Furman 16, Georgia Southern 14
STATESBORO, Ga. -- Ray Early booted an 18-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter and Furman held on to beat Georgia Southern, 16-14, Saturday afternoon at Paulson Stadium in the final meeting between the two Southern Conference rivals.
The win, Furman’s third in its final four visits to Statesboro, improved the Paladins to 4-5 overall and 3-2 in SoCon play, besting last year’s overall and league win tallies with three games remaining. Georgia Southern fell to 4-4 overall and 2-4 in SoCon action.
Early’s decisive kick followed a 17-play, 74-yard drive that consumed 8:33 of clock. The Paladins secured first and goal at the GSU 4 on a Reese Hannon 15-yard pass to Jordan Snellings, but the next three snaps netted only three yards to the Eagle 1, setting up what proved to be Early’s game winning boot.
Georgia Southern took the ensuing kickoff and drove to the Furman 26, keyed in part by a Jerick McKinnon 32-yard pass to Johnathan Bryant on a 3rd-and-13 play from the Eagle 22, but Alex Hanks missed a 43-yard field goal with 9:08 to go.
Furman appeared set to take command, rushing five times for 51 before a Hank McCloud fumble was recovered by Rafael Hardee at the GSU 23 with 6:48 remaining.
The Eagles’ respite proved to be short-lived, however, when Irving Higgins fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Paladin defensive Ira McCune at the Eagle 45. From that point Furman put the head lock on the Eagles, converting a pair of third down plays and driving to the GSU 12 before running out the clock with three kneel plays.
Furman grabbed the early lead with a little trickery. On the Paladins’ first play from scrimmage Tanner Skogen took a toss from Hannon and lofted a pass behind the Georgia Southern secondary to a streaking Andre Suttles, who covered 75 yards to the end zone.
Georgia Southern reached into its bag of tricks on its first possession, converting a fake punt into a 26-yard pass completion to the Furman 17. Six plays later Nardo Govan bulled his way into the end zone from a yard out to help put the Eagles up, 7-6.
Furman’s defense snuffed out a pair of Georgia Southern scoring threats before intermission. Jairus Hollman’s interception at the Paladin 28 halted one drive, and McCune claimed his first of two fumble recoveries in the contest when he pounced on a loose ball at the Furman 27 midway through the second quarter.
From there the Paladins needed just four plays to reach the end zone, which came on a 54-yard Hannon completion to Ryan Culbreath, who made two moves at midfield and a used a key downfield block to outrun the Eagle secondary. Early’s PAT made it 13-7.
Georgia Southern went up 14-13 on its first possession of the second half, using 13 plays to move 75 yards for a Huggins 2-yard scoring plunge.
The Paladins finished with a narrow 354-352 advantage in total offense, led by Hannon, who completed 12-of-18 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. McCloud led all rushers with 17 carries for 102 yards — his fourth 100-yard performance of the season.
Suttles had six catches for 115 yards, with the 75-yarder marking the Paladins’ longest offensive play of the season.
Georgia Southern rushed for 283 yards but was held 120 yards under its season total offense average of 471 yards per game entering the contest.
Greg Worthy topped all defenders with 12 tackles, including a tackle for-loss, and Carl Rider had 11 stops. McCune registered six tackles to along with his two fumble recoveries.
The Citadel 28, Samford 26
CHARLESTON, S.C.—The Samford football team suffered its first Southern Conference loss of the season in a 28-26 setback at The Citadel Saturday afternoon at Johnson Hagood Stadium.
Samford built a 17-0 second-quarter lead, but The Citadel came back to take the lead in the second half. The Citadel led, 28-20 late in the fourth quarter, but Samford’s Andy Summerlin hit Jauan Davis for an eight-yard touchdown with 1:22 left to cut the lead to 28-26. Summerlin’s pass on the two-point conversion try fell incomplete, and The Citadel was able to run out the clock from there.
With the loss, Samford falls to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in Southern Conference play. Samford falls into a tie for first place in the SoCon standings. The Citadel improves to 3-6 overall and 3-4 in SoCon games.
For Samford in the loss, Summerlin completed 29-of-39 passes for 288 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Kelsey Pope caught 10 passes for 133 yards. Fabian Truss rushed 11 times for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Trey Wesley led Samford in tackles with 10, including eight solo stops. Jaquiski Tartt had nine tackles, and Justin Cooper and Brinson Porter had eight tackles each.
