Published: October 05, 2008 01:44 am            

Soucy leads defensive spark

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Andrew Soucy knew in his heart that his uncle was looking down on him from above when he stepped onto the field before Saturday’s showdown with Tennessee Tech at Tucker Stadium.

“I felt like he was with me,” Eastern Kentucky University’s sophomore defensive lineman said. “Everything in my mind just took me to the ball.”

Playing for the first time since he found out his uncle had passed away last week, Soucy recovered a fumble, had an interception and led a defensive effort that sparked the Colonels (3-3, 2-1 Ohio Valley Conference) to an important 33-12 win over the Golden Eagles (3-3, 1-1 OVC).

EKU forced three turnovers, which turned into 17 points, and fueled by the spark provided by sensational sophomore Cody Watts, set season-highs for points, first downs, rushing yards and total yards.

“I couldn’t be more proud,” EKU coach Dean Hood said. “Just look at all the adversity we’ve been through. Aaron Bradley’s brother was shot. Antonio Fredrick’s mom passed. Brandon Gathof’s mom is sick. Andrew’s uncle died. My daughter has been sick. We were 2-3, but in a lot of ways it felt like we were 0-5. We’ve just had so much personal adversity.”

The Colonels came into the game averaging just 13.8 points a game, the worst in the league, and had not scored more than 20 points in any contest. They were also last in the OVC in rushing offense (53.2), rushing touchdowns (two) and next to last in total offense (263.2 yards a game).

And in the first half, the offense struggled again. But, it was the defense that delivered the key plays as EKU picked up a second-straight win.

The Colonels went into halftime with a 16-0 lead despite having just 96 yards of total offense. The defense set up three of those scores as they turned an interception, blocked punt and a fumble into 13 points.

“The defense kept us in the game,” EKU running back Aaron Bradley said. “The defense is the reason we got the offense going. We just finally got rolling. This was a great win for all of us. We are all happy.”

Stephon Fuqua blocked a punt with 7:58 left in the first quarter and after the ensuing drive stalled, Taylor Long kicked a field goal to put the Colonels up 3-0. Long added another field goal early in the second quarter, then Soucy recovered TTU quarterback Lee Sweeney’s fumble at the TTU 20-yard line – which lead to another field goal.

The Colonels finally found the end zone late in the second half on a 2-yard run by Bradley, which was set by Soucy’s first career interception.

That INT came on a bizarre play where Chris Hall hit quarterback Josh Lowery and his pass bounced off a TTU player, then into the hands of Chris Harris, who couldn’t hold on to the ball. Soucy then dove and caught the ball before it hit the ground.

“We needed this win,” Soucy said. “We’ve overcome a lot of adversity, but we finally came out and played Colonel football.”

Long connected on four field goals, giving him 13-straight this season. He hit from 38, 25, 37 and 24 yards.

Holland completed 6-of-19 passes for 34 yards and was sacked two times. But, the senior still moved up to fifth place on the school all-time passing list before being replaced by Watts early in the third quarter.

Holland now has 3,623 yards in his career.

Watts took over under center mid-way through the third and lead the Colonels on an 11-play, 92-yard drive, which Bradley capped with a 19-yard touchdown run.

The sophomore completed six-of-seven passes for 86 yards and rushed for a team-high 62 yards before leaving with an ankle injury.

“I don’t think that they thought I was going to be in a quarterback at all,” Watts said. “They made the game plan all about Al and I kind of threw them off a little bit.”

        

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