Appalachian State 27, Georgia Southern 20 (OT)
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern battled top-ranked Appalachian State to double-overtime, but a Kevin Richardson 3-yard TD run proved to be the difference as the Eagles’ dropped a 27-20 Homecoming decision Saturday (Oct. 21) at Paulson Stadium. It was the first overtime game played in Paulson since a first-round playoff win against Maine 19 years ago.
During the first overtime Patrick Bolen hit from 27 yards out, but ASU responded with a Julian Rauch 23-yarder. During the second OT session, Richardson capped a four-play drive scoring from three yards.
Travis Clark just missed connecting with Reggie McCutchen in the endzone on second down. Two more incomplete passes gave ASU the win on the road.
“We didn’t play as well as we can but we are getting better. Every week we are getting better, and the improvement is dramatic. But losing today is disappointing, our play is not good enough yet,” said VanGorder.
The Eagles (3-4 overall, 2-2 SoCon) entered the game 37th nationally in fourth down conversion defense (38 percent), and they were put to the test early. In the first quarter, App State had the ball in Eagle territory on the 40. Georgia Southern’s defense held Armanti Edwards short on third down. Facing 4th-and-1 from the 31, Edwards overthrew his target and the Eagles took over on downs.
Later in the quarter, Edwards picked up a first down rushing but took a hard hit from sophomore Dedrick Bynam. On the very next play, the true-freshman quarterback was stripped of the ball by Branden Daniel then Dawayne Grace recovered on App’s 42. However, the Eagles had incomplete passes on third and fourth down.
During the ensuing drive, Edwards was hurried on this throw and Terrione Benefield intercepted the pass on the ASU 40. For the redshirt-freshman linebacker it was his third pick on the year. This time Georgia Southern put points on the board.
Facing 3rd-and-6 from the 19, Raja Andrews made a highlight reel catch off Clark’s pass, getting his feet down before falling out the back of the endzone. That catch was the first career TD reception for the sophomore wide receiver. Bolen’s PAT made it 7-0 with 10 minutes left in the second.
ASU (7-1, 4-0) then drove 53 yards on nine plays to crack the scoreboard. Rauch nailed a 30-yard attempt cutting the Eagles’ lead to 7-3.
To start the second half, ASU marched down to the Eagle 10. Edwards rushed down to the two, but on the next play he recovered a muffed handoff with Richardson. Jason Earwood and Larry Beard stopped Edwards short on third down. Again, the Eagle defense rose to the occasion on 4th-and-1 from the two. Led by seniors Charrod Taylor and Rico Zackery, they stuffed Richardson inches short of the first down marker.
After the Mountaineers forced a 3-and-out, they took over on the Eagles’ 29. Four plays later Edwards rushed for a 15-yard TD, their first lead of the game at 10-7.
Jayson Foster got the team rolling and the Eagles quickly tied the game. At the goal line he returned the kickoff 42 yards. The junior wide receiver took a reverse and nearly broke through on a touchdown, but was forced out-of-bounds after a 30-yard gain. Bolen nailed a 26-yard field goal to tie the score at 10 with less than six minutes left in the third quarter.
The Eagles pinned App State deep in its own territory. Earwood hit Richardson, who fumbled the ball. Ronnie Wiggins scooped up the loose ball and dove into the endzone for a 17-yard return. The extra point gave GS a 17-10 lead with 12:18 remaining. It marked the first time in 54 games the Eagles scored a TD off a fumble return (David Young in 2002 home-opener versus Gardner-Webb). However, ASU quickly tied the game.
Edwards connected on a 65-yard TD pass with William Mayfield for a tying score with 11 minutes left. Following an Edwards’ 46-yard pass to Richardson on their nevered Edwards’ second fumble of the game, one of six ASU fumbles and four turnovers in the game.
GSU had a chance late in regulation, getting the ball on its own 43. Clark completed two passes and rushed twice to put the Eagles on the App 38. A swing pass to Foster went for a 5-yard loss then an incomplete pass with less than 30 seconds left forced a punt. App took a knee to force overtime.
“I’m not going to talk about any kind of moral victory. We expected to win the football game today,” said VanGorder. “Our defense did a good job on takeaways, we were much more physical today... Our whole football team is coming around. We’re getting better but these games you have to deliver. When it’s time to deliver, you deliver. In the back end we did not do that today.”
Lamar Lewis gained 62 yards on 14 carries and Foster added 47 yards. Clark completed 14-of-36 passes for 95 yards and the touchdown. Lewis caught a career-high six passes for 31 yards.
