Georgia Southern 23, Wofford 20

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - In a tale of two halves, the Wofford College football team was defeated 23-20 by Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at Gibbs Stadium. The Eagles took advantage of fumbles on the first two drives of the game by the Terriers and built a 20-3 halftime lead. Wofford scored 17 points in the second half, but the Eagles added a field goal in the fourth quarter for the winning margin.

The Terriers end the season at 10-3. The Eagles are 10-4 overall and advance to the semifinals against Delaware next weekend. Wofford was led by Eric Breitenstein with 102 yards on 23 carries. Mitch Allen threw for 160 yards and a touchdown, while Brenton Bersin had 99 receiving yards. The Eagles were led by quarterback Jaybo Shaw with 60 rushing yards and 78 passing yards.

On the opening drive of the game, the Terriers drove to the Georgia Southern 20-yard line before a fumbled exchange was recovered by the Eagles. Georgia Southern went 69 yards in nine plays and capped a drive with a 25-yard pass from Jaybo Shaw to Tray Butler for a 7-0 lead at 3:59 in the first quarter. With the ball back, Wofford fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and it was recovered by John Douglas who returned it 20-yards for a touchdown. The Eagles had a 14-0 lead with 3:44 left in the first quarter.

The Terriers went three-and-out on their next series. Georgia Southern was able to add to the lead on their next drive as Adrian Mora hit a 33-yard field goal for a 17-0 advantage with 13:56 on the clock in the second quarter. Wofford went three-and-out again and the Eagles took over at midfield. After a touchdown by Georgia Southern was called back by penalty, a 28-yard field goal attempt went wide right.

Wofford had the ball with 8:01 on the clock in the second quarter and put together a 13-play drive that was capped by a 21-yard field goal by Christian Reed. The Eagles were able to answer as they drove 56 yards in the final minute of the half and took a 20-3 lead with a 21-yard field goal by Adrian Mora.

To open the second half, the Eagles went three-and-out and punted. Wofford picked up two fourth down conversions on their next drive as Mitch Allen found Brenton Bersin for a 37-yard touchdown reception to make it a 20-10 game.

The Wofford defense forced another three-and-out by the Eagles. The Terriers picked up a fourth-and-two with a 22-yard reception by Jeremy Marshall. Despite another fumble, Wofford was able to get points on the board with a 27-yard field goal by Christian Reed for a 20-13 score with 13:07 left in the fourth quarter.

Georgia Southern used a 58-yard kickoff return by Laron Scott to set up a 37-yard field goal by Adrian Mora with 10:43 left in the game for a 23-13 lead. Wofford hit a big play as Brenton Bersin caught a 38-yard pass from Mitch Allen to move the ball to the Eagles' 12-yard line. On fourth-and-one from the three, the Georgia Southern defense held and the Terriers turned the ball over on downs.

With the ball back, the Eagles gained a first down but then Preston Roseboro knocked the ball loose and it was recovered by Alex Goltry and returned 19-yards for a touchdown. After the point after, the score was 23-20 with 5:13 left in the game. Georgia Southern gained two first downs on the next drive and were able to run the clock down to under ten seconds before punting back to Wofford. The Terriers had one play left, but were unable to keep the ball alive and the Wofford season came to an end.

Wofford had 343 total yards, with 211 on the ground. Georgia Southern had 246 yards, 168 of which were rushing. Wofford had the time of possession advantage, but had two lost fumbles. Wofford was 6-of-15 on third downs and 3-of-4 on fourth down. Georgia Southern was 6-of-13 on third down.


Villanova 42, Appalachian State 24

BOONE, N.C. - Matt Szczur scored four touchdowns and threw for another to lift No. 10 Villanova to a 42-24 win over top-seeded Appalachian State University in the 2010 NCAA Division I Football Championship quarterfinals on Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

With the loss, Appalachian's season ended at 10-3 while Villanova (9-4) advanced to next week's semifinals. Villanova will travel to face the winner of Saturday's Eastern Washington-North Dakota State quarterfinal.

Villanova, who went 3-3 in the middle of the season when Szczur was sidelined with an ankle injury, rode the senior to the final four. The wide receiver/running back/"Wildcat" quarterback combined for 207 yards - he rushed for 104 yards and three touchdowns, caught five passes for 45 yards and another score and completed both of his pass attempts for 58 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown to Norman White in the first quarter.

The scoring pass to White capped the first of three-consecutive touchdown drives for Villanova that turned ASU's early 10-7 lead into a 28-10 deficit just over midway through the second quarter.

The Wildcats took the 28-10 lead into halftime but the Mountaineers grabbed the momentum after the break by forcing three-straight punts to open the third quarter. Late in the period, ASU capitalized on the stops and cut the deficit to 28-17 when DeAndre Presley  found tight end Ben Jorden for a 14-yard touchdown pass, the Mountaineers' first touchdown since Travaris Cadet scored on a 46-yard run on the third play of the game.

With a vocal crowd of 15,706 rising to a fever pitch, the energy was sapped out of the stadium on the first play of Villanova's ensuing drive when Appalachian was flagged for a roughing-the-passer penalty that gave VU its first first down of the second half. Eight plays later, Szczur scored from a yard out to stetch the Wildcats' lead back to 18 points at 35-17.

After the disputed score, the Mountaineers kept hope alive with Presley's second touchdown pass of the afternoon, a 38-yarder to Brian Quick that cut the deficit back to 11 points at 35-24. Momentum then swung firmly back in Appalachian's corner when Andrew Peacock forced Villanova's Angelo Babbaro to fumble the ensuing kickoff and Karl Anderson recovered to give ASU the ball at the VU 44 yard line.

However, the Mountaineers could not capitalize on the great field position, turning the ball over on downs when Presley's pass to Tony Washington came up a yard short on fourth-and-six. Two plays later, Villanova quarterback Chris Whitney put the game out of reach when he scored on a five-yard keeper that gave the Wildcats a 42-24 lead.

Presley threw for a career-high 361 yards in the losing effort, completing 31 of his ASU-postseason-record 56 pass attempts. Playing their final games in the Black and Gold, seniors Devon Moore, Matt Cline and CoCo Hillary caught five passes apiece. Cadet led the team with 80 yards on the ground.

Defensively, D.J. Smith wrapped up one of the most prolific careers in Appalachian history with 12 tackles and a sack. The linebacker finished his senior season by amassing double-digit tackles in 10 of the final 11 games of the campaign and closed his career with 525 stops, the second-most in school history and fourth-highest total in Southern Conference history. Fellow Buck Buchanan Award candidate Jabari Fletcher chipped in with five tackles, including two for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.