Football Southern Conference

SoCon Football Results, Nov. 8, 2003

Wofford 28, East Tennessee state 14

SPARTANBURG -- True freshman Kevious Johnson rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns
while All-America free safety Matt Nelson had a key interception and
fumble recovery as the Wofford football team claimed the outright
Southern Conference championship and the league's automatic bid to the
Division I-AA playoffs with a 28-14 win over East Tennessee State this
afternoon at Gibbs Stadium in Spartanburg, S.C.

The fifth-ranked Terriers are the first team to enter this year's
playoff field. The first round of the postseason begins Nov. 29. Wofford
(9-1, 7-0) is the first SoCon team to clinch the league championship
with one game remaining (next Saturday at Furman) since Georgia Southern
in 2000.

Wofford has won nine games in a row in the same season for the first
time since 1970, when it went 11-0 before losing in the NAIA national
championship game. Dating back to last season, the Terriers have won 18
of their last 22 games overall and 11 of their last 12 in the SoCon.

This year's Wofford team is also just the seventh in the 114-year
history of the program to reach nine wins. The Terriers have
accomplished that feat in back-to-back seasons and four times in coach
Mike Ayers' 16-year tenure. Ayers, already Wofford's all-time winningest
coach, now has 99 victories on the Terrier sideline.

ETSU took a 7-0 lead on a 45-yard scoring run by quarterback Michael
George with 8:16 left in the first quarter. Wofford immediately
responded with a 12-play, 56-yard drive that was capped by a 2-yard J.R.
McNair scoring run to even the game at 7-7. The key play was a 2-yard
run by quarterback Jeff Zolman on a 4th-and-2 at the ETSU 3-yard line.

A 40-yard second-quarter punt by Jimmy Miner was downed at the Buccaneer
1-yard line, setting up the Terriers' go-ahead score. On the second play
of the ETSU series, a Kenny Harper fumble was recovered by Nelson at the
Buc 4 and returned to the 1-yard line. On the Terriers' second play,
Johnson found the end zone from four yards out to give Wofford a 14-7
left with 3:21 left in the second quarter.

It was Wofford's 42nd consecutive win when leading at the half. The
Terriers are also 63-2-1 in 66 games under Ayers when holding the
opponent to 16 points or less.

Johnson had a career-long 44-yard run to highlight a 9-play, 80-yard
drive, capped by a Trey Rodgers 3-yard run, giving Wofford a 21-7 lead
with four minutes remaining in third quarter.

On the previous series, ETSU reached the Terrier 25-yard line before
Nelson recorded his SoCon-leading fifth interception in the end zone.
All five Nelson picks have come in the last seven weeks.

Another 80-yard drive, capped by a 10-yard Johnson touchdown carry,
increased the Terrier margin to 28-7 with 12:33 remaining. McNair had a
2-yard run on a 4th-and-1 at the Buc 25-yard line. Gabriel Jackson had a
36-yard carry on the first play of the series.

A 2-yard Harper scoring run with 4:38 left provided the final margin as
the Bucs closed to within 28-14.

"It was a tough football game," Ayers said. "(ETSU) Coach (Paul)
Hamilton did a tremendous job with his staff and my hat goes off to
those guys for hanging in there the way they did.

"We've got a great group of kids who have busted their tails and a staff
that's busted their tails. It's a dream, a Cinderella story. I think the
bottom line is that we earned it.

"We lost 20 great seniors off last year's team and replaced them with a
bunch of young kids, who have emerged and been unbelievable. Kevious
(Johnson) is one of those guys. He's a big-play guy, nothing rattles
him, and he's got a great future."

"I want to congratulate Wofford on its SoCon championship," ETSU coach
(and former Wofford offensive coordinator under Ayers from 1988-89) Paul
Hamilton said. "I'll be pulling for them in the playoffs and wish them
the best.

"I've never been as proud of a football team as I am of these kids in
the locker room. I've never seen a group of men face such adversity and
be so resilient and dedicated to winning.

"I credit Wofford for the victory. They controlled the ball in the
second half. I'm not trying to make excuses, but I believe our depth
might have hurt us. Our kids came back and did some good things in the
fourth quarter, but the time on the clock just ran out."

The Terriers rushed for 355 yards, including 241 in the second half.
Wofford totaled 373 in offense for the game. ETSU had 129 on the ground
and 148 in the air for a total of 277.

McNair had 70 yards rushing on 21 carries while Rodgers had 51 yards on
six attempts.

Harper topped the Bucs with 55 yards on 13 carries. Carl Meadows came
off-the-bench to complete 12-of-18 passes for 113 yards.

Wofford's game at Furman next Saturday is at 3:35 p.m. and will be
regionally televised on FOX Sports Net South. ETSU hosts Chattanooga in
a 1 p.m. contest.


