Quarterback Lamar Little was gimpy. Running back Tarian Donaldson was not, at least not when it came to his wheels.
That was a good thing for Virginia Union University on a field made mushy by heavy rain from Tropical Storm Hanna.
With Little less than 100 percent, Donaldson ran for a career-high 196 yards on 16 carries as the Panthers handed new coach Greg Richardson his first win with a 35-14 victory over West Virginia Wesleyan last night at Hovey Field.
Donaldson, a junior from Tallwood High in Virginia Beach, partially dislocated his shoulder in last week's opening 14-11 loss to East Stroudsburg. That didn't keep him from ripping off big chunks of yardage when his massive front line (318-pound average) created a crease.
"I had to do it for [Coach Richardson]," said Donaldson, clamping an ice pack to his shoulder. "I knew how he was feeling from last week. It was all about redemption. We didn't play our hardest last week. He was a little disappointed. We wanted to show him we were the team from last year [that went 9-3]."
Donaldson is 5-9, 200 pounds. He'll run over a defender or use a stiff-arm, but he's at his best cutting and accelerating away from a crowd. That was a useful attribute when defenders got bogged down on the soggy field.
"If he gets a crease, he's gone," Richardson said. "We were just running the same plays we ran last week, but Tarian didn't understand the philosophy behind those plays. This week we worked him and worked him and worked him. He understands now what we're doing. He ran like we know he can run."
Little, a dual threat as a passer and a runner, sprained both ankles in last week's loss and was on crutches until Thursday. With the poor field conditions, Richardson decided to start freshman Cheston Hickman.
Hickman acquitted himself well, completing 2 of 4 passes and guiding an 84-yard scoring drive on his second series. Hickman injured his thumb on the next-to-last play of the drive, so Richardson inserted Little for a handoff on a 3-yard touchdown by Hermitage High product Marquis Davis.
Little stayed in until late in the fourth quarter. Wearing braces and tape, he displayed no problem with his ankles, scrambling around and completing 6 of 13 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once.
"The mud didn't make it any better," he said. "But all the adrenaline was pumping and my teammates said, 'Come on.' I knew I couldn't let them down two weeks in a row. So I just forgot about my pain and went out and got the job done."
Union got a 95-yard TD kickoff return from Enrique Cox to open the game. But special teams mistakes helped West Virginia Wesleyan (0-2) forge a 14-14 tie. Then the Panthers' defense began to shut down the Bobcats, and Union ran off 21 unanswered points.
"It wasn't as pretty as we'd like," Richardson said. "We made a lot of mental mistakes. The penalties killed us on some drives. That's something we've got to correct. We're going to have to be a little tougher mentally, make guys accountable for it, because that can kill you in the stretch."
