Wofford 41, VMI 20
LEXINGTON, Va. – The Wofford College football team took advantage of three turnovers in a 41-20 win over VMI on Saturday afternoon at Foster Stadium. The Terriers defense recovered two fumbles, picked off a pass, and had four sacks in the game, while the offense ran for 405 yards and six touchdowns.
The Terriers are 4-5 on the season and 2-3 in Southern Conference play, while the Keydets are 2-7 and 1-4 in the league. Wofford was led by Evan Jacks with 109 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Nick Colvin added 96 rushing yards and a touchdown. The Keydets were led by Al Cobb with 370 passing yards (35-of-52) and he added a rushing touchdown.
The Keydets had the ball first and on the opening kickoff Greg Sanders went 99 yards for a touchdown and an early 7-0 lead. Wofford gained a first down before having to punt. VMI used three passing first downs to move into the red zone, but a 38-yard field goal attempt was wide right. Wofford took over at the 21-yard line and ran eleven times to cover the 79 yards on the drive, which was capped by a nine-yard touchdown run by Lorenzo Long. The game was tied at 7-7 with 2:56 left in the first quarter.
On the next drive by the Keydets, they went three-and-out and punted. With the all back, Wofford had a 45-yard run by Evan Jacks to move inside the 10-yard line. Chase Nelson took the ball in from the one to give the Terriers a 14-7 lead with 12:41 on the clock in the second quarter. The Keydets had one first down before Al Cobb was intercepted by Michael Roach at the 12-yard line and he returned it to the 28. A 29-yard run down the sideline by Nick Colvin moved the ball across midfield, but the Terriers had to punt.
With the ball at the 10-yard line, the Keydets had a 47-yard completion before having to punt. Wofford was only able to gain one first down before punting. The Keydets took over with 1:57 left in the first half and had five passing first downs but had to settle for a 20-yard field goal as time expired. The Terriers had a 14-10 lead at the break.
To begin the second half, the Keydets attempted an on-side kick. It appeared VMI recovered, but Jesse Williams came out of the pile with the ball for the Terriers at midfield. Hunter Windham capped the drive with a 19-yard touchdown run for a 21-10 lead at the 14:17 mark. On the next drive by VMI, they had four first downs and then converted a fourth-and-seven. Al Cobb ran the final 11-yards for a touchdown and the Wofford lead was 21-17 with 9:42 remaining in the third quarter.
Wofford went three-and-out and punted. The return by VMI was muffed and Dominique Lemon recovered at the 33-yard line. Nick Colvin scored on a 21-yard run up the middle to give Wofford a 28-17 lead at the 6:06 mark of the third quarter. The Keydets gained a first down, but then Lincoln Stewart forced a fumble that was recovered by Tyler Vaughn at the 46-yard line. The Terriers converted the turnover into a touchdown when Evan Jacks scored from 11-yards out. Wofford had a 35-17 lead with 32 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Keydets converted a fourth-and-one on their next drive, but had to settle for a 32-yard field goal with 11:41 on the clock in the fourth quarter to make it a 35-20 game. An onside kick attempt was recovered by Nick Colvin at the 46-yard line. The Terriers went three-and-out and punted. On the next drive by VMI, they faced a fourth-and-two and converted with a 25-yard reception. With a fourth-and-ten, the pass was incomplete and Wofford took over on downs near midfield.
The Terriers were pushed back by a penalty and a tackle for loss and had to punt. The Keydets had a fourth-and-eight, but the pass was incomplete and Wofford took over at the 18-yard line. Despite the short field, the Terriers were unable to convert a fourth-and-four and turned the ball over on downs. The Keydets returned the ball after failing to convert a fourth-and-three. Wofford began the drive on the 21-yard line and scored on an eight-yard run by Evan Jacks. The PAT was missed and Wofford led 41-20 with 38 seconds remaining. The Keydets ran two plays before time expired in the contest.
Wofford had 419 total yards, with 405 rushing. VMI had 421 total yards, 375 of which were passing. VMI had a 22 to 21 advantage in first downs. Wofford was 7-of-14 on third downs and 0-of-1 on fourth down. VMI was 1-of-12 on third down and 3-of-6 on fourth down. Wofford was called for five penalties to VMI’s four. Wofford had a 33:40 to 26:20 time of possession advantage.
Chattanooga 41, Western Carolina 13
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Quarterback Jacob Huesman amassed 359 yards of total offense including 191 passing yards and 168 yards and a touchdown on the ground with tailback Derrick Craine scoring four rushing TDs as No. 4 Chattanooga handed Western Carolina a 41-13 loss on Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference action at Finley Stadium.
Chattanooga (7-1, 5-0 SoCon) scored four-consecutive rushing touchdowns following a Detrez Newsome two-yard run that made closed the Catamounts to within one, 7-6, in the first quarter to take a 35-6 halftime advantage. The Mocs did capitalize on the lone turnover of the game – a WCU fumble as the Catamounts were looking for the end zone - driving 87 yards for a score.
The Mocs added a pair of Henrique Ribeiro field goals in the second half with the WCU junior WR Steffon Hill hauling in his first career receiving TD late in the third quarter to provide the final tally.
