Akron Holds Off Kent State, 24-19, in Battle for Wagon Wheel
9/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
- Box Score
KENT, Ohio --Unlike last years thrilling come-from-behind win, Kent States comeback bid against rival Akron came up just short as the Golden Flashes (1-3, 0-1 MAC) fell to the Zips (1-3, 1-0 MAC) 24-19 tonight, September 23, in the Mid-American Conference opener at Dix Stadium.
The win by the Zips also returns the Wagon Wheel trophy to Akron. Kent held the Wheel after last years last-second 41-38 win at the Rubber Bowl.
Akron drew first blood in the opening quarter when quarterback Charlie Frye connected with Domenik Hixon on a 39-yard pass with 4:25 remaining following a fumble recovery by Chase Blackburn.
Blackburn had recovered a fumbled punt by Kent State returner Jack Williams (Norfolk, Va./Booker T. Washington).
Kent State got points on the board in the second quarter as senior split end Darrell Dowery, Jr. (Washington, D.C./Dunbar) returned a punt 66 yards with 5:48 left.
The Zips regained the lead with 29 seconds left in the half as the Frye-Hixon combination met again for an eight-yard touchdown pass. On the day, Frye went 17-of-29 passing for 178 yards and two touchdowns.
Akron extended its lead to 17-7 on a 46-yard field goal by Jason Swiger with 12:31 left in the third.
Kent State fought back in the fourth as senior quarterback Joshua Cribbs (Washington, D.C./Dunbar) scored ksus second touchdown of the day on a five-yard run with 5:51 on the clock.
With the score 17-13, Tim Wilkes sacked Cribbs on fourth down, giving the Zips the ball back at the Kent State 33. On the first play of the drive Brett Biggs went off tackle to the left and scampered into the endzone with 2:12 to bolster the Zips lead to 24-13.
Kent State tried to reconger some of the magic that helped it erase an 11-point deficit in the final minutes in 2003, as Cribbs found Dowery in the endzone with 51 seconds to play to cut the lead to 24-19 after a failed two-point try.
Kent State appeared to recover the onside kick, but a false start penalty canceled the play, forcing a rekick. Akron recovered the second onside kick and ran out the clock.
Cribbs finished the night having completed 23-of-40 for 179 yards with no interceptions. He also led the Golden Flashes with 101 yards on 20 rushing attempts and a score. It marked the ninth time in his career that Cribbs passed for 100 yards and rushed for 100 yards in the same game.
As a team, Kent State ran for 198 yards on 43 carries. Fifth-year senior running back David Alston (Willingboro, N.J./Willingboro) added a season-high 85 yards on 18 attempts.
Biggs led the Akron ground game with 82 yards on 20 carries. Hixon caught six of Fryes tosses for 85 yards and both touchdown passes.
With Cribbs 179 passing yards, he moves into second-place on the schools all-time list with 5,588 yards. He also became just the third player in school history to rush for over 3,000 yards.
Both teams missed opportunities in the red zone. The Golden Flashes were turned away twice, including a stop at the Akron one-yard line early in the third quarter. Akron was turned away by an interception by fifth-year senior safety Abram Elam (Riviera Beach, Fla./Cardinal Newman, Palm Beach C.C.) at the three-yard line in the first half.
The Kent State special teams also missed opportunities, as two field goals sailed wide of the uprights and an extra point attempt was blocked.
Chevin Pace made a game-high 12 tackles for the Zips and was one of four players to reach double figures in total stops. Senior linebacker Eric Mahl (Monroeville, Ohio/Monroeville) made 11 stops to lead Kent State.
GAME NOTES: Akron leads the all-time series, 26-19-2. The Zips have won eight of the last 10 meetings, including four straight at Dix Stadium... Akrons 7-0 first quarter lead marked the first time this season that the Zips led during the first half... Darrell Dowerys touchdown in the second quarter was the first time a Golden Flashes returned an unblocked punt for a touchdown since 1989 when Andre Palmer and Shawn Barnes both returned punts for 62 yards against the University of Toledo... Frye moved into sixth place on the MAC individual passing yards chart with 9,298 in his career... Tonights crowd of 25,186 was the second-largest crowd in Dix Stadium history.
