No. 6/4 Wofford 55, No. 7/3 Elon 20
Final Stats
ELON, N.C. ? Ben Widmyer passed for 143 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another 59 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 4 Wofford to a 55-20 Southern Conference football victory over No. 3 Elon Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Stadium, snapping the Phoenix’s seven-game winning streak.
Dane Romero gave the Terriers (6-1 overall, 4-0 SoCon) a 14-0 advantage in the first quarter on touchdown runs of one yard and eight yards. The Phoenix (7-2, 5-1) pulled to within 14-7 in the second period on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Scott Riddle to Terrell Hudgins.
Later in the second quarter, Wofford stretched its lead to 21-7 on a 10-yard touchdown run by Ben Widmyer prior to a 45-yard field goal by Elon’s Andrew Wilcox. The Terriers fattened their edge to 34-10 after a 59-yard touchdown pass from Widmyer to Andy Strickland and a one-yard touchdown run by Widmyer.
Wilcox converted a 42-yard field goal to draw the Phoenix to within 34-13 at halftime. Bo Williamson brought Elon closer at 34-20 on a four-yard touchdown reception from Riddle in the third quarter. Wofford pulled away by scoring three unanswered touchdowns on a one-yard run by Romero, a two-yard run by Mitch Allen and a two-yard run by Eric Breitenstein.
The Terriers rolled up 473 yards of total offense ? 330 on the ground ? to 338 net yards by the Phoenix. Romero rushed for 87 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries and Strickland caught six passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.
Riddle completed 30 of his 45 passes with three interceptions for 263 yards and two touchdowns. Hudgins hauled in 11 receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown and Williamson snagged six catches for 73 yards and a score while Elon’s Brandon Newsome rushed for 83 yards on 19 carries.
The Phoenix’s Nolan Ward led all defenders with 16 total tackles and teammate Brandon Wiggins amassed 11 stops. James Mitchell paced the Wofford defense with 10 tackles.
Riddle, a true sophomore, became Elon’s all-time leader in total offense. He entered the game with 5,709 career yards, 14 yards behind former Phoenix quarterback Derrick Moore (5,723 net yards in 1997-2000). Riddle now boasts 5,962 yards of total offense for his career.
Hudgins registered his 17th career game with 100 or more receiving yards, pulling into a tie with Appalachian State’s Rick Beasley (1978-80) and VMI’s Mark Stock (1985-88) for the Southern Conference’s all-time lead in that category.
Elon will observe its open date this weekend. Meanwhile, Wofford visits No. 2 Appalachian State at 8 p.m. Friday in a nationally-televised contest on ESPN2.
No. 2 Appalachian State 26, No. 18 Furman 14
Final Stats
BOONE, N.C. ? Appalachian State University’s defense delivered head coach Jerry Moore his 200th career victory, as it forced four turnovers in second-ranked Appalachian’s 26-14 win over No. 18 Furman on Black Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Moore became only the 28th coach in NCAA Division I (FCS or FBS) history to reach the 200-win plateau. He joins Albany’s Bob Ford and Florida A&M’s Joe Taylor as the only active FCS mentors in the exclusive club.
Win No. 200 didn’t come easy for Moore, as Furman (6-3, 3-2 SoCon) outgained Appalachian (6-2, 4-0 SoCon), 354-319. However, ASU squelched two FU scoring opportunities by forcing turnovers in the red zone and turned two of the Paladins’ four miscues into touchdowns.
The Mountaineers marched 63 yards on the opening drive of the game and took a 6-0 lead on a 14-yard touchdown run by quarterback Armanti Edwards and failed point-after attempt.
The Paladins appeared ready to grab the lead late in the first quarter when flanker Sederrick Cunningham took a direct snap at the ASU 15 yard line and scampered untouched inside the five, but safety Travis Dowda separated Cunningham from the ball at the four yard line and D.J. Smith corralled the loose ball at the one to end the FU threat.
Six plays and 99 yards later, the Apps made it 13-0 on a four-yard scoring dive by Josh Jackson, which came one snap after Radford ripped off an 84-yard run, which was the longest carry by a Mountaineer since John Settle went 88 yards versus Furman, 22 years ago to the day.
Furman got on the board midway through the second period when Tersoo Uhaa scored the first of his two touchdowns with a four-yard carry that capped a 85-yard drive in which Uhaa rushed for 28 of his game-high 99 yards.
ASU held the 13-7 advantage until 40 seconds into the fourth quarter, when Furman took its first lead of the game on a two-yard touchdown plunge by Uhaa. The go-ahead score was set up by an errant snap that sailed over Edwards’ head from the Furman 27 and was rolled and batted all the way down to the ASU 29 yard line before it was recovered by the Paladins’ Brandon Williams.
The game appeared to be destined to be another ASU-Furman down-to-the-wire thriller, but the Mountaineers countered with two unanswered scores in the fourth quarter to put to rest any Paladin hopes of getting their first win in Boone since 1996. Instead, Edwards’ 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ben Jorden put the Apps up for good with 13:12 to go and Edwards’ 15-yard scoring stirke to T.J. Courman was the clincher in ASU’s seventh-straight win over Furman in Boone and fourth-in-a-row over the Paladins overall.
