FOOTBALL | Hoyas, Through Lightning, Best Wagner in Home Opener

The Georgetown University football team (2-0) outlasted a two-hour weather delay and a relentless rushing attack to win their home opener against the Wagner College Seahawks (0-2) 31-20 Saturday, Sept. 6.

Under a clear sky and with weather above 80 degrees, Wagner won the coin toss and deferred their choice to the second half. Punter and kickoff specialist Ryan Lizner sent the opening kickoff through the back of the end zone, and the Hoyas began their first home drive of the season at the 25-yard line.

The Seahawks were looking to bounce back after a blowout loss to Kansas University, while the Hoyas aimed to follow up after a blowout week one win against Davidson College.

On first down, senior quarterback Danny Lauter dropped back and found senior wide receiver Jimmy Kibble on a 10-yard curl. Kibble broke free to put Georgetown at midfield on the game’s second play. After two plays for no gain, Lauter again looked for Kibble, who made a difficult contested catch to move the chains.

In what would become a theme, on the next play, Lauter targeted Kibble on a slant route. Wagner defensive back Sam Martin hit Kibble too early, and a pass interference penalty gave the Hoyas a first down on the Seahawks’ 30-yard line. After a missed touchdown ball to Kibble, sophomore running back Savion Hart got his first touch of the game, gaining nine yards on a pitch to the left. The drive stalled out from there. On fourth and one, the snap was wild, and Lauter had to fall on the ball for a turnover on downs.

Wagner’s offense took the field for the first time and immediately got running back Andre Hines Jr. involved. Runs from Hines and a scramble from quarterback Jack Stevens put the Seahawks deep into Hoya territory. Hines, unstoppable for the Georgetown defensive line, ripped off two more good runs to enter the red zone. Another rush, this time from running back Sekou Kamau, put Wagner on the seven-yard line.

On the next play, Stevens faked the hand-off and broke free for a seven-yard touchdown run. Liszer’s extra point put the Seahawks up 7-0.

Georgetown and Wagner then both went three-and-out, setting up the Hoyas at the Seahawks’ 40 after a short punt. Four strong runs from Hart gained 30 yards and ended the first quarter. For the first time in this game, Georgetown turned to senior quarterback Dez Thomas II for a gadget play, but he was tackled for a loss of two. Lauter came back into the game and found Kibble for their first touchdown. However, sophomore kicker Thomas Anderson missed the extra point wide left, keeping Wagner in front.

Both teams exchanged three-and-outs again before the Seahawks unleashed a punishing, eight-minute drive. A strong ground game led by Hines stalled out on fourth down at the 20-yard line. With just over one minute left in the half, kicker Nicholas Romero made it a 10-6 lead.

In the two-minute drill, Lauter found more of his receivers, working to the 31-yard line but no further. On fourth down, Anderson looked for redemption and nailed a 48-yard field goal to make the deficit one at halftime.

Both teams started the second half slowly. Wagner went three-and-out on their opening drive. So did Georgetown. Then Wagner again. This time, though, senior wide receiver Nicholas Dunnerman received the punt near midfield, broke the first tackle, then split the remaining defenders. Dunnerman sprinted into the end zone for a 55-yard punt return touchdown.

To make the lead seven, the Hoyas lined up a two-point conversion. With an empty backfield, Lauter found Dunnerman again on a slant route to convert and give the receiver an octopus, in which a player is responsible for eight points — a touchdown and two-point conversion — on one drive.

The Seahawks immediately looked to respond and put together another five-minute drive. A facemask penalty on Georgetown junior defensive lineman Cooper Blomstrom moved Wagner from the 30-yard line into the red zone. Four straight rushes, rotated among the Seahawks running backs, put Wagner on the edge of the end zone. Hines punched it in, and another kick tied the game at 17-17.

Thomas, not Lauter, took the reins for the next Hoya drive. He too looked to Kibble on the first snap, finding the receiver for a 6-yard gain. A short run for Hart set up third down and four. A perfectly executed read option, kept by Thomas, froze the defense. Thomas went 67 yards untouched to put the Hoyas up by a touchdown.

Wagner’s next drive started slowly, ending the third quarter still in progress, but resulting in a punt on the second play of the final quarter. With Thomas still in, the Hoyas went three-and-out too.

A short punt set up the Seahawks at midfield, as rain began to fall over the field. Methodical gains put Wagner in field goal range, but nearby lightning halted the clock — and the Seahawks’ momentum — at 9:41.

NCAA rules require teams to wait 30 minutes to resume play after the observance of lightning, with the 30-minute count restarting for each new lightning strike observed. As the weather lingered overhead, the delay extended. After a 90-minute suspension, a stadium event supervisor said Wagner declined to end the game early because they believed they could come back.

At 6 p.m., the weather finally relented and the players returned to the field. A brief warmup after a long break undoubtedly affected the players, and the Seahawks could not reclaim that same momentum.

A field goal on the second play after resuming meant Wagner trailed by four, but Georgetown looked to put the game on ice. Lauter returned as the quarterback, working the Hoyas to the red zone. He handed off to Hart at the five, who broke through on an inside zone for a game-clinching touchdown.

The Seahawks would get two more opportunities, but failed on both drives — with junior cornerback Quincy Briggs intercepting two desperation throws.

Georgetown Head Coach Rob Sgarlata said he made sure his team was prepared for a lengthy delay after a similar experience in a game against Sacred Heart University two years ago.

“We’ve done this before,” Sgarlata told ESPN after the game. “We go over this in the spring. On a beautiful spring day, we’ll say ‘rain delay,’ go inside. I give our senior leaders a lot of credit for keeping everybody loose.”

And on how his team stayed fueled?

“Uncrustables,” Sgarlata said.

Hart, while not replicating the dominance of his week one performance, was a key contributor. On 13 attempts, Hart rushed for 69 yards and one touchdown. Hart credited a team effort for his performance and the win.

“The rest of my team was doing their stuff the whole game,” Hart told ESPN. “It made me feel great that the whole team did their thing — defense and offense.”

After a strong start to the season, Georgetown received two votes in the FCS coaches poll. The Hoyas return to action with their first game of Patriot League play against Lafayette College (1-1) Saturday, Sept. 13 at 1 p.m. on Cooper Field.