SoCon Football Recaps from September 29, 2007
WOFFORD 45, FURMAN 20
Greenville, S.C. -- Josh Collier passed for 187 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 41 yards and a pair of scores to power FCS eighth-ranked Wofford to a 45-20 victory over 20th-ranked Furman in Southern Conference football action Saturday evening at Paladin Stadium.
The win snapped Furman's 14-game home winning streak and gave Wofford (4-1, 2-0 SoCon) only its second win over the Paladins in the last nine games. It also marked the worst home setback for Furman (1-3, 0-1 SoCo) since Georgia Southern downed the Paladins 45-17 during the 1998 campaign and represented the most decisive series loss to Wofford since 1969. The 1-3 start is the worst for Furman since the 1994 season when the Paladins finished 3-8.
"We had a great team effort tonight, and that's what it took to win the game," said Wofford head coach Mike Ayers, who claimed his fourth victory against Furman in 18 games as a head coach.
"Furman is an excellent football team, and they do a great job. We have come up with a few things that have helped us, mixing in the pass on offense with the run on the option."
"You really have to give credit to Wofford and Mike Ayers and his staff," said Furman head coach Bobby Lamb. "Their new style of offense is very difficult to defend, and we certainly had our trouble with that tonight. We just couldn't stop them, but it was more than just our inability to stop them. We were soundly beaten in all phases of the game, and we got outcoached, no doubt about it."
Collier, a senior from Bonaire, Ga, completed 12-of-16 passes in the contest, including a 2-yard strike to Kevious Johnson on the game's opening possession to give the Terriers a 7-0 lead.
Later in the first quarter Collier's 9-yard touchdown run put Wofford ahead 14-7.
Leading 17-14 at intermission, Wofford took control of the contest with a pair of third quarter scores, including a 4-yard touchdown run by senior halfback Kevious Johnson, who fumbled on the play but bounced off a pair of defenders and scooped up the ball before running into the end zone to give the Terriers a 24-14 lead.
Wofford's defense set up its next score when linebacker Kevin Adleman picked off a severly underthrown pass by pressured Paladin quarterback Renaldo Gray and raced 38 yards to the Furman 16. Two playes later Dane Romero scored on a 4-yard run to stretch the Terrier advantage to 31-14.
Johnson's 11-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth period sealed the game's outcome, and Collier later capped the Terrier offensive onslaught with a 1-yard run with 6:15 to go.
Johnson headlined Wofford's 273-yard rushing effort with 118 yards and two touchdowns. The Terriers rolled up 460 yards total offense to Furmans 387.
Furman was paced by Stephone LaFrance with 65 yards and a touchdown in his first career start and R.J. Webb with seven catches for 122 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown reception. Jerome Felton rushed for 22 yards and scored the 53rd rushing touchdown of his career, tying Louis Ivory's school standard.
Both teams return to action next Saturday with Wofford taking on The Citadel in Charleston in a 2:00 p.m. and Furman hosting Coastal Carolina in a 2:00 p.m. contest.
APPALACHIAN STATE 49, ELON 32
Elon, N.C. ? Trey Elder passed for 161 yards and rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns while Kevin Richardson ran for 158 yards and a touchdown as No. 5 Appalachian State overcame No. 24 Elon 49-32 in front of a Rhodes Stadium record crowd of 13,100 fans Saturday afternoon in an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision contest.
“This was a very emotional, draining game,” Elon coach Pete Lembo said. “I thought it was a heck of a football game, I really do. We made some costly mistakes down the stretch ? particularly in the second quarter ? that you can’t afford to make against a great team like Appalachian State. Certainly, we didn’t tackle great at times or fit in great at times on defense and that resulted in giving up a lot of yards.”
The Mountaineers amassed 526 yards of total offense ? 365 on the ground ? to 371 net yards by the Phoenix, including 307 in the air. Appalachian State fashioned 32:55 in possession time while Elon finished with 27:05.
Elon’s Michael Mayers set a pair of Southern Conference records by compiling 225 kick return yards and 387 all-purpose yards. Western Carolina’s Kerry Hayes tallied 222 kick return yards against VMI in 1992 and DaVon Fowlkes piled up 343 all-purpose yards against Northwestern State in 2004, establishing the previous plateaus.
