Chattanooga 23, Eastern Kentucky 14
RICHMOND, Ky. --- For the second-straight game, the No. 14 Chattanooga Mocs shutout its opponent in the second half to secure a big win with a 23-14 triumph at Eastern Kentucky (1-2). This time, UTC (2-1) held the Colonels to just 84 yards of total offense in the final 30 minutes.
While it was a balanced effort on both sides of the ball, the Mocs defense was impressive. Led by junior defensive end Josh Williams and sophomore linebacker Wes Dothard, Chattanooga's "D" allowed just eight first downs for the game, five in the final three quarters.
Williams recorded a pair of sacks to break Kenny Sanders (1995-98) school record of 14.5 for his career. Williams now has 15.5 in just over two seasons of action. He had five total tackles and a career-high three quarterback hurries to go with his two sacks tonight.
Dothard was all over the field. He made a career-high 10 tackles, three for nine yards lost, including a sack. He also had a pass breakup and QB hurry.
The offense was solid as well with 377 total yards, 277 passing and 100 rushing. True freshman Marquis Green led the rushing attack with 68 yards on 21 carries and his first career touchdown. Junior Chris Awuah added another 37 on seven rushes, despite slowing down after turning his ankle in the first half.
Senior quarterback B.J. Coleman paced the offense with 277 passing yards, completing 26 of 40 passes with one score and one interception. He led a group that held the ball for 36:16 compared to the Colonels 23:44.
EKU opened the scoring with a 29-yard touchdown strike from T.J. Pryor to Tyrone Goard late in the first quarter on a deflected pass. The Mocs posted 10 unanswered points, capped by Coleman finding Joel Bradford with just 34 seconds left in the second quarter to give UTC a 10-7 lead.
That looked to be the halftime score, but Pryor found a little more magic. He hit tight end Matt Lengel across the middle for a 55-yard run and catch touchdown. Lengel broke loose of the Mocs' secondary to get the score as the Colonels took a 14-10 lead into intermission.
But that would be it for the EKU offense. Green put Chattanooga up for good midway through the third quarter with an exciting 18-yard dash down the right sideline. He gained 44 yards on five carries on the drive.
The UTC defense went into lock-down mode again. It held EKU on three-and-outs in six of seven possessions from late in the first quarter into the late third. It also caused three turnovers while the Mocs offense just had one.
Two of the takeaways came in the fourth quarter to stymie the Colonels. Leading 17-14 with 5:35 to go in the game, Gunner Miller forced a fumble on a Jeremiah Williams rush which was recovered by defensive tackle Keyon Reed at the EKU 48.
Coleman and the offense methodically marched 48 yards in 10 plays holding the ball for 4:32 to ice the game. Another true freshman, Taharin Tyson picked up a first down on a fourth-down rush inside the EKU 10. Two Tyson totes later and he posted his first career score to put the Mocs up 23-14.
Williams broke the career sack record two plays later in plastering Pryor at his own 33. The next play, D.J. Key ended the Colonels hopes with an interception at the EKU 41.
The Mocs only allowed the Colonels to convert 2/15 on third downs and only gave up eight first downs on the evening. In the last two games, Chattanooga has allowed its opponents three third-down conversions in 28 tries.
Offensively, Chattanooga converted nine third downs, but more importantly cashed in all four times in the red zone with three touchdowns and a field goal. Bradford led UTC wideouts with six receptions for 85 yards and a score. Coleman found nine different receivers, including himself, on the night as Marlon Anthony and Jeff Veres each had four, while Sloan Allison had three including a 39-yarder in the second quarter that set up Bradford's touchdown.
Pryor threw for 164 yards and two touchdowns completing 15 of 28 with two interceptions. Over half (84) of the yards came on the two scoring tosses. Jeremiah Williams had 48 yards on 16 rushes while the rest of the squad managed just 21 yards on 13 carries.
Between the defense's stinginess and the offense's thriftiness, the Mocs had a few telling numbers. One, despite the evenness in yards per play, 4.5 for UTC and 4.1 for EKU, Chattanooga held a 377 to 233-yard advantage in total offense. That's because the Mocs ran 84 plays compared to 57 for Eastern Kentucky.
Not only did Chattanooga dominate time of possession 36:16 to 23:44, but it did so when it mattered most. It held the ball for 11:20 in the fourth quarter allowing the Colonels just 3:40. The defense also never allowed EKU in the red zone.
