By Jim O'Hara
ROME, Ga. – They know what happened last year, but haven't dwelt on it.
They are also well aware that the team they face has taken on the look of another foe they were up against a year ago.
And the Shorter Hawks fully understand that they will take the field for in their season opener, their second year as an NCAA Division II program, squaring off against a Division I FCS team that already has a game under its belt.
The challenges are many but are gladly accepted by the Hawks who begin the 2013 campaign Saturday morning at 11 a.m. when Shorter heads to Charleston, S.C., to take on the Charleston Southern Buccaneers, who spoiled the Hawks' home opener last year rallying for a 23-20 victory and will play their home opener this year having already tasted victory with shocking cross-town rival The Citadel a week ago.
"We had some missed opportunities last year, but that game is in the past," senior fullback Bradley Moon, who became just the second back in Shorter history last fall to rush for more than 1,000 yards and led the Gulf South Conference in that category, said about how the team is focused on the Hawks' second meeting ever against CSU.
"This year it's a clean slate," he added, "and we'll see what the Lord has in store for us."
What is ahead right out of the gate for the Hawks will be another round of first-game challenges, something that has become commonplace for the program as Shorter has traditionally not shied away from opening with tough games.
"We're on the road, we're stepping up against a Division I FCS team and going up against a good team," said Shorter head coach Phil Jones, who begins his ninth season at the helm of the Hawks and 45th year on the sidelines as a coach. "We've got to be sound and conscious of what we're doing.
"But the biggest factor of all is that they've played a game," he quickly pointed out. "When you get that first game under your belt, you get to know what you have for the next game.
"All of our guys are ready to go. They're excited about it. They've had a lot of challenges they've had to face already and know that this game will be another challenge."
Southern's win gave the Hawks an instant idea of what the Bucs are capable of doing defensively – against The Citadel, which runs almost the exact same Wing option run attack that Shorter bases out of, CSU sewed up the win by shutting down a Bulldog offense that was the No. 4-ranked rushing team last year in two fourth quarter drives.
Leading the Buccaneers' defense was senior linebacker Calvin Bryant, who was named the national co-Defensive Player of the Week by The Sports Network and was the Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Week after recording a career-high 12 tackles, forced a fumble and broke up a pass.
Offensively, Charleston Southern – the Bucs are gunning for just the second 2-0 start to a season in the program's history – are paced by quarterback Malcolm Dixon, who threw for 141 yards and two touchdown passes against The Citadel and helped his team a 16-0 second-quarter deficit and outscore the Bulldogs 32-13 the rest of the way.
"We looked at (at last year's game film) but didn't spend a lot of time on it because they're doing different things," said Jones, noting that CSU is now under the direction of first-year head coach Jamey Chadwell, who was the head coach at Delta State – Shorter defeated the Statesmen and Chadwell in the 2012 season finale – and brought his offensive and defensive schemes to Charleston.
"We studied more about what Delta State did last year because that's what (Southern) is doing now," Jones said. "They're very physical and have new looks. You have to know what you're doing."
The Hawks do know how to move the ball as Shorter returns most of the key weapons that helped the team post an impressive 6-5 overall record and a 2-3 GSC slate last year.
In addition to having Moon in the backfield, junior quarterback Eric Dodson also returns having passed for a team-record 972 yards last season and emerge as another threat to run the ball behind an offensive line that also returns nearly intact.
That same lineup rolled up nearly 450 yards against CSU last year, 317 of those coming on the ground where Dodson led the Hawks with 136 yards – he also passed for 130 yards and a touchdown – and Moon added 98 more yards.
However, what proved to be costly to the Hawks then were two fumbles that led to CSU touchdowns, and 138 yards in penalties, including one toward the end of the game when Hawks moved the ball to the Bucs' 4, was poised for a go-ahead touchdown but were flagged with a penalty that forced the team to settle for a field goal.
"We have to take care of the ball and avoid the penalties," said Jones.
"It's time to focus on what we have this year and improve on what we do," said Moon. "We'll focus on playing our game and I feel we'll have a lot of opportunities, and if we stay healthy, we can have a great season."
