The Citadel 44, Elon 7
ELON, N.C. - Duran Lawson passed for 223 yards and two touchdowns and Nuru Goodrum rushed for three touchdowns for the first time in his four-year career as The Citadel dispatched Elon 44-7 in Southern Conference football action Saturday night at Rhodes Stadium.
Lawson completed 14 of his 18 passes and rushed for 71 yards as the Bulldogs
(5-6 overall, 4-3 SoCon) piled up 450 yards of total offense to 326 for the Phoenix (5-6, 2-5). The Citadel won four of its last five contests en route to a fourth-place finish in the Southern Conference and its first winning record in the league since claiming the 1992 championship.
?I?m just thankful our players came out and played hard and didn?t have any turnovers,? The Citadel coach Kevin Higgins said. ?I was glad that we were able to pressure because Wes (Pope) is a great quarterback and they have some great receivers. Our kids were really excited about this game. It was a road game against a really good football team. Terrell (Hudgins) is a very good receiver. I think he?s got a bright future.?
Blake Vandiver put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard first, kicking a 23-yard field goal with 10:52 to play in the first quarter. Vandiver?s kick capped a 10-play, 54-yard drive that consumed 3:58.
The Phoenix began a drive late in the first quarter, marching to The Citadel 24-yard line. Elon covered 43 yards in nine plays before James Wilson intercepted a Pope pass on the Bulldogs? 20-yard line and returned 49 yards to the Phoenix 31-yard line. For Wilson, the interception marked the first in his four-year career at The Citadel.
The Bulldogs promptly marched 31 yards on five plays in 1:30 to score on a 10-yard run by Goodrum as time expired in the first quarter. Blake Vandiver missed his PAT attempt for the first time since Sept. 23 at Pittsburgh as The Citadel settled for a 9-0 advantage.
On the first play of The Citadel?s next possession, Andre Roberts turned a pass from Lawson into an 80-yard touchdown play a career-long reception by Roberts and a season-long pass play for the Bulldogs. The touchdown fattened the Bulldogs? edge to 16-0 with 12:01 to play in the second stanza.
Derek Moore scored the first touchdown of his career on a seven-yard pass from Lawson to stretch The Citadel lead to 23-0 the eventual halftime margin with 5:25 remaining before the break. Goodrum punched in a pair of one-yard touchdown scores in the third period one with 7:57 left and one with 2:31 to go to extend the Bulldogs? lead to 37-0.
Hudgins put the Phoenix on the board when he hauled in a 14-yard touchdown toss from Pope with 14:02 remaining, capping a seven-play, 83-yard drive.
Concluding a 12-play, 85-yard drive that ate 6:16, Montrell Lee scored on a five-yard run with 7:36 remaining to determine the final score.
Pope completed 28 of a career-high 50 passes for 279 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown. His 28 completions fell two shy of his own single-game program record of 30 against Wofford last month while his 50 attempts fell five shy of Heath Hewitt?s single-game school milestone of 55 versus Catawba in 1990.
Hudgins reeled in a game-high and career-high 14 receptions for 159 yards and a score, narrowly missing Richard McGeorge?s single-game team record of
15 catches against Western Carolina in 1968.
Michael Mayers hauled in a career-high 10 receptions for 107 yards. He finished the season with a team-leading 73 receptions, eclipsing McGeorge?s total of 65 catches in 1968 for a new single-season program plateau.
It marked the first time that The Citadel surrendered 100+ receiving yards to more than one player in the same game since its contest at Florida State last season when three Seminoles Chris Davis, De?Cody Fagg and Greg Carr each received 100+ yards.
The Bulldogs? Tory Cooper rushed for 109 yards on 15 carries to lead all receivers while Elon?s Corey Weaver led all defenders with 11 tackles.
Despite the loss, the Phoenix posted the program?s highest victory total in six seasons and spent the fall ranked high among NCAA-IAA leaders in several team and individual statistical categories.
