#1 New Hampshire 35, #8 Chattanooga 30
DURHAM, N.H. - The Chattanooga Mocs took top-ranked New Hampshire to the brink, but could not hold off the home team in a 35-30 loss in the FCS Playoff quarterfinals. Big plays hurt the visitors.
The Mocs dominated the stat sheet. They ran up a season-high 566 yards of offense and controlled the clock with a 38:50 to 21:10 advantage. The defense limited the Wildcats to 328 yards.
UNH scored on plays of 39, 49 and 61 yards. Take away those three plays and the home squad managed just 179 yards, just 3.58 yards per play.
Chattanooga held the Wildcats to three-and-outs on five of seven first-half possessions. The other two were quick-strike scores.
Back-to-back 39-yard passes put UNH on the board first. Sean Goldrich hit R.J. Harris on the opening play and followed with a second 39-yard pass to Nico Steriti to lead 7-0. The Mocs immediately answered, but in methodical fashion.
Jacob Huesman engineered an 11-play, 85-yard drive he completed with a 19-yard dash, untouched around the right end. It was the first of four drives gave the Mocs scoring opportunities in the first half.
Huesman and company took a 21-15 lead into halftime with three drives of 75 or more yards. But the Wildcats turned the tables in the second frame. Goldrich secured the lead, 22-21, on a five-yard run in the third quarter.
Henrique Ribeiro got it back on the next possession. That started with a little more than eight minutes to go in the third. It ended 8:33 later with Ribeiro splitting the uprights from 27 yards out.
UNH’s kick return team played a big role. Dalton Crossan brought back the ensuing kickoff 49 yards setting his squad up with a short field at the Mocs 36. Three plays later it was first and goal at the six.
Goldrich rolled right and threw in the end zone right at Trevor Wright. Wright caught the ball in the air and returned it out of the end zone 31 yards. The referees ruled that Wright jumped from out of bounds to make the interception negating the pick. Steriti scored on the next play to put UNH up for good.
Down 35-24 with time winding quickly, Huesman kept his Mocs in the game. First it was 21 yards to Tommy Hudson then 26 to Faysal Shafaat. Another 13 to Marquis Green with a roughing the passer penalty tacked on for good measure. Two plays later he hit Derrick Craine in the flat. Craine raced the eight yards needed to cut the lead to 35-30 after the two-point conversion failed.
New Hampshire made the final play it needed. Its hands team safely corralled the onside kick with 1:30 and the Wildcats took a knee from there to advance to the FCS Semifinals.
Huesman threw for 335 yards and ran for another 93. He accounted for three touchdowns with Craine netting two. Keon Williams ran for 76 as both Williams (1,037) and Huesman (1,009) completed the season as 1,000-yard rushers.
Hudson had seven catches for 82 yards, while Shafaat had six for 90. Craine totaled 116 all-purpose yards with 53 on the ground and 63 receiving.
Goldrich completed 12 of 24 for 228 yards with three scores. Harris caught seven passes for 172 yards and two scores. Steriti had 58 yards rushing and 24 receiving scoring in both.
Crossan keyed the return effort. The Wildcats returned five kickoffs for 166 yards, a 33-plus-yard average. Crossan had 49 and 53-yard returns. They averaged starting on their own 43 on the Mocs’ five kickoffs.
Nakevion Leslie, Muhasibi Wakeel and Cedric Nettles each led the Mocs with five tackles. Nettles was disruptive with a tackle for loss and pass breakup. Shayne McNeely led UNH with a game-high eight stops.