first quarter from five yards out for a 7-0 lead. He later opened the second half with a three-yard scoring jolt just 4:34 into the third quarter to help the Bobcats to a 21-0 lead.
In between Lavat's end zone trips, junior Thomas Moore ran for a 31-yard touchdown early in the second quarter that handed Frostburg a 14-0 edge, a score that would remain the same at the half.
Midway through the third, sophomore Josh Washington picked off a Shawn Honeycutt pass and returned it 40 yards for the score and a 28-0 cushion.
Southern Virginia's LaKeith Hopkins posted a four-yard touchdown run early in the fourth, but Frostburg closed out the ballgame with two more scores.
Junior Austin Bonsall hauled in a 29-yard pass from freshman Connor Cox to cap Frostburg's longest drive of the contest (12 plays, 80 yards) and with under a minute remaining, freshman Sergio Andino returned a punt 49 yards for a score and the 42-7 final.
Cox finished with 131 yards on 13-of-17 passing. He found senior Antonio Wood seven times for a game-high 79 yards. The Bobcat offense turned all three Southern Virginia interceptions into touchdown producing drives and Frostburg held the ball for nearly 35 minutes.
"Today showed us that we still have a lot to work on and we need to have a good week of practice," said Fitzgerald. "It's always nice to get a win on the road, but I expect us to play better going forward than we did today."
Frostburg State has a bye week next Saturday and will host Kean in two weeks on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 1:00 pm. Fans can follow all of the action through live stats and live video at www.FrostburgSports.com.