?It?s a tough end to an exciting year,? Elon coach Pete Lembo said. ?As much as I think they (The Citadel) played extremely well, I felt like we were very sluggish at the start. I guess our guys were just too hyped up. We missed some tackles and dropped some passes. Every time we stepped up and executed, they stepped up and executed. We can?t lose sight of everything we?ve accomplished this year. We?ll use the momentum and carry it through to next year.?
Elon?s 2006 wins included a victory at nationally-ranked Coastal Carolina, a pair of shutout triumphs over Presbyterian and North Carolina A&T, a SoCon road win at Chattanooga and a first-ever SoCon victory over Western Carolina.
Wofford 34, Gardner-Webb 17
BOILING SPRING, SC ? Wofford took advantage of seven Gardner-Webb turnovers and held the Bulldogs to minus-12 yards rushing as the Terriers claimed a 34-17 win Saturday afternoon at Spangler Field.
The win was Wofford’s fifth in a row and the Terriers complete the regular season with a 7-4 overall record. Wofford will now await for Sunday’s announcement on the NCAA Division I-AA pairings. Gardner-Webb finished its season at 6-5.
The Terriers recovered four fumbles and intercepted three passes and scored 27 points off those turnovers.
Nick Robinson staked the Terriers to a 3-0 lead with a 29-yard field goal just five minutes into the game.
Gardner-Webb tied the game on a season-long 47-yard field goal by Hunter Smith with 6:08 to play in the first quarter.
After forcing Wofford in to a three-and-out, the Bulldogs took a 10-3 lead when quarterback Devin Campbell hit Andre Manning with a short pass over the middle that Manning turned into a 57-yard scoring pass.
Adrian Young lost a fumble at the G-W 15 with 13:17 to play in the second quarter. After picking up one first down, G-W quarterback Stan Doolittle completed a short pass but Seth Goldwire’s tackle forced a fumble and the Terriers took possession at the Bulldog 31. Josh Collier finished the drive as he faked the pitch and carried it in himself to tie the game at 10 with 8:17 to play in the half.
Kevin Adleman put the Terriers ahead 17-10 when he intercepted a Campbell pass and returned it 76 yards for a touchdown with just 29.3 seconds to play in the half. It was Wofford’s fourth interception return for a touchdown this season.
Wofford went ahead 24-10 on its first possession of the second half. Collier scored on a 5-yard run with 9:48 to play after Matt Beavin’s ran a 21-yard reverse down to the 5.
Late in the third quarter Collier was picked off by Cedric McGowan at the Gardner-Webb 6 but he fumbled the return and Colby Harris was able to recover it at the 13. But the Bulldog defense stiffened and the Terriers settled for a 32-yard Robinson field goal and a 27-10 lead with 54 seconds left in the third.
Gardner-Webb pulled to within 27-17 when Campbell hit Duvaughn Flagler with a 37-yard scoring pass with 12:54 to play in the fourth.
Buck Brown intercepted a Campbell pass with 6:12 to play in the game. That led to Collier’s third touchdown run, a 2-yarder with 2:10 to play in the game that provided the final margin of 34-17.
Wofford rushed for 318 yards on the afternoon led by Collier who produced his second career 100-yard rushing game with 117 net yards. Kevious Johnson added 92 yards on 15 carries.
Central Arkansas 34, Georgia Southern 31 (OT)
STATESBORO, Ga. ? James Paul hit a 25-yard field goal in the first overtime period as Central Arkansas came away with a 34-31 victory over Georgia Southern, Saturday (Nov. 18) at Paulson Stadium. It was the regular season finale for both teams.
The Eagles lost their last five games to close out the season 3-8. It was the second overtime loss this season, as six of Georgia Southern’s losses were by a combined 21 points.
The two teams went to overtime when Jonathan Dudley missed a 32-yard field goal in the final minute. Georgia Southern started with the ball. Lamar Lewis rushed for nine yards on the first two carries. Travis Clark was stopped for a loss, and the coaching staff decided to go for it on 4th-and-3. Clark’s pass went incomplete to Jayson Foster.
UCA gained a first down, getting to the Eagles’ 11. The defense forced an incomplete pass and allowed two rushes for three yards. Paul, who missed from 22 yards late in the fourth quarter, snuck the ball inside the right upright for the win.
