Faulkner University

Action shots for the season available in the Gallery.

No.11 Shorter outpaces Faulkner in home opener

Action shots from the game can be found here.

September 27

Story by Wesley Lyle - Montgomery Advertiser

First-year Faulkner coach Gregg Baker's home debut didn't go as planned.

Facing 11th-ranked Shorter College at Cramton Bowl, Faulkner took an early lead but didn't have enough to hang on in a 43-27 loss.

"We're getting better, slowly but surely," Baker said. "We're starting seven freshmen on offense, so it's a work in progress. But we're making progress. I'm not sure how many snaps we had today, but we were able to do more with the ball."

The loss was the third straight for Faulkner (1-3) since a season-opening win over Webber International. This loss and last week's loss were against top-11 teams in the NAIA.

"We've been playing some good competition and it doesn't get a lot easier," Baker said. "But I believe playing these games is going to help us. The focus now is to try and build off of this.

"We're taking baby steps right now. We're trying not to make the same mistakes. When we can get to where we're not repeating the same mistakes, we'll arrive at where we need to be."

Shorter (3-1) rolled up 547 yards of offense and scored 34 points in the final three quarters to control the game. Still, Shorter coach Phil Jones said he was impressed with Faulkner's progress.

"We know how hard it is to start a program," said Jones, who helped start the fifth-year Shorter program. "When you're coming off a couple of disappointing losses, it can be tough to play as hard as Faulkner did today.

"Give a lot of credit to their kids for battling like they did today."

A pair of Brandon Cheatham touchdowns gave Faulkner a 13-9 lead in the first quarter. Then Shorter's offense began to click.

"We didn't execute at first. We were kind of lackadaisical to start the game," Shorter running back A.J. Cooley said. "We had to start executing and pushing ourselves more. We know that we have to go all out."

Cooley did his part, accounting for 210 of Shorter's 521 rushing yards. He scored three times.

"Cooley is an amazing running back," Baker said. "He's one of the leading backs in the MSC (Mid-South Conference). He's a heck of a player."

The game wasn't Cooley's first big game against Faulkner. Last season, Cooley rushed for 209 yards and two touchdowns against the Eagles.

"It all comes down to our offensive line," Cooley said. "Those guys did a good job opening holes and the rest of our running backs provided a surge that helped me."