Friday, Nov. 20, 2009

Coastal Carolina football team has not forgotten '08 finale

CONWAY -- Injured and unable to play, Coastal Carolina safety Dominique Davenport had plenty of opportunities to scoreboard watch in the second half of the 2008 season finale against Charleston Southern.

As the game wore on, that became increasingly more painful for Davenport and Co., especially over the last eight minutes of the game, when the Brooks Stadium scoreboard read: Charleston Southern 24, Coastal Carolina 0.

"At that point there were a lot of things going through your head," Davenport said. "You're just kind of wondering how it got like this. ... We didn't play like Coastal football had ever played. That's a big rivalry for us, and to go into the locker room 0-0 and to lose 24-0, that left a bad taste in my mouth."

The Chanticleers can purge the demons from that loss in Saturday's season-ending rematch in Charleston, and perhaps also give themselves some momentum heading into the offseason. They used last season's embarrassing loss to the Buccaneers as motivation.

"That scoreboard," Coastal linebacker Desmond Steward said when asked what he remembers from last season's loss to the Buccaneers. "It was a long game. I thought we still had a shot in the game no matter how much we were down, but our mistakes in the beginning hurt us in the end. We just couldn't get anything going."

Despite outgaining Charleston Southern 276-235, the Chants threw three interceptions and fumbled three times. Once starting quarterback Zach MacDowall, who finished 8-for-8 for 80 yards, left with a shoulder injury late in the first half - he later had offseason surgery on that shoulder, missing spring practice - Will Richardson and Jamie Childers did little to move the offense with consistency.

Coastal's defense kept the Chants in the game for a half, but the Buccaneers drove deep in Coastal territory on its first four drives of the second half, scoring two touchdowns and a field goal to put the game out of reach.

"We had the ball down there in the red zone four times in the first half and came away with no points," Coastal coach David Bennett said. "... They played really well in the second half and took advantage of [MacDowall's injury]. Things can happen in the ballgame. You have to give them credit. We did not play well at all in the second half."

For the second consecutive year, the teams enter with identical records. This time, however, they are both 5-5, needing a victory to finish with a winning record.

"For the guys that are going to be here next year, we need this," Steward said. "We need this win to start this program off right next year and to send our seniors off on a good note."