Western Carolina 20, #19 Eastern Kentucky 17
Cullowhee, N.C. ? Western Carolina only had 12 offensive plays and 19 total yards in the first half, while 19th-ranked Eastern Kentucky had 315 yards of total offense on 44 plays. In the second half, WCU senior tailback Darius Fudge had 21 rushes for 90 yards as the Catamounts out-gained the Colonels 219-77 in the final two quarters en route to a 20-17 victory Saturday night at Whitmire Stadium/Waters Field.
Fudge ended up with 26 carries for 104 yards, while senior quarterback Bennett Swygert completed 12-of-18 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown. Shelton Gaffney paced the WCU defense with seven tackles, including two for losses.
Despite Eastern Kentucky’s effectiveness moving the ball, Western was able to stay in the game thanks to special teams and an interception. On the Colonels’ first possession, which ended in a punt, Catamount junior linebacker Mordy Ornguze broke through to block a Benton Kuszmaul. Ornguze would scoop up the ball and end up with a 22-yard touchdown on the play, his first collegiate score.
Eastern Kentucky’s offense got in full gear after that setback, scoring a touchdown, converting a field goal and scoring a touchdown on its next three possessions to take a 10-7 lead. EKU’s scoring drives covered a combined 25 plays and 184 yards.
The Colonels’ first score came facing a fourth-and-two on the Catamount 33. Josh Greco hit tight end Patrick Bugg for a touchdown strike down the left sideline. During the second scoring drive, Greco found an open Bugg for a 39-yard gain. EKU was forced to settle for a 36-yard Taylor Long field goal, thanks to an impressive open-field tackle by Western’s Meko Watson on third down. On the third scoring drive, EKU took advantage of a Catamount penalty to get good field position. Four plays later, Greco once again hit an open Bugg on a post route for an 18-yard TD.
With EKU driving again later, Catamount junior Carlton Bailey picked off a pass, only to see Western’s offense be forced into a three-and-out. The Colonels were driving once again as the first half came to a close, but Long’s 36-yard field sailed left and Western was only down 17-7 at the break.
Western took the momentum of the end of the first half and carried it over to the second as the Cats took the opening drive of the third quarter and put three points on the board thanks to a Jonathan Parsons’ 30-yard field goal. The big play of the drive was a 29-yard Swygert to Eddie Cohen pass, which marked Western’s first first down of the game.
On the ensuing possession, Western’s defense began putting more pressure on the EKU quarterback, which would eventually lead to Brandon Breeden’s first career interception. Three plays later, Swygert lofted a ball to the left endzone to find a diving Chris Jefferson for a 20-yard score, tying the game at 17-17 after the Parsons PAT.
Western forced a Colonel punt on the following drive and nearly took a seven-point lead. As the Cats marched down the field, behind the running of Fudge, Western drove 70 yards over 11 plays. However, on first and goal from the four, Eastern Kentucky’s defense rose to the occasion, keeping WCU out of the endzone on each of the four tries.
Backed up on its own one, Eastern Ketucky would give the ball back to Western three plays later. On third and five, Greco rolled right and tried to complete a pass in the middle of the field. Catamount senior Bruce Lee tipped the ball and freshman linebacker Kadeem Morgan made a diving interception just before the ball hit the turf.
Western was not successful moving the ball after that, but Parson drilled a 25-yard field goal to put the Cats up 20-17.
After the teams traded punts, Eastern Kentucky got back in scoring position on their final drive, which started with 5:20 left in the game. On the second play of the drive, Greco was given good time in the pocket and he eventually found Quinton Williams left all alone down the left sideline. The completion would go for 34 yards and move the Colonels from the EKU 33 to the WCU 33. Three plays later, on third and one, Western’s Gaffney came through with a key tackle for loss. With 2:15 left in the game, EKU went for the tie, but the 43-yard field goal missed right.
Western was able to run out the clock to preserve the win as Fudge would get five straight carries, getting one first down in the series.
For the Colonels, Bobby Washington ended with 12 carries for 68 yards with Mark Dunn getting 17 carries for 57 yards. Greco would complete 18-of-30 passes for 240 yards with two TDs and three INTs. Bugg led the EKU receiving corps with five catches for 118 yards and two scores. Brandon Rosser led the Colonel defense with eight stops.