Mohring recorded a game-high 12 tackles and Bynam contributed a career-high nine tackles. The last time an Eagle recovered two fumbles came last year when Bynam did so in the regular-season finale (against Morehead State).
Edwards threw for 210 yards and rushed for another 140. Richardson added 65 yards on the ground and 101 receiving on four catches.
Georgia Southern travels to The Citadel next Saturday (Oct. 28) for a 2 p.m. kickoff. App State hosts Furman next Saturday at 3:30.
Furman 28, Chattanooga 22 (OT)
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Jordan Sorrells’ 23-yard touchdown strike to Cedrick Gipson in the first overtime period lifted NCAA I-AA 12th-ranked Furman to a 28-22 Southern Conference win over Chattanooga Saturday afternoon in front of a homecoming crowd of 12,740 fans at Paladin Stadium.
Sorrells’ game winning pass came after Furman’s Andrew Thacker intercepted Chattanooga quarterback Matt Lopez’s pass in the end zone on the Mocs’
first overtime possession.
The victory was the 12th straight home triumph for Furman (6-2, 4-0 SoCon) and 12th consecutive win over Chattanooga (3-5, 2-3 SoCon).
“That was a thriller, no doubt about it,” said Furman head coach Bobby Lamb, whose squad remained tied for first in the SoCon standings with Appalachian State, who the Paladins face next Saturday in Boone. “We had our backs against the wall in the second half with a backup quarterback in there, Jerome Felton on the bench, and Chattanooga getting after us, but I thought we handled the pressure well and made the plays when we needed them.”
“We just didn’t make enough plays to win the game,” said Chattanooga head coach Rodney Allison. “We played hard and inspired football, but you ultimately can’t make as many mistakes as we did today against a team like Furman and win the game.”
Chattanooga appeared set to win the game in regulation after Lopez connected with Michael Johnson on a 35-yard touchdown strike with 1:35 to go to conclude a seven-play, 75-yard possession. John Parkinson’s two-point conversion catch put the Mocs ahead 22-19.
Furman rallied to force overtime after moving 68 yards in 10 plays to the Chattanooga 6, where Scott Beckler delivered the game tying field goal on the final play of regulation. Beckler’s field goal followed a 41-yard catch and run on a fourth-and-7 play by freshman wide receiver R.J. Webb to the Chattanooga 9-yard line.
Sorrells, a redshirt freshman making only his second career start for an injured Renaldo Gray, completed 22-of-39 passes for 335 yards and two touchdowns. His 335 yards tied the school single game record for a freshman and marked the fifth best passing performance in Furman history.
Furman rolled up a 482-297 advantage in total offense and ran 84 offensive plays to Chattanoog’s 60. The Paladins’ also enjoyed a 36:28 to 23:22 time of possession advantage, thanks primarily to a 19-play, 98-yard touchdown drive in the first half and 19-play, 85-yard march in the second half that ended with a 23-yard Beckler field goal that gave Furman a 19-14 lead.
Lopez completed 10-of-18 passes for 162 yards but, like Sorrells, suffered a pair of interceptions. Michael Johnson caught four passes for 115 yards and a touchdown for UTC. Furman’s Justin Stepp, meanwhile, led all receivers with nine receptions for 92 yards.
The Paladins jumped on top early with a safety after a punt snap deflected off a UTC blocker and away from Mocs punter Jeff Lloyd, who kicked the loose ball out of the end zone just over two minutes into the game.
Furman stretched the advantage to 9-0 following UTC’s kickoff, using 12 plays to move 58 yards for Sorrells’ first touchdown pass of the contest, a 12-yard strike to Webb at the 6:53 mark of the first quarter.
Chattanooga appeared poised for its first scored on the ensuing possession after Lopez connected with Johnson on a pass over the middle, but Furman safety Jeremy Blocker dislodged the ball from Johnson’s hands, and it was recovered by Paladin conerback William Middleton at the Furman 2. From there, the Paladins drove 98 yards to stretch its advantage to 16-0 on a 1-yard run by Felton with 1:53 to go in the first half.
Chattanooga got on the board on 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Antonio Miller to Parkinson with 4:36 left in the first half to make it 16-7.
Furman safety Rico Scott’s interception at the Paladin 17 with 1:45 to go before intermission halted a UTC scoring threat. Three plays later, however, Furman’s Cedrick Gipson failed to finish a 63-yard catch and run when the Mocs’ Chris Camacho stripped the ball from Gipson’s hands and it was recovered by UTC’s Raeshon Ball at the Chattanooga 7.