Georgia Southern (3-8 overall) won the opening coin flip for just the second time this year. Cameron Kinard fielded Dudley’s kickoff inside the goal line, then proceeded to go 100 yards for a touchdown. It was the first time since the 2005 season-opener when Northeastern’s Alex Broomfield returned a kickoff for a score. It also equaled a Paulson Stadium record (Xavier Godard of Western Carolina in 2003).
The offense responded with a 10-play, 72-yard drive. Lamar Lewis scored his seventh rushing TD of the season when he scored from one yard out.
During the Bears’ next drive, the Eagles forced a 3-and-out. Foster fielded the punt at his own 22, then dodged tacklers en route to a 78-yard touchdown score. It is Foster’s first punt return for a TD this year and second one of his career (2004 versus Appalachian State). The junior wide receiver matched Rodney Oglesby and Anthony Williams for career punt returns for a touchdown.
The Bears used two big pass plays to march down to the Eagle two. Jerry Barker hit Ross Brown at the goal line, he fumbled and Terrione Benefield recovered.
Foster displayed his elusiveness and explosiveness again. He fumbled an attempted reverse, picked up the ball, dodged several tacklers, nearly fell to the ground but stayed on his feet and raced for a 39-yard score. A bad snap forced GS to miss the extra point, but still held a 20-7 lead with just over 11 minutes left in the first half.
On 4th-and-1 from the four, Nathan Brown hit Preston Echols for a touchdown, cutting the Eagles’ lead to 20-14. During the ensuing drive, Clark’s option pitch was deflected and Jacob Ford recovered and as the Bears took over on the Eagles’ 17. Brown hit Brent Grimes for a 14-yard TD pass to take a short lived lead.
On the first play from scrimmage, Clark hit a wide open Darius Smiley on a 74-yard touchdown. Going for two, Clark scrambled and dove into the endzone giving the Eagles a 28-21 lead with 3:41 left in the half.
The 28 points were not only a season-high in a half, but surpassed the Eagles total of the past two games combined.
Georgia Southern started the second half with the ball. On a reverse, Reggie McCutchen attempted his first-ever pass play, and found the quarterback Clark down the right sideline for 30 yards. The drive ended when Dudley nailed a season-long 37-yard field goal.
Brown hit David Robinson down the left sideline, and Ronnie Wiggins made a touchdown-saving tackle at the two. Two negative rushes and pass out of the endzone forced the Bears to go for a 21-yard attempt by Paul, seconds before the end of the third quarter. That made the score 31-24 Eagles.
“It’s been a hard season. You guys have no idea how it turns a coach’s stomach. I’ve lived through some bad seasons before, but to be so close in so many games and to come up on the losing end has been rather uason’s) make up. It’s a sickening feeling yet I’m realistic about it, I have a good feeling of where we are as a football team and a football program,” said head coach Brian VanGorder. “There are a lot of reasons for me to be optimistic. I certainly want our seniors to feel optimistic in terms of what they’ve played and what they’ve done here in a tremendous, tremendous transition.
“First of all, being realistic, we took over an offense that really had no pure wide receivers, an offense with no tight ends, no fullbacks, no true tailbacks and no quarterback at least for our system,” stated VanGorder. “They really did some great things this year for being such a huge transition, with an offensive line that is probably the smallest in the conference. So we know we are going to improve.”
Lewis finished with a game-high 99 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown. Clark completed 8-of-20 passes for 177 yards and one touchdown with his two interceptions. Smiley registered a career-high 120 reception yards.
Senior Charrod Taylor paced the defense with a career-high nine tackles, including three for a loss and one sack. Freshman Carson Hill set a career-high with eight stops. John Mohring had eight tackles, one interception and a tackle for a loss. It was Mohring’s career sixth interception. The defense held the Bears to 90 net rushing yards, as the Eagles out-gained UCA 390-369.
Brown completed 18-of-31 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns to his two interceptions. Echols caught six of the passes totaling 29 yards. Grimes caught two TD passes on three receptions for 54 yards.