The fourth-quarter onslaught was precipitated by linebacker Pierre Banks’ second forced fumble of the game, which set up Appalachian’s final score. The two forced fumbles tied a single-game school record and moved the senior into a tie for seventh on ASU’s career list with seven. The two forced fumbles also highlighted a stellar stat line for Banks, who also finished with eight tackles and two sacks.
Fellow linebacker Jacque Roman led all tacklers with 15 and had one of the Mountaineers’ three fumble recoveries, which were their first of the year. The Apps came into the afternoon as one of only two FCS teams (out of 117) without a fumble recovery to their credit this season.
Furman held quarterback Edwards’ legs in check for most of the afternoon, limiting the junior to 16 rushing yards, his lowest total in 32 career starts. However, FU couldn’t stop Edwards’ left arm, which completed 16-of-24 attempts for 186 yards and the two touchdown strikes.
Jordan Sorrells completed 18-of-33 passes for 147 yards and Max Lerner had 10 tackles to lead Furman.
Appalachian’s triumph sets the stage for Friday night’s mammoth Southern Conference showdown versus No. 4 Wofford (6-1, 4-0 SoCon), a 55-20 winner Saturday over No. 3 Elon. The nationally televised Halloween battle is set for 8 p.m. Friday on ESPN2.
Furman visits Samford next Saturday at 3 p.m. ET in the SportSouth SoCon Saturday game of the week.
Georgia Southern 38, Western Carolina 31
Final Stats
Cullowhee, N.C. ? Georgia Southern recorded 35 unanswered points, including 28 in the fourth quarter alone, to rally from a 31-3 deficit and force overtime en route to a 38-31 comeback victory over Western Carolina in Southern Conference action Saturday afternoon at E.J. Whitmire Stadium/Bob Waters Field.
The loss relegates Western to its 20th-straight defeat in SoCon play and 14th consecutive at the hands of Georgia Southern.
“It’s a very disappointing loss,” said WCU head coach Dennis Wagner during post-game comments to the media. “We had an opportunity to beat a good team in Georgia Southern. Today was a tale of two halves. They made some adjustments (at the break) and we did not move the ball offensively in the second half.”
The Eagles racked up 503 yards of total offense in the win, including a staggering 367 in the second half alone. During their second half rally, the Eagles outgained Western, 367-to-48 in total offense.
Trailing by a score, 31-24, after a reverse-option pass, Georgia Southern held the Catamount offense to a three-and-out and less than two minutes of possession time to set up the eventual tying score. With just under three minutes to play from their own 35-yard line, the Eagles moved to mid-field in four plays before an 11-yard sack by red-shirt freshman Chris Everett backed GSU into a third and 20 from their own 39. An incomplete pass set up a fourth and long, but the Eagles were able to garner a drive-saving automatic first down on a pass interference call down the far sideline.
Four plays later, including a 41-yard strike from QB Antonio Henton to Terence Hall, Henton found Tim Camp from five yards away to knot the game at 31.
WCU had one last opportunity with the ball with 32 seconds remaining in the game, but only managed 10 yards on four plays, including a seven-yard loss on a sack before punting it away to end the half.
In the extra session, GSU running back Adam Urbano, who finished with 83 yards on 11 carries in the win, found running room around the right edge, galloping all 25 yards in a single play to give the Eagles the seven-point edge, 38-31.
On WCU’s alternating OT possession, a pair of incomplete passes and two GSU sacks sealed the win for the Eagles, which now have played three overtime games on the season with a 2-1 record (win versus Northeastern; loss versus Wofford).
“It hurts. That’s the only way you can say it, it hurts,” junior linebacker Adrian McLeod, who finished with a career-high 15 tackles and his first career interception. Senior LB Michael Shaw led WCU with a career-best 16 tackles, including one for a loss and half a sack, while also tallying his first career INT.
Red-shirt freshman running back Quan Warley was the offensive workhorse for the Catamounts in the losing effort. The Thomasville, N.C., native led WCU with 102 yards on the ground ? his second career, 100+ yard rushing game ? and was the Catamounts’ top receiver, hauling in four catches for 50 yards including a career-long 30 yarder.
Sidelined much of the second half with a knee injury, WCU’s leading receiver, red-shirt sophomore Marquel Pittman, was held without a catch for the first-time in his career.
Capitalizing on three of Georgia Southern’s four first half turnovers, Western Carolina (2-7, 0-5 SoCon) raced out to a 24-0 halftime advantage. After the Catamounts were forced to punt on their first possession, Henton ? who accounted for three of GSU’s seven giveaways on the afternoon ? fumbled the ball back to purple and gold on their first offensive play from scrimmage.
Aided by a roughing the kicker penalty and two additional GSU infractions, Western moved 48 yards in eight plays following the fumble to take the lead, 6-0, as red-shirt freshman QB Zack Jaynes found red-shirt sophomore Adam Hearns on a three-yard strike for early lead.
