Story courtesy of Elon sports information
Appalachian State, 52, Elon 14
ELON, N.C. ? Richie Williams passed for 95 yards and two touchdowns while Keith Richardson rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns and received for 52 yards and another score as No. 6 Appalachian State overwhelmed Elon 52-14 in Southern Conference football action Saturday night at Rhodes Stadium.
With the victory, the Mountaineers (8-3 overall, 6-1 Southern Conference) clinched outright possession their first league title since 1999. ASU has now claimed six Southern Conference crowns, capturing outright conference championships in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1995 and 2005 and sharing the 1999 title with Furman and Georgia Southern.
William Mayfield’s 34-yard touchdown pass from Williams and Julian Rauch’s 23-yard field goal gave Appalachian State a 10-0 first quarter lead. Richardson scored three touchdowns ? on a pair of two-yard runs and an 18-yard pass from Williams ? in the second quarter, pushing the Mountaineers’ lead to 31-0 at halftime.
Zach Johnson caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Trey Elder early in the third quarter, stretching ASU’s advantage to 38-0. Early in the final period, T.J. Courman hauled in an 18-yard touchdown pass from Elder to extend the cushion to 45-0 before the Phoenix (3-8 overall, 0-7 Southern Conference) put points on the scoreboard.
Dwayne Ijames returned the following kickoff 95 yards for the first Elon touchdown. Following a Titus Howard 70-yard interception return for an Appalachian State score with 2:52 remaining, Michael Mayers registered the second Phoenix touchdown on a 13-yard pass from Tripp Hursey as time expired.
Elon quarterback Kye Hamilton’s four completions gave him a school-record 140 for the year, passing Burgin Beale (137 in 1981) for the 84-year-old program’s single-season mark. Kevin Bailey (50 yards) and Reggie Hall (46 yards) led the Phoenix rushing attack.
Elder completed seven of 11 passes for 131 yards and two second-half scores while Johnson (57 yards), Mayfield (52 yards) and Richardson (52 yards) led the ASU receivers.
Phoenix linebacker Chad Nkang led all defenders with 18 total tackles while teammate Danny Boback tallied 10 stops. Pierre Banks paced the Mountaineers’ defense with seven total tackles.
Appalachian State amassed 445 yards of total offense, including 226 in the air, in 33:41 in possession time. Elon was held to 138 yards of total offense, including 96 on the ground. ASU recorded 25 first downs to nine for the Phoenix.
Story courtesy of Chattanooga sports information
Furman 56, Chattanooga 35
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. ? Ingle Martin passed for a career high 323 yards and two touchdowns to lead NCAA I-AA fourth-ranked Furman to a 56-35 Southern Conference win over Chattanooga Saturday at Finley Stadium.
Martin, a senior from Nashville and Walter Payton Award candidate, completed 15-of-17 passes, including touchdown strikes covering 2 yards to Jerome Felton and 21 yards to Justin Stepp, to headline a Paladin offense that rolled up a season high 662 yards in total offense ? the second highest single game total in school history. The victory marked Furman’s 11th consecutive triumph over Chattanooga.
Furman (9-2, 5-2 SoCon) will find out its NCAA I-AA first round playoff opponent on Sunday’s selection show, scheduled to be televised on ESPN News at 1:00 p.m. The playoffs begin Saturday, November 26. This year will mark the 14th playoff appearance for the Paladins.
Cedrick Gipson paced Furman’s rushing attack with a career high 137 yards on 16 carries. Daric Carter ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns, and fullback Jerome Felton tacked on 53 yards and three rushing touchdowns while also collecting a two-yard touchdown reception.
Furman took the opening kickoff, and on its first play from scrimmage Martin connected with Justin Stepp for a 58-yard completion to the UTC 3-yard line. On the next play Jerome Felton bulled over to give the Paladins a 7-0 lead.
Daric Carter’s 14-yard scoring run midway through the first quarter gave Furman a 14-0 advantage.
After Chattanooga cut the Paladin lead to 14-7, Martin connected on a 2-yard touchdown pass to Felton for a 21-7 advantage.
The Paldins surged to a 35-14 halftime lead on Carter’s second scoring run of the contest ? a 7-yard burst ? and on Martin’s 21-yard strike to Stepp with just 26 seconds remaining before intermission.