Western Carolina will play its second consecutive game versus a nationally-ranked team when the Catamounts hit the road to face third-ranked Furman Sept. 23. Kickoff is now at 7:00 pm as the game will be telecast on CSS.
Georgia Southern 38, Coastal Carolina 21
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Lamar Lewis and Chris Covington each surpassed 140 yards rushing and scored a touchdown as Georgia Southern handed Coastal Carolina a 38-21 defeat Saturday night (Sept. 16) at Paulson Stadium. Brian VanGorder earned his first win as Georgia Southern’s head coach.
Lewis, who missed last week’s game with an injury, tallied a game-high 172 yards on 15 carries while Covington added 131 on 22 rushes. For Covington it was the second straight game he broke 100 yards.
Georgia Southern took the opening kickoff and on the first play, Travis Clark ran an option pitch to Covington. The sophomore rambled 75 yards, getting cut down at the five. Four plays later the Eagles set up for a 21-yard field goal. The snap went high to holder Jayson Foster, so the former quarterback turned wide receiver eluded several tacklers and plunged into the endzone. Jonathan Dudley converted the extra point for a 7-0 lead just three minutes in.
Coastal capped a 12-play drive covering 80 yards when Aundres Perkins scored from a yard out and the extra point tied the game.
On the Eagles next drive they got inside the Chanticleers’ five. Dudley converted a field goal from 22 yards out right before the end of the first quarter. That make snapped a streak of five straight missed by the senior placekicker dating back to last year and gave GS a 10-7 lead.
After the Eagles’ defense forced a punt, they found the endzone again. Lewis, a summer transfer from Florida State, broke off a 44-yard run to put the squad inside the 20. Lewis got the Eagles inside the five then Covington registered his second TD of the season, a 1-yard score. That helped extend the lead to 17-7.
With 3:11 left before half, the Chanticleers needed just two plays to march 80 yards down the field. Tyler Thigpen found Jerome Simpson on both passes and cut the Eagles’ lead to 17-14. However, the Eagles bounced right back.
Marquice Maynard returned the kickoff 57 yards to Coastal’s 40. From there Lewis broke across field and scored on the drive’s first play. Dudley’s extra point made it a 10-point game again. On that run Lewis joined Covington in surpassing 100 rushing yards in the first half.
The defense stepped up before halftime. Thigpen drove Coastal into Eagle territory. Facing 3rd-and-long he tried for the endzone but Brandon Jackson intercepted the pass, his first as an Eagle and GS took a 24-14 lead into the locker room.
Terrione Benefield intercepted Thigpen to start the third quarter. Clark found Covington on 3rd-and-11 for the first down. Two plays later the sophomore QB hit Hal Scarborough on a 38-yard completion. Foster then rushed 13 yards for his second TD of the game, giving Georgia Southern a 31-14 lead.
On the second play of the fourth quarter Thigpen found Simpson again for a big gain, this time a 58-yard touchdown.
Georgia Southern marched down the field again. Lewis broke off a 28-yard gain and Clark found Irving Campbell for 25 yards down the sideline. Facing 3rd-and-goal from the one, Clark found a wide-open Scarborough. For the junior tight end it was his first collegiate TD catch.
Clark finished 8-of-15 for 127 yards and one TD. He rebounded from last week’s three turnover performance and did not commit a turnover in the game. Five different receivers caught a pass.
John Mohring returned from his one-game suspension to record a team-leading nine tackles, including 2.5 for a loss.
“The first couple of games we’ve ran the ball really well. We ran the ball more than I had anticipated, I knew that we were going to do a lot of 8-man spacing in this game when they were going to come after us,” said VanGorder. “Our offensive linemen did a tremendous job and (fullback) Dusty Reddick did a great job.
“(Last week) That was Travis’ first college start. He had some reps and some were missed. Hetstanding quarterback,” said VanGorder. “There’s a lot of room for improvement. He’s very much aware of that, but he’s a bright guy and a great leader. So I think your going to enjoy watching him grow.”
Thigpen was 16-of-25 for 316 yards and two TDs to go with his two interceptions. Simpson set a Coastal single game record with 207 reception yards on eight catches. He just missed on equaling the Big South Conference record for most receiving yards.
