WISE - - UVa-Wise will look for its third straight season opening victory when third-year Head Coach Dane Damron leads his team into Thursday's game against Glenville State at Carl Smith Stadium. The Cavaliers opened last season with a 41-29 win in Glenville behind Kaian Duverger's 104 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Picked seventh in the Mountain East Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, Damron's crew enters the 2018 season having to replace eight starters on a defense that ranked 34th nationally in total defense in 2017.
The unit will get tested early as the Pioneers return nine starters on offense, including a pair of All-MEC Second-Team selections in wide receiver Javon Butler and offensive lineman Caleb Doak. Last season, Butler caught 39 passes for 609 yards while grabbing nine touchdowns. A 6-foot-1, 285-pound junior, Doak is slated to see time at left tackle. At quarterback, Glenville State is scheduled to start Jaylen McNair who played in every game but the season opener last fall. The sophomore passed for 1,857 yards and 20 touchdowns while completing 54.8 percent of his passes as a freshman.
UVa-Wise will also have to deal with Mario Pender who should see time at tailback and as a kick returner. Most recently, Pender played for Florida State University where he averaged 4.9 yards per carry over 71 attempts while adding five rushing touchdowns. The senior also caught 13 passes while adding a receiving score to his ledger during his time in a Seminoles uniform.
The senior trio of Donavan Montague (6-3, 220), Dylan Giovine (6-0, 220) and Chris White, (6-1, 215) will be counted on to lead the UVa-Wise defense. A year ago, Montague earned CoSIDA Academic All-District accolades for his work in the classroom while being a second-team all-league performer on the field. He led the team with 8.5 sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss. Giovine will start at middle linebacker after making 68 stops, incluing 11 behind the line of scrimmage in 2017 while White posted 41 tackles and five tackles for loss in his junior season last fall.
On defense, Glenville State will try to improve from a 2017 campaign that saw opponents score 29.3 points per game. The Pioneers struggled to stop the Cavaliers passing attack in last year's meeting, surrendering 318 yards and three touchdowns through the air.
UVa-Wise will rely heavily on its experienced offensive line which boasts a trio of seniors in center Chase Cluesman (6-2, 282), right guard Will Pendegraph (6-2, 297) and right tackle Connor Patton (6-4, 284) to anchor the offense. Either redshirt junior Brycen Lee or sophomore Jarome Johnson will start behind center while converted linebacker Jamorya Cousin is slated to start at running back. alongside senior Victor Mitchell. Duverger will be flanked by sophomore Chris Thaxton at the other wide receiver position.
An area to watch is the return game, last year UVa-Wise posted 24.03 yards per return to lead the league and rank 20th nationally. Redshirt sophomore Marquis Hamilton is back after posting a 37.08 yards per return average to go with two return touchdowns as a redshirt freshman. Hamilton missed qualifying as the national leader by one kickoff return.
