RedHawks score 28 unanswered points; defeat Colonials 31-14 in Oxford
The team huddles before a play during Saturday’s 31-14 loss at Yager Stadium in Oxford, Ohio
September 10, 2022
OXFORD, OHIO– After a close loss to Dayton last week at the Joe, Robert Morris traveled to Oxford, Ohio, to face the MAC powerhouse in Miami (OH).
The Colonials fell to the RedHawks 31-14. Coach Clark mentioned on some of the positives throughout despite the loss.
“We did a lot of good things today. There’s no such thing as a moral victory, but we are going to learn a lot from this film. Every mistake is going to cost us because [Miami] is a good football team and that’s what hurt us today.”
The Red Hawks started with the ball and the game in a big way. Miami running back Kevin Davis rushed for 31 yards in the first play from scrimmage. Jaylon Bester rushed for another 22 yards the very next play.
Despite being benched last week, Anthony Chiccitt started the game for the Colonials at quarterback.
On just the second play from scrimmage for the Colonials, Chiccitt found a wide-open Dylan Smith for a 79-yard gain to place the ball at the 1-yard line. The Colonials broke through on third down with an Anthony Purge run.
On the ensuing Miami drive, on second down, Colonials’ Jacob White forced a fumble and recovered the ball at the RedHawk 27-yard line. However, after losing yardage during the drive, Jason Jenkins missed a 46-yard field goal to keep it 7-3.
“We persevered a lot of things we did. We showed some resilience. We had some adversity come up, but our guys continued to fight until the very end.”
Miami answered with a 71-yard touchdown drive as Aveon Smith found Luke Bolden to make it 10-7 Miami.
On the next Colonial drive, Anthony Chiccitt was hit while he was thrown, and John Saunders Jr intercepted his pass.
In the next play, Smith threw a 50/50 ball to Mac Hippenhammer to make it 17-7 RedHawks.
With about nine minutes to go in the half, Smith overthrew his target and fell right to the hands of Sydney Audiger for an interception.
As the Colonials tried to march down the field to cut the deficit, Chiccitt threw the ball in the middle for it to be cut off by Miami’s Ryan McWood for another interception.
The RedHawks took that short field to their advantage as they drove down to the 1-yard line as Keyon Mozee finally broke through at the goal line to score 24-7.
That would be the last we see of Chiccitt on the field as Jake Simmons trotted onto the field to start the second half.
Chiccitt was seen in a sling on the sideline after he was replaced.
Coach Clark spoke on the starter.
“We’re gonna see what Chiccitt looks like. We’re gonna see how he feels. We don’t know he feels. He has some ice on his shoulder so we don’t know if he’ll be ready for next week.”
In the first sequence, Simmons went for it all on third down and found Demonte Martin deep down the field. The ball was underthrown just enough for John Saunders Jr. to make a diving deflection to force the Colonials to punt.
After a couple of drives of no scoring, the RedHawks got into field goal range. The 39-yard try kick by Brendan Beattle was blocked by Tristan Marois to keep it a three-score game.
With 9:47 to go in the fourth quarter, Smith found Hippenhammer again for his second touchdown of the day.
With one minute left, George Sounders III punted, but Miami muffed it, and the Colonials recovered it at the 28-yard line by William Barber.
The Colonials took advantage of the late-game mistake. Jake Simmons found Amir Jordan for an eight-yard touchdown to make it 31-14 with 19 seconds remaining.
The Colonials have a bye week going into next week and will face East Tennessee State on September 24 at Joe Walton Stadium.
