Western Carolina 24, Mercer 21
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Detrez Newsome capped a 91-yard game-winning scoring drive with a 22-yard romp inside the final minute as Western Carolina rallied past the Mercer Bears 24-21 in Southern Conference action Saturday afternoon at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field.
Newsome burst up the middle on a fourth down rush to provide what proved to be the go-ahead score, tallying his fifth rushing TD of the season – one in each of WCU’s five games this season.
Mercer (2-3, 0-2 SoCon) had one last opportunity, but a Jagger Lieb 42-yard attempt sailed wide left as time expired giving the Catamounts their fourth-straight home victory.
Backup quarterback Wes Holcombe orchestrated the game-winning drive, completing four passes for 41 yards including a 19-yard strike to Karnorris Benson and a 12-yard hook-up with tight end Tyler Sexton. Newsome did the rest, recording 45 total yards on the final drive including the 22-yard score.
Wide receiver C.J. Goodman closed the Catamounts to within four points midway through the fourth quarter with his first career touchdown. The speedy Goodman took a pitch from Newsome on a reverse, turned the edge and found the pylon to make it 21-17.
Meanwhile, WCU’s defense regrouped midway through the second quarter and managed to hold the Bears scoreless over the game’s final 40 minutes, blanking Mercer in the second half.
Troy Mitchell, who left the game in the third quarter with a minor shoulder injury, rushed for 79 yards while Newsome finished with 59 yards as a part of recording 104 all-purpose yards in the win.
Mercer's John Russ passed for 205 yards and also rushed for a touchdown, guiding the Bears to a 21-10 halftime edge.
Western Carolina returns to action next Saturday on the road at Wofford while Mercer steps out of conference to host SoCon newcomer, ETSU.
Chattanooga 31, Furman 3
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The sixth-ranked Chattanooga Mocs dominated both lines of scrimmage in a 31-3 win over Furman at Finley Stadium today. The win is the fourth in a row for UTC as it moves to 4-1 overall, 2-0 in the Southern Conference. Furman is now 3-3, 1-1 in the league.
There was a 186-yard difference in rushing yards between the two schools that both pride themselves on controlling the game on the ground. That's by design according to junior linebacker Nakevion Leslie.
The Mocs rolled up 245 rushing yards, 349 total. The Paladins were limited to 235 total yards with 59 in the ground attack. Just two of those running yards came in the second half.
Furman scored on the very first possession of the game. The Paladins drove 69 yards inside the 10 before settling for a Jon Croft Hollingsworth 25-yard field goal. The Mocs defense allowed just 166 yards the remainder of the contest.
Up 3-0 and driving, Furman QB Reese Hannon looked deep but the pass went off his receiver's hands. According to Huesman, that was a momentum changer.
The offense took advantage of the mistake. It marched 80 yards in 11 plays for a 7-3 lead on Derrick Craine's four-yard run. That drive needed a key decision from the sidelines on fourth-and-1 at the 50.
Craine scored on back-to-back possessions from four yards out to make it a 14-3 advantage. On the very next play, Lucas Webb picked off a Reese Hannon offering and returned it 35 yards for the score and a 21-3 lead.
Furman responded with a methodical drive. Hannon directed his unit to the Mocs' 9 yard line. On fourth and one, Isaiah Mack led a defensive push that stopped Ridge Gibson for no gain and a 21-3 halftime lead.
The visitors managed one sustained drive in the second half. They marched 72 yards to the Mocs 6. On third and three, Toyvian Brand pressured Hannon into forcing a pass into the end zone. Sema'je Kendall intercepted giving his squad the ball at its own 6.
Craine started the ensuing possession with a 19-yard run. He ended the 94-yard march 11 plays later with his third touchdown run.
Jacob Huesman became just the third SoCon performer to top 10,000 yards total offense early in the second half on a 20-yard pass to James Stovall. He ended up with 68 rushing yards and 104 passing completing nine of 15 on the day.
Triston Luke had 41 yards on the ground to lead the Paladins. Hannon connected on 19 of 34 passing for 176 yards and two interceptions. Jordan Snellings had eight catches for 87 yards to lead all receivers.
Cory Magwood had a game-high 11 tackles for the visitors. John Mackey added the lone sack.
Samford 49, VMI 13
LEXINGTON, Va. – The Samford football team totaled 511 yards of offense, while limiting VMI to 290 yards as the Bulldogs earned a 49-13 road Southern Conference win Saturday afternoon at VMI's Foster Stadium.
Senior quarterback Michael Eubank completed 31-of-42 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Emmanuel Obajimi had seven catches for 109 yards and two scores. Gavin Sinclair hauled in three passes for 70 yards and a touchdown. Denzel Williams led the running game with 14 carries for 55 yards and a touchdown.
The Samford defense produced four interceptions on the day. Justin Cooper led the unit with nine tackles and an interception. Michael Pierce had eight tackles, including two sacks, and he scored a touchdown on a two-yard run in the second quarter. Jamerson Blount, Jake Kingree and Omari Williams had an interception each. Williams returned his interception for a 59-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
For VMI, Al Cobb completed 19-of-35 passes for 183 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. Dane Forlines caught seven passes for 106 yards.
Samford jumped out to an early lead. The Bulldogs struck first when Eubank hit Obajimi for a 15-yard touchdown with 7:39 left in the first quarter. The score gave Samford the early 7-0 advantage.