The Eagles open Southern Conference play next Saturday at Chattanooga. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
#2 Appalachian State 41, Mars Hill 0
BOONE, N.C. No. 2 Appalachian State University racked up 571 yards of total offense and limited visiting Mars Hill to just 87 yards in a resounding 41-0 victory at Kidd Brewer Stadium Saturday afternoon. Appalachian’s first shutout in nearly six years extended its school-record home winning streak to 20 games.
Appalachian tallied 285 rushing yards and 286 passing yards in its best offensive performance since posting 582 yards of total offense in last year’s 30-3 win over Coastal Carolina. The 87 yards allowed were ASU’s fewest since holding North Carolina A&T to 87 in 1994.
Making his first-career start, quarterback Armanti Edwards led the offensive outburst. The true freshman completed 15-of-29 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown and ran five times for 48 yards and another score in just one half of work.
Behind Edwards, the Mountaineers scored on five of their first six drives to grab a 27-0 halftime lead. Julian Rauch booted field goals of 32 and 46 yards, Walter Payton Award candidate Kevin Richardson found the end zone for the fourth time on the season and Edwards scored on a four-yard run and tossed a 21-yard touchdown pass to William Mayfield to give the Apps the 27-point advantage with 5:29 still to play before the intermission. However, Edwards’ first career interceptions on the final two series of the half limited the damage going into halftime.
On the first series of the second half, junior quarterback Trey Elder led Appalachian on a nine-play, 55-yard scoring drive, culminated by a 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Daniel Bettis that stretched ASU’s lead to 34-0.
In just one period of work, Elder put up his biggest numbers of the season with 60 yards on 6-of-12 passing and 50 yards on nine rushes.
Third-string signal-caller Chase Laws put a cap on the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman Tavaris Washington with 2:16 left to play.
Playing just one half like most of the ASU starters, Richardson racked up 84 yards on 13 runs. Mayfield caught four passes for 75 yards to lead nine Mountaineers with at least one reception.
Despite the offensive outburst, the story of the day was the Appalachian defense. In recording ASU’s first shutout since blanking VMI, 52-0, in 2000, the black-shirt defense held Mars Hill to just 1.7 yards per play and five first downs. In the second quarter, the Lions managed just one yard against the stifling Appalachian defense.
Ends Marques Murrell and Gary Tharrington led the stingy ?D. Murrell, a senior Buck Buchanan Award candidate, had a team-high eight tackles, including 2.5 for loss, a half sack and a quarterback hurry. Tharrington, a redshirt freshman making just his second career start, had 2.5 sacks and 3.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage among his five total tackles. All-America safety Corey Lynch picked off his first pass of the season, the 14th interception of his career, and reserve linebacker Chris Johnson chipped in with a career-high seven tackles.
An overflow crowd of 24,346, the third-largest in school history, witnessed the dismantling, marking the sixth-straight regular-season crowd of 20,000-plus at The Rock.
Appalachian returns to action next Saturday when it makes its first-ever trip to Boiling Springs, N.C. to take on local-rival Gardner-Webb. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at GWU’s Spangler Stadium. The contest will be televised on tape delay on ESPNU, beginning at 10 p.m.
NOTES: Richardson’s touchdown run was the 24th of his career, moving the junior into a tie for third in ASU history with Alvin Parker (1980-83) ... Lynch’s 14th INT of his career moved him into a tie for fourth in school history with Dave Richardson (1965-68) ... 72 players saw action for the Mountaineers ... a scary moment occurred with 5:22 to play when Mars Hill defensive back Savoy Starr had to be carted off the field on a stretcher ... he was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and his condition is not known at this time ... for the first time this season, Appalachian lost the battle of turnovers by committing three and forcing just one.
Elon 28, Presbyterian 0
ELON, N.C. Wes Pope passed for a career-high 243 yards as Elon turned back Presbyterian 28-0 in front of 9,542 Family Weekend fans in college football action Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Stadium. Pope tallied three touchdown tosses and then ran for the other Phoenix score.
The victory marked the first shutout triumph for Elon since the Phoenix blanked East Tennessee State 14-0 on Sept. 20, 2003 at Rhodes Stadium 32 games ago.