Elon 23, North Carolina Central 22
DURHAM, N.C. – Facing off with the North Carolina Central Eagles for the first time since 1996, the Elon Phoenix football team racked up 525 yards of total offense and overcame five turnovers on its way to a 23-22 victory at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium on Saturday night.
Coming up big for the Phoenix (2-1) was quarterback Thomas Wilson and wide receiver Aaron Mellette. Wilson completed 34 of his 48 pass attempts for three touchdowns and a career-high 416 yards. The 416 passing yards rank in a tie for 19th in Southern Conference history. Mellette snared 16 passes for a career-best 237 yards and one score.
A great kickoff return of 60 yards by Andre Davis set Elon up in prime position on the opening drive of the game as the Phoenix started at the Central 30-yard line. The Phoenix moved down to the Eagle 18 before the drive stalled with two incomplete passes forcing Adam Shreiner to come on for the 35-yard field goal for the lead.
Jonathan Nicely picked off a Wilson pass and brought it back to the Elon 15 to put the Eagles in prime position to take the lead. The Phoenix defense stepped up and, after Chandler Wrightenberry broke up a third-down pass in the end zone, held Central (1-2) to a field goal from 30 yards out to tie the game with 5:02 left in the first quarter.
Elon’s first possession in the second quarter was a short one as the Phoenix went 83 yards on just three plays before scoring to take a 10-3 advantage with 11:08 to play in the first half. The Phoenix started at its own 17 before A.J. Harris rushed for five yards. A holding penalty on the next play moved Elon back to its own 12 before Wilson found Darrius McQueen on a crossing route. The receiver turned on the jets to gain 23 yards to the Elon 35 before being brought down. Wilson dropped back and went deep to Mellette on the next play. The wide out stepped in front of a defensive back and made the grab, taking it to the house for a 65-yard TD.
The Eagles started the ensuing drive at its own 26 and marched 74 yards on eight plays to tie the score at 10. Michael Johnson hit Geovonie Irvine for a 33-yard completion on the first play, moving into Elon territory at the 41. On third-and-one Andre Clarke rushed for nine yards to the Elon 23 to keep the drive going. Elon had Central in a third-and-15 before a defensive holding call gave the Eagles a first down at the Elon 18. Two plays later, Johnson lofted a pass to the back left of the end zone where Demario Lackey made a diving grab to even the score.
Wilson tossed his second touchdown pass on the night on the next drive. The quarterback rolled to his right to keep the play alive before firing a laser into the back of the end zone to Christian Dennis for a six-yard score, the first TD grab of Dennis’ Elon career.
The ensuing kickoff was returned 87 yards by Arthur Goforth to the Elon 12. Elon stopped the first down rush for a loss of a yard before a false start penalty put the Eagles in a second-and-16 situation. After a dropped pass in the end zone, Johnson found Irvine for an 18-yard score through the Elon defense. Oleg Parent missed the PAT and the Phoenix maintained a one-point lead, 17-16, with 3:44 to play in the half.
Offensively, Elon dominated the first 30 minutes of play, amassing 308 total yards of offense compared to just 125 yards for the Eagles. Wilson threw for 224 yards in the half, completing 17 of his 24 attempts while Mellette caught five balls for 138 yards. Wilson has thrown for 200+ yards in the first half in back-to-back games and has three 200-yard games in his career. Mellette’s 100-yard performance was his second this year and eighth of his career.
Clinging to a one-point lead mid-way through the fourth quarter, Wilson dropped back to throw on third-and-five from the Central 26. The pass was high and tipped up in the air by McQueen before Tiron Guion intercepted the pass at the 25-yard line and brought it back 75 yards for the score. The two-point try failed and the Eagles held a 22-17 lead with 7:17 to play. It was the first time that the Eagles took the lead in the game.
Elon got the ball back at its own 36 and marched downfield on seven plays to reclaim its lead at 23-22 as Wilson hit Dennis for the second time in the game, this time from 27-yards out. On the drive, Wilson found Mellette four times for a total of 23 yards on three completions.
N.C. Central returned the kick 28 yards and started at its own 47 with just over 4:30 left in the game. The Eagles faced a fourth-and-three from the Elon 46 before Johnson ran for seven yards. Central moved down to the Elon 36 where it faced a fourth-and-seven. Johnson kept the Eagle hopes alive thanks to a 14-yard completion to Lackey at the Elon 22. Three incomplete passes brought the kicker out for the field goal, but the snap was bobbled and the Phoenix took over on downs, sealing the victory.