With 12:04 to go in the first quarter, Andrew Wilcox put the Phoenix (2-2 overall, 0-1 Southern Conference) on the scoreboard first with a 23-yard field goal, capping an 11-play, 68-yard drive that only took 2:56.
The Mountaineers (4-1, 1-0) claimed their first lead at 7-3 at the 8:31 mark of the first period when Trey Elder scurried six yards for a touchdown to conclude a seven-play, 61-yard drive that consumed 3:33.
Elon regained the advantage at 10-7 when Scott Riddle connected with Bo Williamson for 25-yard pass play for a score with 4:48 to play in the opening stanza. The touchdown completed a 12-play, 90-yard drive that occurred over 3:43.
Corey Lynch’s block of a Brandon Lane punt gave Appalachian State the ball on the Phoenix’s 22-yard line. ASU then captured an eventual 14-10 halftime edge when Trey Elder scored on a 14-yard run with 2:01 remaining before the break.
With 3:32 left in the third quarter, Elder stretched the Mountaineers’ lead to 21-10 with a six-yard scramble for a score. The touchdown capped an eight-play, 60-yard drive that took 3:16 off the clock.
Elon pulled within 21-17 on a six-yard touchdown run by Riddle with 2:16 to play in the third frame, capitalizing on an 83-yard kickoff return by Mayers three plays earlier. ASU fattened its lead to 28-17 with 14:11 left in the game on a two-yard touchdown run by Devon Moore, concluding a nine-play, 50-yard drive that took up 3:05.
Mayers brought the Phoenix back within 28-24 with 13:57 remaining by returning the kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. He became just the third Elon player ? after Emery Moore versus Lenoir-Rhyne in 1967 and Jimmy Smith against Newberry in 1983 ? to return a kickoff 100 yards.
Back-to-back touchdowns by the Mountaineers extended the difference to 42-24 with 4:39 to go. Richardson scored on a touchdown run from one yard out and Titus Howard returned an interception 41 yards for another score.
Mayers hauled in a 21-yard pass from Riddle to bring the Phoenix within 42-32 ? following a two-point conversion pass from Riddle to Terrell Hudgins ? with 3:27 left. Dexter Jackson’s 24-yard touchdown run for Appalachian State with 3:01 to go determined the final margin.
“It was a good, tough football game,” Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore said. “Obviously, we are glad to have won it. I’m proud of our football team. Elon has a really, really good football team. Pete Lembo has done a great job in the short time that he has been here, putting this kind of football team together.”
Riddle connected on 32 of 51 passes for 307 yards with two interceptions while Mayers established career highs with 14 receptions for 162 yards. Elon’s Walker White amassed a career-high 18 tackles to lead all defenders.
Next Saturday, the Mountaineers will host non-conference opponent Gardner-Webb at 2:30 p.m. and Elon visits Western Carolina at 6 p.m.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 50, WESTERN CAROLINA 21
Statesboro, Ga. ? Georgia Southern recorded a first half shutout and cruised to a 50-21 Southern Conference win over Western Carolina, Saturday afternoon (Sept. 29) at Paulson Stadium. The Eagles (3-1 overall, 1-1 SoCon) already in four games have matched their win total from last year.
Senior quarterback Jayson Foster set a Georgia Southern record for completion percentage, completing 10-of-10 for a career-high 147 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 96 yards and a TD.
Raja Andrews also put his name in the record book when he returned a 49-yard punt for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. He became the 12th Eagle all-time to record a TD off a punt return. But the Eagles’ defense, a game removed from allowing 45 points, set the tone early on and throughout the game.
Overall Western (1-4, 0-1) rushed for 27 yards, 19 coming on the last play of the game by quarterback Adam Hearns, which is the seventh-lowest total allowed in program history and fewest since Fayetteville State had 21 net rushing yards in September 1999.
Georgia Southern deferred the coin toss and forced Western to a 3-and-out on its first drive. The Eagles got down to the Catamounts’ two before settling for a 20-yard field goal by Jesse Hartley.
The defense held again and the offense started on its own 31. Foster completed a 27-yard pass to Chris Teal on the first play. It was the first career reception for the true-freshman. Later on 3rd-and-2 from the Western 34, Foster dropped back to pass but raced to the left corner. A downfield block by Teal sprung the senior quarterback for a touchdown and 10-0 lead.