Georgia Southern 29, Furman 24

STATESBORO, Ga.- Sean Holland kicked five field goals to tie a school
record and Georgia Southern took advantage of Furman
turnovers Saturday for a 29-24 Southern Conference victory.

Holland, who missed one field goal attempt, was successful on kicks of 37,
20, 38, 31 and 25 yards to equal Reed Haley's mark set
against The Citadel in 1994.

The triumph assured Georgia Southern (6-4, 4-3) of a winning season and all
but eliminated Furman (5-4, 3-3) from Division I-AA playoff contention.

"I told the kids in the locker room we're probably out of it playoff-wise,"
said Furman Coach Bobby Lamb, whose team lost despite
having 448 yards total offense, averaging 7.9 yards per play.

The Paladins fumbled the ball twice inside the Georgia Southern 20 in the
second half, and it proved to be too much to overcome
against the Eagles who turned in one of their more solid efforts of the season.

Jermaine Austin, the leading rusher in the Southern Conference, had 136
yards on 25 carries despite not starting due to a knee
injury suffered last week. Austin scored on a three-yard run in the second
period as he pushed his league leading total to 1,325 on
the season.

Furman's defense was giving up only 125 yards per game rushing and was
leading the league in total defense and points allowed.

Georgia Southern, however, proved to be too much as it had 298 yards
rushing and finished with 379 yards total. Quarterback Chaz
Williams had 105 yards rushing for the Eagles and completed 5-of-8 passes
for 81 yards.

The Paladins got 127 yards from Hindley Brigham, 108 of them in the first
quarter when he broke loose for an 80-yard scoring run
after the Eagles had gone in front 3-0.

Georgia Southern led 20-17 at the half as the Eagles got second quarter
scores from Kevin Anderson and Austin along with a
second Holland field goal.

Furman quarterback Bo Moore had a one-yard touchdown run and Danny Marshall
kicked a 22-yard field goal before Holland got
his 20-yarder with 41 seconds left to put the Eagles on top for good.

Southern got a field goal off its opening drive of the second half and
Holland put his team up 26-17 before Lamar Rembert scored
on a 38-yard drive to keep Furman hopes alive with 8:16 to play.

However, the Eagles took the ensuing kickoff and kept the ball for over
five minutes before settling for Holland's final field goal.

GAME NOTES:
Derrick Butler's interception in the first quarter was his second career
pick. His first came against Furman in the 2001
regular-season meeting ...

Sean Holland's five field goals were a season and career-high, as was the
38-yarder (previous was a 36-yard effort vs.
McNeese State on Sept. 13, 2003) he hit in the third quarter ...

Sean Holland also equaled a Georgia Southern single-game record with five
field goals, tying to mark set by Reed Haley
against The Citadel in 1994 ... Holand's six attempts were the most since
Haley tried seven field goals against the Bulldogs
in the same contest ... Along with Furman's Danny Marshall (22-yarder in
the second quarter), the Eagles and Paladins
tied a GSU record for most field goals made by both teams in the single
game (six vs. The Citadel ,1994) ...

Hindley Brigham's 80-yard touchdown run was the longest against GSU since
September 3, 1994 when Miami's Al
Shipman went 82 yards for a touchdown at the Orange Bowl. The run was also
the longest by an opponent in the history
of Paulson Stadium ...

Lewis Barr's 62-yard kick return in the first-half was a career-best ...

Jermaine Austin's 136 yards marked his eighth 100-yard game of the season
and 15th of his career, while Chaz Williams'
105 yards marked his second of the season and 13th of his career ...

Teddy Craft's four catches and 78 yards were both career-highs.


Appalachian State 34, Elon 12

ELON, NC - Richie Williams threw for 221 yards and a career-high four touchdowns to propel Appalachian State past Elon 34-12 in a Southern Conference football game Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Stadium.

Sterling Haywood hauled in a career-high seven catches and equaled another career best by scoring two touchdowns for the Mountaineers (6-4 overall, 5-2 Southern Conference). Appalachian State's Corey Lynch snagged his league-leading fifth interception of the season.

"We ran the ball well last week (for 344 yards in ASU's 47-7 victory over Chattanooga)," said Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore. "Elon had to pack its defense up near the line. When they did that, we knew (wide receivers) Sterling (Haywood) and DaVon (Fowlkes) would be open."

Haywood finished with 130 receiving yards while Fowlkes made four catches for 38 yards. Appalachian State's Alan Atwater ran for 87 yards on 13 carries and caught three passes for another 33 yards and a touchdown.

Elon took the early lead at 6-0 when Anthony Crews connected with Andrew Oak on a 59-yard pass play - the first Phoenix touchdown pass of the season - with 8:58 left on the clock in the opening quarter. Torez Leach's 20-yard touchdown reception from Williams granted the Mountaineers a 7-6 edge with 2:56 remaining in the first period.

