By Jared McMurry
Entering Big South Conference play, the Gardner-Webb football team, winners of its past two games, is looking to continue to improve on its season.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs (4-3) traveled to Virginia Military Institute last Saturday and escaped with their first road win of the season, 47-41, in overtime. They will return to the state of Virginia this Saturday as they take on the Liberty Flames (4-3).
Liberty was ranked in the top 25 for several weeks in a row before falling on the road to Indiana State and at home to Richmond. Although the Flames were off last week, they come into Saturday having beat Appalachian State in their previous game.
“They [Liberty] have good players and have a very strong offensive line which stands out to me,” Coach McCray said. McCray also notes that his team will travel into a hostile environment and battle a team with a solid quarterback.
Quarterback Josh Woodrum has passed for 14 touchdowns and over 270 yards a game so far in the season for the Flames. His counterpart Lucas Beatty has really improved as the season has gone along for the Runnin’ Bulldogs.
Beatty has passed for nearly 800 yards and six scores in his past two games. “Lucas is a rhythm guy, and we work really hard to get him going early,” McCray said.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs were without starting running back Juanne Blount once again last week, but McCray made it known that J.J. Hubbard was able to help establish a run game for the Bulldogs and open up the play action pass.
Look for Blount to be back on the field Saturday as Gardner-Webb will seek to establish an early run game and jump ahead of Liberty.
Kickoff between Gardner-Webb and Liberty will be at 3:30 Saturday afternoon in Lynchburg, Virginia.