Pope connected on 21 of 27 passes with one interception as the Phoenix (2-1) finished with 327 yards of total offense to 266 net yards by the Blue Hose (2-2), ranked No. 11 in NCAA-II by Don Hansen’s National Weekly Football Gazette,
Presbyterian’s Grayson Mullins ended up 12-for-16 with two interceptions for
131 yards. Elon’s Terrell Hudgins led all receivers with a career-high 102 yards and a touchdown while Justin Durant paced the Blue Hose with 71 receiving yards on four catches.
“I hope that throw to Terrell, where he went up and got it, was a confidence booster for him because that’s a play we need him to make if we’re going to be successful,” Elon coach Pete Lembo said. “It was good to see that happen today.”
Altogether, 56 Elon players saw action to 41 players for the defending South Atlantic Conference champion Presbyterian.
“I felt like we were controlling the line of scrimmage,” Lembo said. “As a coach, you have got to keep patting your guys on the back. It’s a privilege to be suited up on the sideline. If 85 guys are suited up, you want 85 guys into the game.”
After a scoreless first quarter for both teams, Reggie Hall hauled in a nine-yard touchdown pass from Pope to cap an eight-play, 75-yard drive and put the Phoenix on the board with 2:54 to go in the second stanza.
Just five plays later, Cameron McGlenn intercepted a pass by Mullins on the Elon 43-yard line and returned it five yards to the Elon 48. Just four plays after that, Bo Williamson’s eight-yard touchdown catch from Pope extended the Elon edge to 14-0 with 17 seconds remaining before halftime.
Hudgins hauled in a 31-yard touchdown toss from Pope to stretch the Phoenix advantage to 21-0 with 4:41 left in the third period, concluding an 11-play, 80-yard drive.
With 11:56 to play in the fourth quarter, Pope’s one-yard touchdown run completed a 10-play, 63-yard drive and determined the final margin.
“I think we did some good things like keeping him off-balance,” PC coach Tommy Spangler said of Pope. “I thought we had him to a point, we just didn’t finish enough plays. We tried to control the ball a little more. You can have it all day, but if you don’t score, you’re not going to win. We came here to win and we came here to play better than we did.”
Elon will observe its open date on the schedule next weekend before heading off to Boone, N.C. to play defending NCAA-IAA champion Appalachian State at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 30. Presbyterian will also observe its open date next week before hosting Lenoir-Rhyne to begin South Atlantic Conference play at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 30.
South Carolina 27, Wofford 20
COLUMBIA, SC ? Wofford’s final drive took the Terriers down to the South Carolina 10 yard line but a fumble on fourth down ended any hopes of an upset as the Gamecocks held on for a 27-20 victory Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The Terriers brought the score within one touchdown with 4:43 on the clock as Josh Collier hit Andy Strickland for a 25-yard touchdown pass. Wofford then stopped USC on its drive before mounting its final possession covering 51 yards with just one timeout remaining.
“I can’t describe how proud I am of the guys,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “Our coaching staff worked their tails off. We came down here with the mindset that we could win. We probably didn’t execute as well as we needed to, especially against a team like that.
But we kept fighting.”
The Gamecocks struck first. After receiving the opening kickoff, South Carolina fumbled on its third play, giving the Terriers a first down at the USC 27.
Wofford lined up for a 39-yard field goal attempt but the snap wound up in the hands of kicker Nick Robinson who was sacked for a 10-yard loss.
Syvelle Newton hit Sidney Rice for a 45-yard gain on USC’s next possession to set up a 10-yard scoring run by Cory Boyd that gave South Carolina a 7-0 lead.
Wofford went on a 15-play, 68-yard drive that ate up
7:29 on the clock and resulted in a Robinson 29-yard field goal with 1:06 to play in the first quarter to pull the Terriers to within 7-3.
South Carolina went up 14-3 when Boyd scored on a 1-yard run that was set up by a 28-yard run by Newton.
The Gamecocks extended their lead to 17-3 when Ryan Succop booted a 42-yard field goal with 7:08 remaining in the half.
Wofford used a 63-yard run by Kevious Johnson to set up a 1-yard run by the former Southern Conference Freshman of the Year as Wofford closed the gap to 17-10 with 4:26 to play in the half.
Boyd appeared to be bottled up at the line but broke free and scored on a 40-yard run to give USC a 24-10 lead with 2:46 to play in the half.
