Wake Forest Takes Down Syracuse, 28-9

By KJ Vaughn

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Syracuse traveled down to Wake Forest to take on the Demon Deacons in wet and windy Winston-Salem. The stormy weather and lack of execution cost them a chance at a victory as Wake Forest beat Syracuse 28-9.

Before the game Wake Forest honored the late Arnold Palmer with an amazing video tribute.

The game started off well for Syracuse as a bad Wake Forest snap resulted in a safety and a 2-0 lead. For the rest of the first quarter though it was a defensive slug fest as SU and Wake exchanged possessions.

Then, Wake Forest drove down the field aided by pass interference against the Orange all the way to Syracuse’s one yard line. On fourth and goal, a fumble by Demon Deacons Quarterback John Wolford that bounced into the end zone was recovered by Cordell Hudson for an Orange touchback.

To start the second quarter Wake Forest drove down the field and finished the drive with a seven yard touchdown run by Wolford to put the Demon Deacons up 7-2. Syracuse would counter later in the second quarter as a 59 yard drive was capped off by a Dontae Strickland one yard touchdown run.

The Demon Deacons responded with a 37 yard touchdown run by quarterback John Wolford, his second of the day, to put Wake Forest on top 14-9 with just under two minutes left in the first half.

A great run by Dontae Strickland for 49 yards brought the Orange all the way down to the red zone on the ensuing possession, but then on the next play an interception by Amari Henderson killed the Syracuse scoring threat.

The Orange would go into halftime trailing the Demon Deacons 14-9. After the game, Syracuse Head Coach Dino Babers believed it wasn’t necessary to continually pass the ball in the first two opening frames.

“We probably threw the football a little too much in the first half,” Coach Babers Said.

The 3rd quarter was an ugly one for Syracuse as the team only managed four total yards in the quarter, on one possession the Orange had three plays that went for -12 yards. A bright spot for SU was an interception by defensive end Jack Pickard. Wake Forest didn’t do much either in the 3rd quarter netting just 74 yards and scoring no points.
In the fourth quarter, SU linebacker Kendall Coleman was flagged for roughing the passer and targeting on a 28 yard pass by John Wolford to Chuck Wade. The targeting flag disqualified him for the rest of the game.

Wake Forest would take advantage of the extra yards as Cade Carney, on the next play ran into the end zone from 3 yards out to add to the Demon Deacons lead.

On the next SU possession Orange Quarterback Eric Dungey threw a pass to Running Back Jordan Fredericks, who caught the ball, but then coughed it up and Wake Forest defensive back Cameron Glenn returned the fumble 83 yards to put the finishing touches on a 28-9 Wake Forest victory.

The Orange will be back in action against Virginia Tech next Saturday October 15th in the dome, kick-off is scheduled for 3:45.