Dennis concluded the game with six catches for 64 yards while McQueen grabbed six balls for 81 yards.
The Elon defense was led by Wrightenberry who totaled seven tackles (six solo) and broke up two passes. Blake Thompson had six stops, including a sack and 1.5 tackles for a loss. The Phoenix finished with three sacks and five quarterback hurries on the night.
Elon's five turnovers were the most by the maroon and gold since a six turnover game on October 9, 2004.
Central Johnson completed just 13-of-40 pass attempts for 153 yards and two scores. Clarke ran 10 times for 30 yards.
Appalachian State 41, Savannah State 6
BOONE, N.C. - No. 3 Appalachian State University scored on five of its first seven possessions to grab a 27-0 halftime lead and never looked back en route to a 41-6 win over visiting Savannah State on Saturday evening at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Appalachian (2-1) forced five punts and a turnover on Savannah State’s six first-half possessions and ASU’s offense countered with three touchdowns and two field goals before the break to grab the all-but-insurmountable 27-point advantage at the break.
For the second week in a row, Appalachian made its opponent pay for the decision to defer after winning the opening coin toss. Savannah State (0-3) won the toss but elected to give the ball to the Mountaineers, who marched 68 yards in seven plays and took the lead for good just 2:40 into the ballgame on a two-yard touchdown run by Travaris Cadet.
After ASU tacked on a 41-yard field goal by Sam Martin to make it 10-0, the momentum shifted entirely to the Mountaineers early in the second period, thanks to the play of true freshman defensive end James Robinson. Thanks to four completions by starting quarterback Alfred Defillipis, SSU drove all the way to the Appalachian 23 yard line and was threatening to cut into the Apps’ 10-point lead when Robinson sacked Defillipis on consecutive plays to push the Tigers out of scoring position and force a punt. The back-to-back bone-crushing sacks also knocked Defillipis, who had completed 8-of-13 passes for 81 yards in the first quarter, out of the ballgame.
The Mountaineers went on to score on its final three possessions of the first half, first on a 48-yard touchdown pass from DeAndrew Presley to Brian Quick, then on a two-yard scoring dive by Presley and finally on a 51-yard field goal by Martin on the final play of the opening half.
An interception and 14-yard return by sophomore Rodger Walker set up a three-yard touchdown run by Steven Miller that stretched Appalachian’s lead to 34-0 and effectively ended the day for the Mountaineers’ starters less than 10 minutes into the second half. SSU ended ASU’s hopes for its first shutout in more than five years when backup quarterback Antonio Bostick scored on a 10-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter and Mountaineer backup signal-caller Jamal Jackson closed out the scoring with a 16-yard touchdown jaunt with just over two minutes to go.
Appalachian outgained Savannah State by a 283-97 margin in the first half and 420-285 for the ballgame. Combined with last Saturday’s 58-6 rout over North Carolina A&T, the Mountaineers have held consecutive opponents to fewer than 10 points for the first time in 13 years.
Presley highlighted the dominating performance on offense by completing 11-of-17 passes without an interception for 186 yards and a touchdown in less than three quarters of work. He also ran for 21 yards and a score and, in the process, became only the seventh player in ASU history with 5,000 yards of total offense in his career (5,125).
Five of Presley’s 11 completions were hauled in by Quick, who racked up 81 yards and moved into sole possession of second place all-time at ASU with his 24th career touchdown reception. He needs just one more touchdown catch to match the 43-year old school record of 25, set by Bob Agle from 1965-68.
Miller led ASU with 60 rushing yards on just nine carries, including a highlight-reel-worthy 30-yard gain that set up his three-yard touchdown run. Cedric Baker Boney added 58 yards on eight carries (7.2-yard averaged) and Terrence McLean chipped in with 48 yards on just five rushes (9.6 avg.) to pace the Mountaineers’ 234-yard rushing attack.
Conversely, Appalachian’s defense limited Savannah State to just 41 yards on the ground, including only four in the first half. The Mountaineers tormented the Tigers in the backfield throughout the evening, finishing with 10 tackles for loss and six sacks.
Robinson led the charge with two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble. Linebacker Brandon Grier added 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack while true freshman Ronald Blair also had 1.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage and was in on a sack. Walker, safety Troy Sanders and linebacker Jeremy Kimbrough paced the Mountaineers with six tackles apiece.
Bostick completed 15-of-33 passes for 136 yards and ran 11 times for 37 yards for Savannah State while SSU’s Vaughn Cornelia led all players with 11 tackles.