Succop’s 22 field goal late in the third quarter gave Carolina a 27-10 lead.
Justin Franklin’s interception and 24-yard return set up a 28-yard field goal by Robinson as Wofford closed to 27-13 with 7:19 to play in the game. Franklin had earlier recovered the Gamecock fumble in the first quarter.
Johnson led all players with 129 yards on 12 carries, his eighth career 100-yard rushing effort, for a 10.8 average. He helped pace a Terrier ground attack which totaled 290 yards compared to 165 for USC.
Wofford will be off next week and will return to action when it hosts Furman on Sept. 30.
Western Kentucky 28, Chattanooga 21
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. --- Western Kentucky quarterback Justin Haddix threw for two touchdowns in the second half and ran for another score Saturday to lead the Hilltoppers to a 28-21 victory over the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Haddix’s performance overshadowed a 224-yard passing performance by UTC quarterback Antonio Miller and a 127-yard rushing effort from UTC back Eldra Buckley.
Both of Haddix’s touchdown throws came to receiver Curtis Hamilton. The first, a 42-yard strike, gave the Hilltoppers (1-2) a 21-7 lead with 1:04 remaining in the third quarter. The second, a 23-yarder with 10:32 to play, pushed the cushion to 28-14.
A one-yard touchdown run by Haddix at 5:12 of the third quarter snapped a 7-7 tie and gave the Hilltoppers the lead for good. On the scoring march, Haddix hit Jessie Quinn for 26 yards and a first down on a third-down-and-14 play.
Miller scored three times on the ground for the Mocs (1-2). His second score, a five-yard run, sliced the WKU lead to 21-14 with 12:54 to play. On the drive, the Mocs took advantage of 35 yards of Hilltoppers’ penalties on three consecutive plays.
Miller converted a third-and-10 play with an 11-yard run to the five-yard line, and took it around right end on the ensuing play for the score.
The Mocs made it interesting to the very end. Miller drove the squad 63 yards in 11 plays in just 1:39 seconds and got the team to within 28-21 when he scored from a yard away with just 25 seconds to play.
The quarterback was 6-for-10 passing on the drive, throwing the ball on all but the final play. He hit wideout Matthew Angeloni on a quick slant for three yards to set up a fourth-and-goal play before he rolled over on a sneak.
Brandon Golder recovered an onside kick for the Mocs on the ensuing kickoff, setting the Mocs up at the UTC 47 with 22 seconds to play. UTC was able to run five plays. The final play was a last-gasp throw to the end zone from the WKU 43-yard line that receiver Blue Cooper dove for and narrowly missed.
The Hilltoppers get on the scoreboard first as freshman running back Tyrell Hayden raced around right end for an eight-yard touchdown run. WKU drove 94 yards in 11 plays to take the 7-0 lead at 2:20 of the first quarter.
Miller tied the score at 10:33 of the second quarter on a six-yard run, capping an 85-yard, 15-play scoring march. Miller scored three times on the ground, had 40 rushing yards and 264 yards of total offense. He completed 23-of-48 pass attempts and was not intercepted. Both completion and attempt totals were career highs.
Buckley went over the 100-yard rushing mark for the sixth straight game dating back to last season. His 127-yard total came on 26 carries, and he tied Tyrone Coleman for all-time 100-yard rushing games at UTC with nine.
Wideout Emanuel Hassell set a career high with 14 catches and recorded his sixth career 100-yard receiving game with 112 yards. Michael Johnson caught four balls for 79 yards.
Hayden led WKU on the ground with 84 yards on 15 carries. Haddix was 12-of-22 passing for 181 yards and one interception. He was picked off by safety Greg McConico.
Linebacker Chris Johnson set his career high with a game-best 11 tackles, 10 of which were solo stops with two behind the line.
UTC and WKU are scheduled to play again next season at Chattanooga’s Finley Stadium on Nov. 3.
The Mocs play their first home game next Saturday, the Southern Conference opener against Georgia Southern. Kickoff at Finley Stadium is set for 6 p.m. The game will be Military Appreciation Day and will feature various activities to celebrate our nation’s military heritage and tradition and to honor those military personnel serving our nation.
North Carolina 45, Furman 42
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