GAME NOTES: Brandon Jackson intercepted Brown early in the fourth quarter. It was his team-leading fifth interception, as the sophomore defensive back finished one INT shy of matching the Georgia Southern season record... Clark set a season record for most passing yards with 1,808. He broke Tracy Ham’s record of 1,772 set during the ’86 season. Clark already broke Ham’s record for most completions and attempts in a season, finishing with 147 and 283, respectively... Dan Jordan tied for third most punt attempts in a season with 62. He equaled Terry Harvin’s mark in 1990... The Eagles honored 13 seniors in a pregame ceremony. Those included: Mohring, Taylor, McCutchen, Smiley, Dudley, Jason Earwood, Renard Montford, Rico Zackery, Lance Wayne, David Willingham, Shaheen Solomon, Lance Turner and Wes Turner.
#3 Florida 62, Western Carolina 0
Gainesville, Fla. ? The third-ranked Florida Gators scored on all eight of its drives to hand Western Carolina a 62-0 loss in the Catamounts’ 2006 season finale on Saturday afternoon at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium/Florida Field. Despite the loss, Western Carolina was able to take some positives from the outing, namely senior tailback Darius Fudge gaining 44 rushing yards to give him 1,001 for the season. He becomes just the sixth Catamount to accomplish the feat and it marks just the eighth time in school history a player has reached the plateau.
Fudge ends his career with 2,274 career rushing yards to finish seventh on the WCU all-time list. Also for his career, The Riverdale, Ga., native had 456 rushing attempts and finishes his career 10th on the career attempts list and fourth on the career yards per carry list with his average of 4.99.
“This season has had a lot of ups and downs to it, but we kept fighting every game to get every yard,” Fudge said. “(Getting 1,000) is kind of more cherished because it was so hard to get. Football is a game of inches and
yards. I would like to thank everybody for helping me achieve this. Not only my offensive line opening holes and wide receivers blocking downfield, but the defense as well for pushing me and the offense everyday in practice. While I know my name will be left in the record book, this is definitely a team accomplishment.”
Fudge’s quest for 1,000 was in jeopardy as he had five carries for zero yards at halftime. However, the coached made some adjustments during the break with Fudge taking the snap in a shotgun formation. With that, fudge orchestrated a game-long, eight-play drive to put him at 999 yards for the season. Then, on WCU’s first drive of the fourth quarter, Fudge lost two yards only to gain four over the next two attempts to get the mark.
Also making his mark in the WCU record book this season was junior receiver Michael Hines. The Asheville, N.C., had two receptions Saturday and finishes with 60 on the season to tie for eighth on the Catamount single-season list.
Lastly, senior punter Tim Mayse averaged 42.3 yards on his 10 punts. He ends the season with a punting average of 41.6 to rank eight on the WCU single season list. (He also holds the sixth-best single-season average.) For his career, Mayse ends his four years with a career punting average of 41.1 to rank second on the WCU all-time list.
Another positive was the play of redshirt sophomore quarterback Andy Horn. Horn, who was listed as low as fifth on the WCU depth chart during the preseason, took his first collegiate snap Saturday and performed admirably under the circumstances. He completed 5-of-12 passes for 35 yards, including a 17-yard first down pass to fullback Joe Clark.
On defense, three seniors led the way as Bruce Lee had a game-high seven tackles while Mitchell Dukes, who played through an injury, and Shelton Gaffney each added six stops. Dukes also had a pass breakup with Gaffney seemingly being involved or around nearly every tackle made.
For Florida, all three players who took snaps accounted for touchdowns. Starter Chris Leak complete 9-of-12 passes for 100 yards and a TD, while Tim Tebow completed 10-of-12 passes for 200 yards and two scores. Tebow also added rushing touchdowns of 20 yards and one yard. Jarred Fayson had an eight-yard rushing TD and finished gaining 77 yards on seven attempts. Tailback Mon Williams had nine carries for 95 yards. Riley Cooper had three receiving scores, including a seven yarder, 55 yarder and a 20 yarder. DeShawn Wynn was responsible for Florida’s first two scorers, thanks to a 26-yard run and a seven-yard run.