ASHLAND, VA – The Randolph-Macon Football team opened its 2011 schedule with a well-balanced effort on both sides of the ball as it knocked off visiting Methodist 43-7 on Saturday afternoon.

The teams both used the beginning of the contest to knock off some rust, before R-MC took over at its own 26 yard line on its second possession and used 15 plays and 7:11 of the clock on its way to the first score of the game when Kyle Norton caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Zac Naccarato. Norton then added the two point conversion to put the Jackets up 8-0.

On Methodist's ensuing drive, Patrick Moses caused a fumble on the fourth play and it was recovered by Ian Candelaria at the Monarch's 47 yard line.

R-MC needed just 3:32 to double their lead when Thaddeus Scruggs capped off a nine play drive with a three-yard scoring plunge. Norton would convert the two-point conversion again, putting the Jackets up 16-0.

After a Josh Storm 41 yard field goal put R-MC up, 19-0, Methodist got on the board when tight-end Nathan Kindley slipped behind the R-MC defense on a play action pass and scored on a 27 yard pass from Travis Murphy.

The score stayed that way through halftime and after the teams traded possessions to start the second half, MU set up for a punt deep and in their own territory, which was blocked by Terry Clark and recovered in the end zone by Norton. Storm would tack on the extra point, extending the R-MC lead to 26-7.

R-MC put the game away scoring on its next three possessions, taking a 43-7 advantage on a touchdown run by Steven Boyser with just under five minutes to play.

Joe Pricone led a balanced attack on defense for R-MC, making five tackles, two for sacks, and forced one fumble. Abel Simpson also had five stops, while Jeremy Bowry had four.

Naccarato was an efficient 16-of-23 for 153 yards and two scores in his collegiate debut. Seven different players helped R-MC rack up 201 yards on the ground, led by Drake Sanders' 65 yards on the day.

R-MC had the ball for over 37 minutes of the game, ran 76 plays and rolled up 393 total yards of offense.

Murphy was 7-of-15 for 67 yards on the day. John Flanagan ran the ball 10 times for 43 yards for the Monarchs. Jacob Hunt made a game-high 10 tackles on the day for Methodist.

Randolph-Macon heads to Averett next weekend to take on the Cougars at 1:00 p.m.

-Yellow Jackets-