FORT BENNING, Ga. (Oct. 17, 2012) -- The Fort Benning Doughboys failed to avenge their loss from two weeks ago and fell once again to Faulkner University, losing this time, 14-6.
The game turned out to be quite different from the 60-27 shootout in Montgomery, Ala., however, with both defenses giving the offense more than it could handle.
The Doughboys tried to put together a late drive that would have potentially tied the game, but poor clock management left them with a fourth-and-six from the Faulkner 34-yard line and just 10 seconds remaining. Quarterback Matt Makaryk's pass fell incomplete to halt the comeback bid.
Instead, it was the Eagles who had the decisive touchdown, which came in the third quarter on the only busted coverage of the game by the Doughboys' secondary. Quarterback Christian Coston hit a wide-open Lagori McCain, who lined up in the slot and ran a deep fly route for a 28-yard score, which gave Faulkner an eight-point lead.
The touchdown was the byproduct of a blocked punt, which the Eagles made at the Fort Benning 37-yard line.
The Doughboys had little going for them offensively in the second half. The one drive where they seemed to be gaining momentum was cut short after the Eagles recovered a fumble by Marvin Gholar near midfield.
The Doughboys had four turnovers compared to the 15 they had in their previous two games, but head coach Jason Gibson said it was four too many.
Fort Benning struck first, but may not have scored at all if they hadn't taken advantage of a Faulkner fumble at the Eagles' 19-yard line.
On a fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line, Makaryk ran a quarterback draw and dove for the end zone, giving Fort Benning a 6-0 lead. The Doughboys failed on a two-point conversion attempt.
The Eagles responded with a four-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Holder to Myles Howard to take a 7-6 lead into halftime.
Doughboys running back Mario Johnson rushed for 85 yards in the first half and had 128 for the game. But with an almost non-existent passing game, Faulkner loaded up in the box to stop the run.
"We can't pass protect, so anytime we're in third-and-long, we're done," Gibson said.
"Eventually teams are going to come down and put nine guys in the box to try and stop the run."
The next game will be a different atmosphere for Fort Benning -- a Thursday night showdown Oct. 25 with Columbus State University -- and the Doughboys will have an opportunity to salvage a 3-3 season.
If players show up to practice, everything will be fine, Gibson said. The game against CSU will be at Doughboy Stadium.
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