A key stretch in the second quarter broke the game open as Western fumbled the ball away on three consecutive plays and the Eagles put 17 points on the scoreboard.
At the start of the second quarter Dakota Walker forced quarterback Todd Spitzer to fumble, which was recovered by Larry Beard and the Eagles had 1st-and-10 from the Catamount 38. The Eagles got inside the redzone again and took a 13-0 lead thanks to Hartley’s 27-yard field goal.
The defense again quickly forced another turnover. Marcus Brown caught Spitzer’s pass but Brandon Jackson forced a fumble and Branden Daniel recovered. Foster completed a key 3rd-and-11 pass to Lynon Jefferson covering 31 yards. It was the first reception for the senior wide receiver since the South Dakota State game in October 2005. Three plays later Mike Hamilton walked into the endzone for a 2-yard score and 20-0 lead with six minutes left in the first half.
For the third straight possession Western fumbled on its first play when running back Mike Malone coughed up the ball and Beard recovered his second fumble of the game. That turnover led to Teal’s 3-yard touchdown run, the first rushing TD of his career. Hartley’s extra point made it 27-0.
The Catamounts got the ball with 66 seconds left and drove down the field. Spitzer found Eddie Cohen for a 25-yard reception and the senior would have scored had it not been for Chris Covington and Ronnie Wiggins stopping him at the one. On the last play of the half and the ball inches away from the goal line, Willie Harper was stopped by Covington and company as the defense kept the first half shutout alive.
Georgia Southern dominated the first half statistics. Time of possession was 20:53 to 9:07 in favor of the Eagles and they out-gained Western 164-16 on the ground. Foster gained 93 yards rushing and was a perfect 6-of-6 passing for 79 yards.
Hartley nailed a season-long 33-yard field goal as the Eagles ate up nearly seven minutes on their opening drive of the third quarter, making it 30-0.
Western got on the scoreboard late in the third when Hearns connected with Cohen on a 52-yard touchdown.
On the next drive Foster found Michael McIntosh for a 29-yard touchdown pass. After Jonathan Loving recovered Western’s fourth fumble of the game, Billy Lowe completed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Steve Cundari to put the Eagles ahead 44-7. Andrews’ punt return with 10:18 left in the game gave the Eagles 50 points, their highest scoring output since pinning 63 points on Morehead State in the 2005 regular season finale.
Hearns and Cohen connected for touchdowns of 48 and 13 yards for the final margin.
Head coach Chris Hatcher was pleased on how his team bounced back Saturday.
“I’m very pleased with our effort. Of course in the first half we came out firing on all cylinders and all three phases of the game. I’m real proud to see our guys do that... We had a great week of practice and it came out and showed,” said Hatcher. “We pretty much dominated from the get-go. It got a little sloppy there in the fourth quarter, but we were playing everybody that was eligible to play. That may have been the longest fourth quarter that I have ever been associated with in my entire life.”
Hamilton and Teal each finished with 64 rushing yards and one touchdown. Chris Ashkouti caught three passes for 38 yards and Teal also added 38 receiving yards on two receptions. For McIntosh it was his second TD reception this year and Cundari caught the first of his career. Andrews totaled 116 return yards - 67 on kickoffs and the record 49-yard punt return.
“I was really proud of Chris Teal; he seems to be getting better and better each and every game. It’s kind of bad, you’ve got your starter in then (fourth quarter), but he’s the only running back we had left that was healthy,” said Hatcher. “Jayson [Foster] managed the game well, we threw the ball well, and we caught the ball well. And more importantly we had a short field to work with most of the night because our defense forced a lot of turnovers.”
Covington and David Lewis had four tackles each. The defense, with only three sacks all season and none the past two games, registered five sacks and nine tackles for a loss.
Hearns completed 10-of-26 passes for 213 yards and three TDs. Cohen had a career day, making eight catches for 212 yards while accounting for all three TDs.
Quinton Phillips recorded a game- and career-high 19 tackles for the Catamounts.