UTC’s Quintez Smith’s interception and 29-yard return to the Furman 10 on the first play of the second half set up the Mocs’ second score of the contest, which came one play later on Eldra Buckley’s 10-yard burst around right end on a toss sweep to make it a 16-14 game.
Furman was paced defensively by linebacker Andrew Jones’ game high 14 tackles. Camacho topped UTC’s tackle ledger with 13 stops and a forced fumble.
Furman’s game against Appalachian State will be televised by SportsSouth (formerly Turner South) beginning at 3:30 p.m. Chattanooga returns home next Saturday where it will entertain Elon in a 6:00 p.m. contest.
Wofford 35, Elon 21
ELON, N.C. ? Josh Collier rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns, lifting Wofford to a 35-21 Southern Conference victory over Elon Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Stadium.
The Terriers (3-4 overall, 2-2 SoCon), who entered the contest leading the league and ranked 15th in the NCAA-IAA with 215.67 rushing yards per game, piled up 351 yards on the ground against the Phoenix (3-4, 1-3).
Wofford poured on 28 second-quarter points and forced a season-high three interceptions and a fumble by Wes Pope, the conference’s leading passer. Pope paces the SoCon in passing yards per game, total passing yards and total offense.
“We didn’t do what we planned to do coming into today,” Elon coach Pete Lembo said. “We took one step forward and two steps back with the turnovers. Wofford came out more ready to play than we did.”
Only a junior, Michael Mayers surpassed former Elon great Arketa Banks (1,371 yards in 1999-2002) as the Phoenix’s fourth all-time leading receiver following his career-high nine receptions for 131 yards versus the Terriers.
In the process, Mayers became just the fourth Elon player to ever catch 100 passes. He has now reeled in 101 career receptions for 1,445 yards.
Andrew Wilcox sank a 32-yard field goal to give Elon a 3-0 edge with 9:19 to go in the first period. The Phoenix entered the contest with a 3-0 record when scoring first this season.
Elon looked to stretch its lead to 10-0 when it began an eight-play, 77-yard drive with 6:13 remaining in the opening quarter. Justin Franklin intercepted a pass from Wes Pope on the Wofford seven-yard line and returned it 46 yards to end the threat.
The Terriers followed that return with an eight-play, 54-yard drive that resulted in a one-yard touchdown run by Josh Collier to take the lead at 7-3 with 14:13 left to play in the second quarter.
The Phoenix then began an 11-play, 49-yard drive that ended with a missed 47-yard field goal by Wilcox. Following the missed field goal, Wofford marched 69 yards in 10 plays to extend its edge to 14-3 on a two-yard touchdown run by Michael Hobbs with 4:40 left in the second stanza.
Elon began its next drive on its 22-yard line, but Pope’s pass was intercepted by James Gonsoulin and promptly returned 16 yards for a touchdown. That play stretched the Terriers’ advantage to 21-3 with 3:40 remaining before halftime.
Wofford started its next drive on its own 40-yard line with 1:47 to play before the break and immediately received a 43-yard run by Dane Romero, landing on the Elon 17-yard line. Just three plays later, the Terriers upped the count to 28-3 on a seven-yard touchdown run by Andy Strickland with 19 seconds left in the first half.
The Phoenix first crossed the goal line when Terrell Hudgins hauled in a 37-yard touchdown reception from Pope with 12:02 left in the third quarter. The touchdown, which capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive, pulled Elon within 28-10.
Kevious Johnson then returned the kickoff 62 yards to the Elon 31-yard line, setting up the final Wofford touchdown seven plays later ? a two-yard run by Collier with 8:12 remaining in the third period.
A 43-yard field goal by Wilcox cut the deficit to 35-13 with 3:46 to play in the third quarter. The final margin was ultimately decided by Pope’s one-yard touchdown run with 9:44 remaining in the contest.
Pope connected on 30 of 48 passes for 384 yards with one interception and one touchdown, setting new career highs for completions, attempts and yardage. Hudgins hauled in a pair of career bests with 13 catches for 186 yards.
Elon linebackers Danny Boback and Chad Nkang topped all defenders. Boback racked up a career-high 16 tackles, including a career-best 10 solo stops and one TFL. Nkang collected 13 tackles and forced a fumble.
Next Saturday, the Terriers will host Western Carolina at 1:30 p.m. at Gibbs Stadium. Meanwhile, the Phoenix will visit Chattanooga for at 6 p.m. at Finley Stadium.
