Backup quarterback Quinn Henicle rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns in his second career start and Old Dominion reached 10 wins with its sixth straight victory, 24-10, over South Florida in the Cure Bowl on Wednesday in Orlando, Fla.
Henicle, who put the game away with his 51-yard touchdown run with 2:24 to play, carried 24 times for the Monarchs (10-3). He also completed 11 of 25 passes for 127 yards.
Devin Roche added 100 yards on 19 carries and Trequan Jones rushed for 56 yards and a score, as the Monarchs piled up 255 rushing yards to South Florida’s 52. Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding caught five passes for 60 yards.
“People who don’t think that (bowl win) is important, I’d challenge them to watch our post-game celebration and watch our locker room and even our sideline when plays were made to decide this game,” Old Dominion coach Ricky Rahne said. “The bowls are incredibly important. These are memories these young men are going to have forever.”
Senior quarterback Gaston Moore made his first collegiate start and completed 20 of 28 passes for 236 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for the Bulls (9-4). Christian Neptune had 10 receptions for 102 yards, and Jeremiah Koger posted four catches for 68 yards and a score.
Old Dominion and South Florida were without starting quarterbacks Colton Joseph and Byrum Brown, respectively, forcing each offense to find its footing with new leaders.
Roche set up the Monarchs with a 48-yard punt return in the first two minutes, but the Bulls forced a turnover on downs at their 26. On ODU’s next drive, Jarvis Lee sacked Henicle and forced a fumble recovered by Fred Gaskin to thwart the next drive by the Monarchs. Nico Gramatica finished off a 31-yard drive with a field goal from 28 yards at 5:18 of the first quarter.
Henicle dashed in from six yards out for Old Dominion’s first lead, 7-3, with 42 seconds left in the first. Koger hauled in a 31-yard scoring pass for a 10-7 Bulls lead with 7:24 to go in the first half.
Brandon Crutchfield picked off Moore with over three minutes left, but the Monarchs botched the snap on a 37-yard field-goal attempt in the first half’s final seconds to leave the American Conference team with a three-point lead.
Old Dominion created the first turnover in the second half when Jerome Carter intercepted Moore’s bad overthrow and returned it 26 yards to the Bulls’ 25. Jones rumbled 22 yards for a 14-10 lead at the 10:06 mark of the third.
Nathanial Eichner made it 17-10 by drilling a 24-yard field goal with 3:27 left in the third, but he missed from 36 yards in the fourth quarter with 5:54 left that would have made it a two-score lead. Henicle’s second TD run sealed the win.
–Field Level Media