VMI put its first points on the scoreboard when Dillon Christopher kicked a 20-yard field goal to cut Samford's lead to 7-3 with 9:18 left in the second quarter. Samford answered on its next drive when Pierce scored on a two-yard run to make the score 14-3 with 6:36 to go in the second quarter.
Samford struck again when Eubank connected with Sinclair for a 34-yard score to push the Bulldogs' lead to 21-3 with 3:42 left in the second quarter. VMI came back with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Cobb to Dontae Mack to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 21-10 with just 31 seconds left before halftime.
VMI cut the lead to 21-13 when Christopher booted a 35-yard field goal with 10:24 left in the third quarter. Eubank then hit Obajimi for a 57-yard touchdown pass to get Samford's second-half scoring started and stretch the Bulldogs' lead to 28-13.
Denzel Williams scored on a nine-yard run to push Samford's lead to 35-13 with 12:11 left in the game. On VMI's next possession, Samford's Omari Williams picked off a pass and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown to make the score 42-13. Samford added one final score when Jake Wilks scored on a one-yard run with 2:37 left in the contest to make the final score 49-13.
With the win, Samford improves to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in Southern Conference play. VMI falls to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in league play.
The Citadel 39, Wofford 12
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Wofford College football team was defeated 39-12 by The Citadel on Saturday afternoon at Johnson Hagood Stadium. The Bulldogs took an early 14-0 lead and used a 16-play drive to open the second half to put the game out of reach for the Terriers.
The Terriers are 3-3 on the season and 1-1 in Southern Conference play, while the Bulldogs are 3-2 and 2-0 in the league. Wofford was led by Ray Smith with 58 rushing yards and a touchdown, while R.J. Taylor had five catches for 86 yards. The Bulldogs were led by Tyler Renew with 85 rushing yards, while Dominique Allen added 72 rushing yards and 125 passing yards. The Citadel defense had eleven tackles for loss in the game.
The Terriers had the ball first and gained one first down before punting. The Bulldogs went three-and-out and punted, with Wofford taking over at the ten-yard line. Wofford lost yardage on their next drive and punted. Working with a short field, the Bulldogs picked up two first downs and Dominique Allen ran the ball in from one-yard out. The Citadel had a 7-0 lead with 6:21 on the clock in the first quarter.
Wofford had a 56-yard kickoff return by Chris Armfield to begin the next drive at the 46-yard line. After a first down, the Terriers had a fourth-and-one but the run was short and the Bulldogs took over on downs. The Citadel went three-and-out and Wofford took over at the 31-yard line with 58 seconds left in the first quarter. On the second play of the drive, the Terriers fumbled and the Bulldogs recovered. Dominique Allen went 24-yards on the first play for a touchdown and The Citadel had a 14-0 lead with seven seconds on the clock in the first quarter.
With the ball back, Ray Smith ran for 26 yards and a first down. On fourth-and-one, Evan Jacks ran for the first down. The Terriers fumbled again with a high snap and had to punt back to the Bulldogs. After a three-and-out by The Citadel, Wofford began the next drive at the 17-yard line. The Terriers needed nine plays go the length of the field and the drive was capped by a three-yard run by Lorenzo Long. The PAT was missed and Wofford trailed 14-6 with 4:28 left in the second quarter.
The Citadel had three first downs and added a touchdown on a 17-yard run by Reggie Williams. The lead was 21-6 with 56 seconds left in the first half. With the ball back, the Terriers gained one first down before time expired in the half.
To open the second half, the Bulldogs went on a 16-play drive that covered 80 yards and was capped by a three-yard touchdown run by Tyler Renew. The Citadel had a 28-6 lead with 8:17 on the clock in the third quarter. On Wofford’s next drive, the Terriers were helped by two personal foul penalties and then converted a fourth-and-seven with a 33-yard pass to R.J. Taylor. Ray Smith scored from eight yards out, but the two point run was stopped short. The Citadel lead was 28-12 with 4:34 left in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs used a 42-yard kickoff return to begin their next drive. A 24-yard touchdown pass from Dominique Miller to Brandon Eakins ended the drive and the two point conversion was good for a 36-12 advantage with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter. Wofford went three-and-out and punted and The Citadel took over at the 45-yard line. After one first down, a 46-yard field goal attempt was wide left. Wofford took over, but gained only one first down before punting.
With 9:37 left in the game, the Bulldogs took over and used a 42-yard pass completion to move the ball inside the 10. A 23-yard field goal pushed the score to 39-12 with 5:56 left in the game. Wofford went three-and-out and punted back to The Citadel with under four minutes on the clock. The Terriers forced a three-and-out and had the ball back with 2:10 remaining. Brad Butler completed a 27-yard pass to Logan Christian for a first down and Chris Martin added a rushing first down. With one second left, Brandon Goodson was intercepted in the end zone by Dondray Copeland. He returned it for a touchdown, but it was called back by penalty. The Bulldogs took a knee on the final untimed play for a 39-12 final score.
Wofford had 245 total yards, with 127 passing. The Citadel had 398 total yards, 273 of which were rushing. The Citadel had a 19 to 16 advantage in first downs. Wofford was 2-of-12 on third downs and 3-of-4 on fourth down. The Citadel was 7-of-13 on third down. Wofford was called for five penalties to The Citadel’s ten. Wofford had a 33:00 to 27:00 time of possession advantage.