Braves 'excited' for home opener
Sep. 17—PEMBROKE — Home openers are always exciting for any football team.
When the team has played just one home game since Nov. 2019, there's that much more anticipation — and that's the case for The University of North Carolina at Pembroke team entering Saturday's 6 p.m. game against Glenville State.
"We've talked about it this week in terms of our guys building up a sense of pride to play in front of home fans, family, friends and the university," UNCP coach Shane Richardson said. "I think guys are really excited because, between the spring and this year already, we've had some really long road trips. It'll be great to be able to get into a home routine here, and it'll be exciting, a good atmosphere for a night game."
The Braves (1-1, 1-0 Mountain East) got just one home game during the partial season this spring, delayed from the fall of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and now play their home opener as they take the field for a second time.
The team lost last week's nonconference game at Findlay, 34-28 in overtime, and were awarded an MEC victory by forfeit over West Virginia Wesleyan College, who was unable to play due to virus protocols last week.
The loss at Findlay came down to the running game on both sides of the ball, Richardson said.
"The difference was we did not run the ball very well and we did not stop the run very well," Richardson said. "That was just a very glaring statistic, it was very obvious, it was very unacceptable, and our team was challenged this week about that."
The Braves rushed for just 60 yards, and they'll now face a Glenville State defense that allowed 50 rushing yards in the Pioneers' 17-10 win over Concord last week.
"We've got to be able to attack defenses in terms of what they're giving us and make sure we're very efficient with who we're giving the ball to, and how we're able to attack and what plays we're calling," Richardson said.
UNCP allowed 333 rushing yards at Findlay — 305 of them by Derek Lynch. The Glenville State offense could provide the Braves a chance to improve that statistic, as the Pioneers ran for just 103 yards last week.
"I don't think it's necessarily a schematical problem," Richardson said. "It's all about mentality, it's all about taking pride and being physical up front, it's all about making sure that you're lower and have (better) low-pad leverage than the guy across from you, and you've just got to do those things play in and play out."
Tim Heltzel was 14-for-25 passing for 208 yards with a touchdown last week for Glenville State, and the team totaled 263 passing yards.
UNCP's Josh Jones completed 27 of 48 passes for 368 yards with three touchdowns and one interception; Saturday he'll face a Pioneers secondary that allowed 402 yards against Concord.
"He'll find a way to make plays, and he has shown himself that it's very comfortable for us as coaches when the ball is in his hands," Richardson said. "He typically will make good decisions; he's certainly still growing, and there's mistakes he can still improve on, but he's been a guy that really understands what we're trying to do and has settled in very comfortably in leading the offense."
After the close loss last week, the Braves hope their home opener will be a game in which they turn the outcome back in their favor.
"We're excited to get back out there and redeem ourselves," Richardson said. "I was really proud of our energy and our effort on Saturday, and I love the spirit of our guys. We've got to be able to couple that with the executional piece now, and if we can get both of those things together I think it'll be a really fun and good outcome."