For The Citadel, Vinny Miller rushed 14 times for 95 yards and a touchdown. Ben Dupree had 18 rushes for 90 yards, and Darien Robinson had 13 rushes for 83 yards and three touchdowns. Dupree also completed 8-of-12 passes for 37 yards.
Samford struck first with a touchdown midway through the first quarter. On a flea-flicker, Summerlin hit Chris Cephus for a 22-yard touchdown. The score gave Samford a 7-0 lead with 7:50 left in the first quarter.
Samford added to its lead when Warren Handrahan kicked a 37-yard field goal with 8:21 left in the second quarter. The kick gave Samford a 10-0 lead.
The visiting Bulldogs added another score before halftime. Truss scored on a one-yard run, giving Samford a 17-0 lead with 3:41 left in the second quarter.
The Citadel put its first points on the scoreboard on its final drive of the second quarter. Robinson scored on a three-yard run with 36 seconds to go in the second quarter to cut the Samford lead to 17-7.
The Citadel scored on the opening drive of the third quarter. Robinson scored on a nine-yard run to cut the Samford lead to 17-14 with 9:45 to go in the third quarter. The key play in the drive came on a 4th and 11 when Citadel punter Eric Goins ran for 27 yards on a fake punt to keep the drive alive.
On Samford’s next possession, The Citadel’s Tevin Floyd recovered a Summerlin fumble, giving The Citadel the ball at the Samford 28-yard line. The Citadel converted the turnover into points when Miller scored on an eight-yard run with 4:44 left in the third quarter to give The Citadel a 21-17 lead
Samford cut The Citadel’s lead to 21-20 when Handrahan kicked a 44-yard field goal with 2:06 to go in the third quarter.
On The Citadel’s ensuing drive, Robinson scored his third touchdown of the game, this one from 29-yards out. The scored gave The Citadel a 28-20 lead with 12:27 left in the fourth quarter.
Chattanooga 35, Appalachian State 28
BOONE, N.C. --- Nakevion Leslie’s 28-yard interception return for touchdown lifted Chattanooga (7-2, 5-1 SoCon) to a 35-28 win at Appalachian State (2-7, 2-4 SoCon). The triumph propels the Mocs into first place in the Southern Conference, a half-game lead over Wofford and Samford at 4-1.
It was a fight to the end for the Mocs defense. Battered and bruised, UTC was up to the task.
Appalachian State took over on its own 14 on the ensuing drive and immediately began to move the ball. Quarterback Kameron Bryant found Simms McElfresh for 14 yards on first down. Marcus Cox ran for 20 yards to the App 48.
An incompletion was followed by Bryant connections of eight, 13, 14 and six yards. Cox got the ball to the Chattanooga nine and two yards were needed for a first down with a mere 53 seconds to play.
The Mocs held strong for their second red zone stop of the game as Bryant could not find an open receiver on third or fourth down. Jacob Huesman took a knee twice to run out the final 44 ticks for the program’s first win in Boone in 30 years (1983).
The younger Huesman was fantastic on the day. He ran for 132 yards and a touchdown while throwing for two more on 13 of 19 passing for 127 yards. He linked with seven different receivers as Faysal Shafaat and Terrell Robinson led the way with three each.
Cox was the star for the Mountaineers. He ran 29 times for 158 yards and three touchdowns. Bryant threw for 257 yards and a score hitting on 26 of 36 attempts.
Two special teams plays were key to the Mocs win, both fake kicks. The first came early in the second quarter as the elder Huesman gambled. The squad was set for a 24-yard field goal attempt, but kicker Nick Pollard motioned left and holder Jacob Huesman took the snap straight up the middle. He bulled his way in for the seven-yard score.
The latter came early in the fourth quarter. With the fake punt called, Pollard took a high snap around the right end 17 yards on fourth and three to the 50. Two plays later Huesman found Robinson down the right sideline for 31 yards to tie the game at 21-all.
Huesman’s second scoring strike came on the next Mocs possession. He found Shafaat for a first down at the App 29. On the ensuing play, Huesman hit Xavier Borishade on the left sideline. His catch-and-run for the 29-yard score gave Chattanooga its first lead 28-21 with 9:04 to play.
The Mountaineers answered on its next drive. Bobo Beathard’s 44-yard kickoff return gave his team prime field position on the Mocs 49. Bryant found Tony Washington in the back end of the end zone from 20 yards out to tie it setting up Leslie’s heroics.
The defensive effort was special. Kadeem Wise led the charge with a career-high 14 tackles, while Dothard added another 10. Injuries to linebackers Gunner Miller and Muhasibi Wakeel gave Leslie, a redshirt freshman, his chance to shine in the end.