Western returns home to face Elon next Saturday at 6 p.m. Georgia Southern concludes its three-game homestand next Saturday (Oct. 6), a non-conference game against South Dakota State. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
THE CITADEL 41, CHATTANOOGA 16
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. ? The Citadel football defeated Chattanooga in their conference-opener Saturday night at Finley Stadium. Quarterback Duran Lawson had an impressive night as he rushed for 108 yards and threw for 221 yards. Running back Tory Cooper was also a huge factor rushing for 84 yards with four touchdowns, tying the school record for most touchdowns in a game. The Bulldogs put together a complete team effort in the 41-16 victory.
Putting the first points on the board, the Bulldogs’ opening drive was an impressive one as they took 5:54 off the clock, driving 65 yards in 12 plays. After converting on 4-and-1 on the Mocs’ 49-yard line, The Citadel finished the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run by senior running back Tory Cooper. Senior Mike Adams kicked the extra point to put the Bulldogs up 7-0 with 9:06 left in the first quarter.
The Bulldog defense came ready to play early in the first quarter as the Mocs’ first possession was a four-and-out that ended with a stop by senior Josh Lawson who had a huge hit forcing Chattanooga to punt with 6:31 in the first quarter. However, the Chattanooga punt was grounded at the 1-yard line and the Bulldogs had a quick possession of their own going four-and-out in their second possession of the game. The Citadel defense forced another four-and-out on the Mocs’ next possession, but freshman Jonathan Synovec recorded his third blocked punt of the season setting the Bulldogs up for their next scoring drive on the Chattanooga 34-yard line.
After converting on fourth-and-one for the second time in the game, the Bulldogs ended the scoring drive with a 1-yard run by Cooper for this second touchdown with 39 seconds left in the first quarter to put The Citadel up, 14-0. The game started to turn around for the Mocs, who earned their first points after driving the ball 80 yards in seven plays in 3:36, to decrease the Bulldog lead by seven, making the score 14-0 with 2:32 left in the second. However, the Bulldogs did not let the half end without extending the lead back to 14. Redshirt freshman Reggie Rice sacked Moc quarterback Antonio Miller at their own 20, forcing a fumble and causing a loss of 10 yards, while senior linebacker Andew Rowell recovered the ball for a gain of seven yards, placing the ball on the Moc 3-yard line. One play later, Cooper ended the drive with his third touchdown of the game with 49 seconds left on the clock, putting the Bulldogs up 21-7 going into halftime.
Coming out of the half, Chattanooga’s drive came to and end when defensive lineman Kevin McCaskill earned his second sack of the season, forcing another Chattanooga punt. Fielding the punt at the 25-yard line, the Bulldogs drove the ball 75 yards in 14 plays and 7:26. After a Bulldog fumble and Lawson sack, both for a loss, The Citadel found themselves third-and-19 on their own 28-yard line. However, the Dogs quickly recovered as Lawson threw a bullet 25-yarder to Josh Haney for a first down on the Moc 47-yard line. A few plays later, Cooper ran the ball in for his fourth touchdown of the night, putting The Citadel up, 28 -7.
The Bulldogs added another score at 14:52 in the fourth quarter as Lawson kept the ball for an 11- yard touchdown run to put The Citadel up, 35-7, after driving the ball 75 yards in nine plays and 3:47. At 13:56 in the fourth, Cooper was tackled in the Bulldog end zone for a Chattanooga safety in the first play of the drive after a Moc punt was fielded at the 3-yard line. The safety made the score 35-9 and was the first recorded against the Bulldogs since they fumbled the ball in the end zone at Pitt in 2000. Building on the momentum, Chattanooga scored again in the next possession driving the ball 67 yards in nine plays for 3:17, making the score 35-16.
However, The Citadel quickly got back into the swing of things as they answered with back-to-back field goals. The first was a 29-yard Mike Adams field goal at 7:20 in the fourth to extend their lead, 38-16. On the next Chattanooga possession, junior Dwight House intercepted Miller’s pass to put the Bulldogs back in scoring position. The drive ended with a 40-yard field goal, extending the score to 41-16. The Citadel Bulldogs return to Johnson Hagood Stadium on Oct. 6 for Hall of Fame weekend when they take on the Wofford. The Bulldogs and Terriers are set to kickoff at 2 p.m. in Charleston.