Senior QB Troy Mitchell completed 22-of-32 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown, adding a team-high 57 yards on the ground. Newsome finished with 39 rushing yards, recording a touchdown in his eighth-straight game. Hill finished with five catches for 72 yards to lead six Catamount receivers with receptions.
Defensively, freshman DB Marvin Tillman paced WCU with a career-high 12 tackles including eight solo stops while Daniel Riddle again reached double-digits with 10 tackles, six solo.
The Citadel 21, Mercer 19
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel football team edged Mercer 21-19 on Saturday afternoon at Johnson Hagood Stadium, sealing the Bulldogs’ first 5-0 start to SoCon play in program history. The Citadel paired an explosive offensive second quarter with a suffocating second-half defense to preserve its unblemished conference record and improve to 11-0 under head coach Mike Houston when scoring at least 21 points.
The Citadel is now 8-4-1 all-time against Mercer and 2-0 during Coach Houston’s tenure. The Bulldogs racked up 376 total rushing yards in the victory as three different backs totaled 97 yards or more on the ground. Sophomore Cam Jackson led all rushers with a season-high 109 yards while junior Tyler Renew added a season-high total of 107 yards and sophomore Isiaha Smith gained 97 yards.
Trailing 10-0 heading into the second quarter, The Citadel found the end zone on back-to-back possessions to regain momentum and seize a halftime lead. With 8:20 left in the second quarter, the Bulldogs engineered an 11-play, 80-yard scoring drive that featured six tough runs by Renew. It culminated with a two-yard touchdown run by sophomore Reggie Williams to slice the deficit to 10-7.
On the ensuing offensive possession, The Citadel wasted no time surging in front as Smith ripped off an 83-yard touchdown scamper on the drive’s third play to push the Bulldogs ahead 14-10. The rush was The Citadel’s longest since 2004 and the sixth-longest run in program history.
Following a Mercer field goal late in the third quarter that trimmed The Citadel’s lead to 14-13, the Bulldog defense clamped down when it needed to. A pair of sacks by junior Joe Crotchet and senior Mitchell Jeter and a hurry by senior Mark Thomas on three consecutive plays forced a Bears punt from their own end zone with just over 11 minutes remaining. Jeter finished the day with 2.5 tackles for loss and moved into a tie for seventh on The Citadel’s career tackles for loss list.
The Bulldogs pounced on the great field position after the punt, punctuating a 38-yard scoring drive with a clutch three-yard touchdown run by sophomore Dominique Allen. The third rushing score of the game handed The Citadel a 21-13 cushion. The Bulldogs now have 32 rushing touchdowns on the season and entered Saturday’s contest leading the FCS in that category.
Mercer answered with a touchdown drive of its own to pull within 21-19, but the Bulldogs stifled a two-point conversion attempt and ran out the clock to cement the victory.
Furman 20, Samford 17
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Furman’s Jon Croft Hollingsworth kicked a 19-yard field goal as time expired to complete the Paladin’s second-half comeback to down Samford, 20-17, Saturday afternoon at Seibert Stadium.
Samford build a 17-0 halftime lead. The Paladins, however outscored the Bulldogs 20-0 in the second half to come back for the win.
For Samford in the game, quarterback Devlin Hodges completed 34-of-48 passes for 281 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Hodges also led Samford’s running game with nine carries for 38 yards.
Kelvin McKnight led Samford’s receivers with 10 catches for 101 yards. Karel Hamilton caught eight passes for 73 yards and a touchdown.
On defense for Samford, Trey Wesley, Deion Pierre and Jamerson Blount had nine tackles each. Shaheed Salmon and James Bradberry had an interception each for the Bulldogs’ defense.
Furman was led by Antonio Wilcox with 17 rushes for 133 yards and a touchdown. P.J. Blazejowski completed 14-of-28 passes for 174 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
The Paladins’ defense was led by Cory Magwood with 16 tackles, including 10 solo stops. Carl Rider had 10 tackles, seven solo. Reggie Thomas added an interception for Furman.
Samford grabbed the lead early, scoring on the opening drive of the contest. K’rondis Larry scored on a one-yard run to cap a 10-play, 75-yard drive that took 2 minutes and 16 seconds and give Samford a 7-0 lead with 12:44 left in the first quarter.
On the first play of the second quarter, Salmon intercepted a Furman pass, giving Samford the ball at the Furman 31-yard line. On the next play Hodges hit Hamilton for a touchdown to give Samford a 14-0 lead with 14:43 to go in the second quarter.
Samford added one final score before halftime. With 3:30 left in the second quarter Anthony Pistelli kicked a 31-yard field goal to give Samford a 17-0 lead.
Furman put its first points on the scoreboard on the first drive of the third quarter. Wilcox scored on a 43-yard run to cut the Samford lead to 17-7 with 13:03 to go in the third quarter.
The Paladins struck again early in the fourth quarter. Hollingsworth kicked a 21-yard field goal to make the score 17-10 with 14:20 left in the final period. Furman tied the game when Blazejowski hit Chad Scott for a 26-yard touchdown to knot the score at 17-17 with 6:52 left in the fourth quarter.
Furman finished the game with 426 yards of total offense, with 305 of those yards coming in the second half. Samford totaled 360 yards, with 134 coming after halftime.
With the loss, Samford drops to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in Southern Conference play. Furman improves to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in league games.