The Citadel 30, Western Carolina 27 (OT)
Charleston, S.C. -- Junior running back Tory Cooper ran for a career-high 204 yards on 36 carries and two touchdowns, including the winning eight-yard score in overtime, as The Citadel earned a dramatic 30-27 comeback victory over Western Carolina in Southern Conference action at Johnson Hagood Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Cooper’s touchdown gave the Bulldogs (2-5, 2-2 SoCon) their first lead of the game and their third victory in a row over the Catamounts (2-5, 0-5 SoCon). It marked the first time since 2001 when Maurice Murphy ran for 209 yards against VMI that a Bulldog rushed for over 200 yards. Western Carolina led 14-0 in the second quarter and 17-7 at halftime, but the Bulldogs were able to tie the game at 17 in the final period. After the Catamounts regained a 24-17 lead, The Citadel again came back to tie the game and send it to overtime.
The Citadel defense kept Western Carolina out of the end zone on their first possession of overtime, forcing a field goal attempt. Jonathan Parsons drilled a 35-yarder to give the Catamounts a 27-24 lead.
The Bulldogs continued to ride the legs of Cooper in overtime, as he carried all four plays of The Citadel’s offensive possession and gave them a 30-27 victory with an eight-yard run.
The Catamounts got the first big break of the day on the second Bulldog possession when linebacker Kadeem Morgan intercepted a Duran Lawson pass at The Citadel 24-yard line. The Western Carolina offense was able to capitalize four plays later as quarterback Bennett Swygert found wide receiver Michael Hines for a 9-yard touchdown. The extra-point gave the Catamounts an early 7-0 lead with 9:01 left in the opening quarter.
The Citadel offense got it going on their third offensive possession, jump started by a 42-yard reverse by freshman wide receiver Marquel Willis to the Western Carolina 14-yard line. The Bulldogs stalled at the three-yard line and senior Blake Vandiver pulled a 20-yard field goal attempt to the left to keep the score at 7-0 with 26 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Catamounts extended their lead with 12:56 left in the second quarter as the Western Carolina defense forced another Lawson interception, this one returned by safety Angelo Brown for a 45-yard touchdown. The extra-point by Parsons made it a 14-0 lead for Western Carolina.
The Bulldogs used some trickery on their next offensive possession to keep their drive alive on a fake punt as the snap went directly to linebacker Chris Murray on fourth and one as Murray rumbled five yards to The Citadel 48-yard line for a first down. The Bulldogs capped the 17-play, 77-yard drive that ran eight minutes and 45 seconds off the clock on a two-yard touchdown run by senior running back Nuru Goodrum. Vandiver’s extra-point cut the Catamount lead to 14-7 with 4:11 left in the first half.
The Western Carolina offense answered back before halftime with a 10-play, 53-yard drive that ended on a 34-yard field goal by Parsons. The two teams went into the locker rooms with the Catamounts leading 17-7 despite the fact the Bulldogs had 130 more yards of total offense and held Western Carolina to nine yards rushing.
The Bulldogs nearly found the end zone late in the third quarter as Lawson found senior wide receiver Rontreal Tyler for a 10-yard touchdown, but it was negated by a holding penalty. They settled for a 29-yard field goal by Vandiver to cap a 10-play, 57-yard drive and cut the Catamount lead to 17-10 with 4:55 left in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Lawson and Cooper hooked up on a dramatic third down conversion as Lawson evaded a sack to find Cooper for a 14-yard gain on third and seven to the Western Carolina two-yard line. Cooper finished off a 15-play, 85-yard drive that took seven minutes and 24 seconds with a 2-yard touchdown run. Vandiver’s extra-point tied the game at 17 with 9:34 left in the contest.
But the Catamounts countered with a 50-yard touchdown run by running back Darius Fudge on their next possession to break the tie. Parsons’ extra-point made it a 24-17 Western Carolina lead with 7:51 left in the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs answered with a seven-play, 67-yard drive and an 11-yard touchdown pass from Lawson to Tyler. Vandiver’s extra-point again tied the contest, this time at 24 with 4:34 remaining in regulation. Both defenses held the rest of the quarter to send the game to overtime. It marked the second overtime game of the season for the Bulldogs and the second in a row for Western Carolina, who is now 0-2 on the season past regulation play. It also was the second overtime game in a row for The Citadel on Parent’s Weekend, as the Bulldogs lost 39-31 to Furman in triple overtime at Johnson Hagood Stadium in 2005.
The Citadel stays at home to take on Georgia Southern in another Southern Conference match-up next Saturday, October 28. Kickoff at Johnson Hagood Stadium is slated for 2 p.m. Western Carolina continues on the road as they visit conference foe Wofford for a 1:30 p.m. tilt at Gibbs Stadium.