GW rides ‘20 and 28 show’ to victory

Published: September 30, 2008

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — George Washington starting quarterback Tim Moore only threw one pass the entire night against Parkland, which almost went for a long competition.

A passing game is unnecessary when “the 20 and 28 show” is rocking the running game like it did against the Mustangs.

David Wilson followed up a school record 331-yard performance from last week with 271 yards and four touchdowns and Tahron Goods added 174 rushing yards and two more touchdowns as George Washington overcame another slow start to beat Parkland 44-36 on Monday.

Goods coined the phrase “the 20 and 28 show” after the game, which certainly needed to be the case against a Mustangs offense that finished with 297 yards passing from quarterback Darryl Adams.

“Like Tahron said, it was the 20 and 28 show,” said Wilson, who carried the ball 21 times. “We knew it was going to come down to us. Tahron got in his groove and I stayed in my groove. We pounded the rock.”

The Eagles ran the ball 52 times for 469 yards, eating up 28 minutes of clock and keeping Parkland’s (1-4) throwing attack off the field.

“We were trying to eat the clock up and keep those guys off the field,” GW coach Dan Newell said.

Which the Eagles needed to do after a first half that saw Adams complete 10-of-16 passes for 168 yards, including a 77-yard strike to Nicholas James that put the Mustangs up 14-3 early in the second quarter.

After that score, the duo of Wilson and Goods took over. Less than three minutes elapsed before Wilson scored from 2 yards out. The Eagles tacked on another rushing touchdown, this time from Goods with less than two minutes remaining, to give GW (2-2) its first lead of the night at 17-14.

“The game plan was to keep pounding and pounding until they stopped us,” Goods said.

Then two plays changed the entire complexion of the game.

Parkland was in scoring position with just under a minute to go and had a full complement of timeouts to spare. Adams lobbed a pass into the left corner of the end zone that Jamel Ferrell snatched for an interception.

The second play was the home run threat of Wilson, who took a toss to the right side, followed his blockers, high stepped over two tacklers and sailed 80 yards for an Eagles touchdown.

“We did what we could to stop them but we didn’t stop them enough,” Parkland coach DeAngelo Bell said.

The second half provided much of the same for GW, a heavy dose of Wilson and Goods, but Parkland did not get the same results out of Adams and the passing attack.

The senior quarterback completed just 9-of-21 passes, including his second interception. The rhythm in the passing game was off and the Eagles capitalized with scores from Wilson and Goods that saw GW’s lead balloon to 37-20.

“We had mistakes and they just ran the ball very well,” Adams said. “They played together as a team.”

The Eagles needed the effort, especially from the offensive line, which had its work cut out for it the entire night. The philosophy of Newell and his staff from day one has been to ride the workhorses while the youngsters mature.

“When it came down to it and you got two studs like that, you don’t have any choice but to make sure you put the ball in their hands,” Newell said.