The Catamounts stretched the advantage to nine on a 37-yard field goal from junior Blake Bostic early in the second quarter.
Two Eagle interceptions set up Western for its next two offensive scores. On a third and seven from the GSU 44, McLeod jumped a stop route on the far hash mark for his first career INT. Following his 11-yard return, Jaynes connected on a 40-yard strike down the near sideline with freshman Andrerius Thomas for the longest past-and-catch in the two rookies’ careers.
Jaynes finished 13-of-33 for 144 yards and two touchdowns.
On the ensuing possession, Eagle back-up quarterback Lee Chapple was picked off by sophomore Mitchell Bell, whose 32-yard return set up Warley from nine yards out two plays later. Jaynes again found Hearns in the purple end zone on the two-point attempt to give WCU a 24-0 lead which it held through intermission.
Georgia Southern (4-4, 2-4 SoCon) managed to light the scoreboard for the first time in the wining moments of the third quarter. Freshman place kicker Adrian Mora capped an otherwise promising 11-play, 48-yard drive with a 34-yard field goal to pull the Eagles within three touchdowns, 24-3, until Singletary’s interception at the line of scrimmage and subsequent return made it a 28-point edge, 31-3.
The interception return for a score was WCU’s first since 2006 when Angelo Brown returned a pick 45 yards for a score at The Citadel (1021/06). In a twist of irony, the two teams went into overtime that day in Charleston, falling to the Bulldogs, 30-27.
Georgia Southern tallied its first touchdown on the day with 10:43 remaining in regulation, sparking the 35-unanswered points and setting up the final minute fireworks, capped by Urbano’s 25-yard, game-winning rush.
“We’ve been in a lot of close games. Today, we finally got over the hump,” said GSU head coach Chris Hatcher.
For GSU, Henton finished with 154 yards on 14-of-26 passing with two TDs, two picks and a fumble, while Chapple, who later left with a right ankle injury, was 10-of-14 also with two picks and one scoring strike. Wide receiver Raja Andrews ? who became Georgia Southern’s all-time leader in pass receptions (99) ? caught eight passes for a game-high 121 yards and two TDs in the victory.
Western Carolina returns home next Saturday, Nov. 1 to host the Chattanooga Mocs at Whitmire Stadium/Waters Field. WCU will honor its five newest inductees into its Athletics Hall of Fame ?former football players John Ruta (1962-65), Alonzo Carmichael (1983-86) and Brad Hoover (1996-99) along with track and field star Tony McKennie (1986-90) and baseball standout Jason Beverlin (1992-94).
Also, there will be a special recognition of the 1983 Catamount Football team celebrating the 25th anniversary of its appearance in the NCAA Division I FCS (I-AA) National Championship game.
Georgia Southern visits The Citadel next Saturday at 1 p.m. in Charleston, S.C.
Samford 28, The Citadel 10
Final Stats
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.?The Samford football team claimed its first home Southern Conference win with a 28-10 victory over The Citadel Bulldogs Saturday afternoon at Seibert Stadium. The game was played in front of a crowd of 8,453.
“It was a great win for us,” Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said. “I thought our kids played so hard, and that is where it starts. We didn’t turn the football over and our time of possession was pretty good, and if you do that, you’re going to have a chance.”
For Samford (4-3, 2-2 SoCon), Chris Evans rushed 28 times for 174 yards and two touchdowns. The SoCon’s leading rusher has now rushed for more than 100 yards in four-straight games.
Dustin Taliaferro completed 12-of-18 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown. Harris Johnson led Samford in receptions with four for 26 yards and a touchdown.
Bryce Smith was Samford’s leading tackler with 12, including 10 solo stops. Patrick Hatcher had eight tackles, including a team-high three sacks.
For The Citadel (3-5, 1-3 SoCon), Andre Roberts had eight catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. Bart Blanchard completed 13-of-15 passes for 143 yards, while Cam Turner completed 11-of-21 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown.
Samford jumped on top first when Evans scored on a six-yard run with 7:05 to go in the first quarter. John Paul Fraites added the extra point to give Samford a 7-0 lead.
The Citadel tied the game with 14:25 to play in the second quarter. Turner hit Roberts for a 31-yard touchdown and Sam Keeler added the extra point to tie the score at 7-7.
Samford took the lead again when Taliaferro hit Johnson for a 10-yard touchdown with 4:28 to go in the second quarter. Fraites added the PAT to give Samford a 14-7 lead. Samford pushed its lead to 21-7 when Taliaferro scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak with 1:26 to go in the second quarter.
Samford struck again in the third quarter when Evans scored his second touchdown of the game, this one from nine-yards out with 5:45 to go in the third quarter. Fraites added the PAT to give Samford a 28-7 lead.
The Citadel closed the scoring when Keeler kicked a 31-yard field goal with 12:42 left in the fourth quarter to make the final score 28-10.
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 1, when the Bulldogs play host to Furman at 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT) at Seibert Stadium. The game will be televised live on SportSouth as part of the network’s SoCon Saturday.
The Citadel entertains Georgia Southern next Saturday at 1 p.m.