Andrew Jones led Furman’s defense with eight tackles.
Story courtesy of Wofford sports information
Wofford 56, Gardner-Webb 42
BOILING SPRINGS, NC ? In one of the wildest football games in Wofford history, the Terriers built a 34-point second half lead over Gardner-Webb, watched it disappear in less than 15 minutes, and then rallied for an improbable 56-42 win.
Had Gardner-Webb won, it would have been the second-greatest comeback in NCAA Division I-AA history. In 1991, Nevada wiped out a 49-14 third quarter deficit to defeat Weber State 55-49.
Wofford (6-5) led Gardner-Webb 28-0 at halftime, extended the lead to 34-0 midway through the third quarter and continued to lead 41-7 with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter. But Gardner-Webb (5-6) scored the next 35 points to take a brief 42-41 lead before the Terriers recovered for the win.
The Terriers scored touchdowns on four of their six first half possessions.
The Terriers took a 7-0 lead on their first possession of the game when quarterback Josh Collier scored on a 1-yard run. Wofford had driven 80 yards after stopping the Bulldogs and forcing a punt that went into the end zone for a touchback.
The Terriers extended their lead to 14-0 when nose tackle Katon Bethay sacked Bulldog quarterback Nick Roberts, forcing a fumble that was picked up by defensive end Layton Baker and returned 45 yards for a touchdown.
After stopping the Bulldogs on downs, Collier found Shiel Wood for a 43-yard touchdown catch to give the Terriers a 21-0 lead with 8:33 to play in the half.
Just before halftime, the Terriers took a 28-0 lead when Gabriel Jackson ran it in from 35 yards out on a toss sweep left.
Wofford’s lead grew to 34-0 when Alex Love blocked a punt attempt midway through the third quarter and Zac Grey scooped it up and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown. The block was the seventh of Love’s career. The extra point was missed.
Gardner-Webb scored its first touchdown on a 52-yard touchdown pass from Devin Campbell to Duvaughn Flagler with 4:42 to play in the third quarter.
Filmon Dawkins returned the ensuing kickoff 76 yards to give the Terriers the ball at the GW 23. Collier converted a third-and-10 with a 22-yard run down to the 1 before handing the ball to halfback Anthony Dinardo who scored his first career touchdown. The fifth-year senior is playing his first season of collegiate football after starring at second base for the Terrier baseball team the last two seasons. His 1-yard run put the Terriers on top 41-7.
At that point, the Bulldogs came alive, scoring 35 unanswered points.
George Pressley scored on a 4-yard run with 1:14 to play in the third quarter to make the score 41-14. Wofford quarterback Ben Widmyer was hit and fumbled on the first play following the kickoff and Gardner-Webb recovered at the Wofford 29 yard line. Two plays later, Roberts threw 24 yards to Austin Gaines to cut the Terrier margin to 41-21.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Widmyer dropped back to pass into his own end zone and was hit and fumbled. Jonathan Little recovered the fumble for a touchdown and the PAT pulled Gardner-Webb to within 41-28.
With 8:21 to play in the game, Roberts threw a touchdown pass to Flagler to cut Wofford’s lead to 41-35.
With 5:46 remaining, Flagler caught his third touchdown pass of the day on a 13- yard pass from Roberts and Hunter Smith’s PAT put the Bulldogs ahead 42-41.
Facing a third and 13 from their own 34 and the momentum clearly in Gardner-Webb’s favor, Collier and Wood teamed up for a spectacular play. Collier’s rainbow pass was caught by Wood with an over the shoulder grab to give the Terriers a first and goal at the G-W 5. Dane Romero scored on a 1-yard run on third down then bulled over with the 2-point conversion to put the Terriers back on top 49-42.
Roberts again led the Bulldogs downfield, aided by a roughing the passer penalty. Facing third-and-15 from the Wofford 28, Roberts was intercepted at the one by Alex Love with 1:19 remaining in the game.
A rush for no gain by Collier and a 2-yard run by Romero left Wofford with a third-and-eight from its own 3. But Romero turned a simple dive up the middle in to a 97-yard jaunt that put the Terriers on top 56-42.