Rashaud Palmer scampered four yards for his 23rd career touchdown as Elon regained the advantage 12-7 with 12:08 to play in the second quarter. Palmer ended up with 99 yards on 31 carries, narrowly missing his fourth 100-yard rushing performance of the season.

Palmer pushed his career total to 2,416 net rushing yards to take over 11th place among Elon's all-time leaders. He only needed to collect 72 yards against the Mountaineers to pass Howard Ferguson, who tallied 2,388 yards from 1973 to 1976.

After Palmer's touchdown run, Appalachian State went on to score 27 unanswered points. Haywood hauled in touchdown passes of 10 and 36 yards from Williams and Atwater scored on an 11-yard toss from Williams to give the Mountaineers a 28-12 halftime cushion.

A pair of Erik Rockhold field goals in the second half concluded the contest's scoring. Rockhold hit a 45-yard field goal with 3:15 to play in the third quarter and then sank a 43-yarder with 7:02 left in the game.

Crews finished 10-for-22 for 146 yards with four interceptions for the Phoenix (2-9, 1-6). Williams completed 15 of his 23 passes with just one interception.

"I'll give our players credit," said Phoenix coach Al Seagraves. "They come to play. We made some plays early on, but we need to continue to do that for 60 minutes. When you have six or seven freshmen running around out there all of the time, it's a difficult challenge."

Lynch and teammate Sam Smalls led all defenders with 11 tackles apiece. The Elon defense was paced by Mike Warren's eight stops.

Chattanooga 29, The Citadel 20

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.---Chattanooga's Alonzo Nix caught three touchdown passes and the Mocs piled up more than 400 yards of offense in a 29-20 Southern Conference victory over The Citadel Saturday night at Finley Stadium. The win was UTC's third in the last four games and evened its conference record at 3-3.

Quarterback Vinnie Miroth, the SoCon's leader in passing yards per game, completed 28 of 38 passes for 287 yards and three scores.

Nix, the SoCon's leading receiver, entered the game with just three touchdowns on the season. Saturday, he scored from 63, 23 and 30 yards out. The junior caught eight balls on the day for 147 yards, his fifth 100-yard receiving game of the year.

The difference in the game came in the final 1:31 of the first half and the first 7:37 of the second half. In that span, UTC erased a 14-0 deficit and scored 24 points.

Mirroth hit Nix for a 63-yard TD strike with 1:31 left in the first half to trim a 14-0 deficit to 14-7. The Citadel fumbled the ensuing kickoff and UTC recovered, which set up a Patrick Shutters 20-yard field goal with :03 showing on the clock.

UTC (3-7) intercepted two passes early in the second half. The first by Randy Craft set up Nix's 23-yard TD catch which gave the Mocs the lead for good, 17-14 at 12:13 of the third quarter. William High picked off Bulldogs quarterback Willie Simmons on the next possession, setting up Nix's 30-yard scoring grab. His third touchdown at 7:33 of the third period increased the Mocs' margin to 24-14.

The Citadel, who was ranked among the Top 25 as late as two weeks ago, looked unstoppable early. The Bulldogs (5-5, 4-3 SoCon) drove 70 yards in six plays on their first possession, capping the march with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Simmons to Nehemiah Broughton for a 7-0 lead just 4:50 into the game.

In the second quarter, Anthony Roberts intercepted a Miroth pass. Four plays later, Simmons hooked up with Broughton for a 35-yard catch and run which pushed The Citadel's lead to 14-0 at 9:43.

The Mocs put the game away in the fourth quarter with a 41-yard Shutters' field goal with 13:24 remaining and a safety at 11:42 when the snap on a punt attempt sailed into the end zone.

The Citadel's Bud Pough hauled in a 12-yard touchdown toss from Simmons with 2:26 left, but the two-point conversion try failed, leaving the score at 29-20.

Miroth completed 73.7 percent of his passes, 28-of-38, for 287 yards. Jeremy Grier extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 31 with six catches for 44 yards. Kwento Ikwuezunma made four grabs for 33 yards.

Running back Tyrone Baisden, playing his fourth different position of the season, gained 84 yards on 15 carries. Kyle Oden had 43 on 18 rushes.

Broughton had 103 total yards with 50 on the ground and 53 through the air. He did not play in the second half after being injured on a special teams play. Simmons completed 11-of-22 passes for 152 yards. He threw three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Bulldogs' linebacker James Green led all defenders with 18 tackles.

UTC plays its final road game of the season next Saturday with a 1 p.m. kickoff at East Tennessee State. The Citadel hosts VMI in Charlotte, N.C., at 1 p.m.