Romero’s 97-yard run was the second-longest in school history. Jack Drawdy holds the record with a 98-yard run against Presbyterian in 1958.
Brian Ford sealed the win with a late interception, his team-leading sixth of the season.
“My head was spinning, my stomach was hurting, it was crazy,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “We got the game completely in control and all of a sudden, it’s bing, bam, boom, and we couldn’t stop them. Fortunately we scored 56 points and had the big run there at the end. We just didn’t play well defensively. It was pretty tough. But the great thing is the kids hung tough and came up with what we needed.”
“The catch Shiel (Wood) made is one of the best I’ve ever seen.”
With the win, Wofford finishes the year 6-5, earning its fourth consecutive winning season. The Terriers had not posted four straight winning seasons since posting five straight from 1989-93. The win also snapped Wofford’s two-game losing streak and marked the fourth straight year that the Terriers have won their season finale.
NOTES
Wofford won the coin toss for the sixth straight game
Layton Baker’s 45-yard fumble return for a touchdown was his second score of the season. He also returned an interception for a touchdown against The Citadel.
Sheil Wood caught his first career touchdown pass.
Gabe Jackson recorded his second 100-yard rushing game of the season and the third of his career.
Jason Leventis set a career-high with 15 tackles. His previous career-high was 9 against West Virginia earlier this season.
All five of Chris Tommie’s first-half kickoffs went for touchbacks.
Anthony Dinardo scored a touchdown on his first career carry.
Alex Love blocked a third quarter punt, his second block of the year and the seventh of his career.
Story courtesy of The Citadel sports information
The Citadel 22, VMI 14
Lexington, VA - Nuru Goodrum rushed for a career-high 175 yards and scored two touchdowns as The Citadel downed VMI, 22-14, in the 64th meeting of the "Military Classic of the South" Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, the Bulldogs retain possession of the coveted Silver Shako and conclude Coach Kevin Higgins' inaugural season with a 4-7 record, including wins in the final two outings. The Keydets slip to 3-8.
The Citadel has now won two in row over VMI, three of the last four, six of the last eight and 11 of the last 15. The Bulldogs extend its lead in the series that began in 1920 to 32-30-2.
In the first half, the Bulldogs opened the game's scoring when Ben Carnell found Kinta Palmer open in the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown strike and the extra point failed. It marked the fourth time in the last five games that The Citadel scored first.
Down 6-0, the Keydets battled back and took a brief lead with 3:28 left in the initial quarter when running back Nat Jackson scored on a three-yard run and Barrett Way connected on the point after, lifting VMI to a 7-6 lead.
The Citadel retaliated with nine second-quarter points, as Goodrum, a junior who in the first half rushed 18 times for 95 yards, scored from a yard out at the 9:43 mark. The Bulldogs attempted a two-point conversion, but was unsuccessful as Carnell was unable to get off a pass. On The Citadel's next possession, Blake Vandiver drilled a 34-yard field goal at the 5:48 mark to hand the Bulldogs the 15-7 halftime advantage.
The first half saw The Citadel nearly double VMI's offensive yardage, 167-84, limiting the Keydets to only 46 rushing yards.
Each team scored a touchdown in the second half. Goodrum again scored from a yard out to give the Bulldogs a 22-7 lead with 10:40 left in the fourth quarter that capped a six-play, 26-yard drive that took 3:08 off the clock.
The Keydets came back in the final period with 7:43 remaining in the game as quarterback Jonathan Wilson scampered six yards up the middle to pull VMI to within eight points, 22-14.
"This was a great win for our seniors and a game that they will remember for the rest of their lives," said Higgins. "VMI never backed down," he added. "We knew it would be a battle, and it was."
The Citadel recorded 288 yards of total offense and limited the Keydets to 189 yards. Citadel quarterback Ben Carnell was 11-of-22 for 81 yards while VMI's Wilson finished 17-of-28 for 158 yards.
Defensively, the Bulldogs were led by Porter Johnson who recorded 13 tackles (six solo). He also had four sacks for minus-25 yards that tied a school record as The Citadel racked up eight sacks on the day. Josh Lawson, Shawn Grant and Andrew Rowell each had seven tackles.