The Citadel 35, VMI 14
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The VMI Keydet defense did not allow a touchdown over the final three-plus quarters, but The Citadel Bulldogs returned two interceptions for touchdowns and used five Eric Goins field goals to propel themselves to a 35-14 win in the annual Military Classic of the South football game, contested Saturday at Johnson Hagood Stadium in Charleston, S.C.
The Citadel (7-2, 6-0 SoCon) jumped ahead early, as Cam Jackson sprinted 68 yards for a touchdown less than three minutes into the game. That was the last touchdown the VMI (2-8, 1-5) defense would give up all day, but on the next Keydet possession, a Hayden Alford pass was run back 72 yards by linebacker Quinlan Washington for a touchdown to make it 14-0. Goins' five field goals helped stabilize the lead in the game's middle portions, and an Alford pass in the final seconds was returned for a score to account for the final margin.
The Keydets played without starting quarterback Al Cobb, who missed the game for undisclosed medical reasons. The Bulldogs were able to force backup Alford, who had thrown just four passes all season, into a four interception day. Alford completed 14 of 35 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown.
Junior wide receiver Aaron Sanders caught seven passes for 65 yards and set a new school season record for receptions in a season. The Stafford, Va. native has 79 catches on the year and moved past Mark Stock who caught 74 passes in 1988. Sanders also extended his consecutive game reception streak to 25 games.
Freshman running back Quan Myers led the Keydets in rushing with 51 yards while redshirt senior Derrick Ziglar added 39 yards with a touchdown. Defensively, redshirt sophomore linebacker Ryan Francis produced 10 solos and five assists for a career-high 15 tackles and fellow inside linebacker Allan Cratsenberg added 11 stops.
Jackson led all ground gainers with 100 yards with 68 coming on the first quarter touchdown run. Fullback Isiaha Smith added 78 yards for the Bulldogs.
With his five field goals, Goins doubled his season output of makes in just one game and now stands 10 of 12 in field goal tries on the year.
With The Citadel leading 14-0 following Washington’s pick-six, the Keydets halved the deficit when Ryan Francis forced a Bulldog fumble that was recovered by redshirt junior Damian Jones at midfield. The Keydets then embarked on a 10-play scoring drive that was capped by Alford’s 3-yard cross-field touchdown pass to Ziglar who caught the ball at the 2 yard line and dove in for his first touchdown reception of the year.
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 17-7 with Goins’ first of five field goals on the day – a 33-yarder with 12:16 left in the second quarter. A 40-yard pass from Bulldog quarterback Dominique Allen to Jorian Jordan to the VMI 9 was the big play of the drive, but a holding penalty and a tackle-for- loss by Francis kept the Bulldogs out of the end zone.
The Citadel missed another scoring opportunity later in the second quarter when the Keydets held the Bulldogs on a fourth and goal from the VMI 2 when Cratsenberg and Francis sandwiched Jackson shy of the end zone. VMI was unable to get any breathing room after taking the ball over on downs and was forced to punt after a three-and-out. Redshirt freshman Bill Hogan, taking over the punting chores for Alford, booted a punt to the VMI 46, and the Bulldogs then labored through a nine-play drive to the VMI 9 before settling for a Goins 26 yard field goal as time expired in the first half extended the lead to 20-17.
Bulldog starting quarterback Dominique Allen had left the game late in the second quarter with an apparent shoulder injury and was replaced for the remainder of the second quarter by Jackson who moved over from his slot back position.
Jackson resumed his QB duties in the second half and moved the Bulldog opening drive to the VMI 38 before being stripped of the ball on a third down keeper by Ryan Francis and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Amon-Ra Clay took the loose ball and raced 59 yards to The Citadel 3 where he was tracked down from behind by fullback Tyler Renew. One play later, Ziglar slammed in from three yards out and Christopher’s extra point made it 20-14 with 11:14 in the third quarter.
VMI forced The Citadel to punt on the ensuing possession and took over at its own 35. A 12-yard reverse rush by freshman wideout Dontae Mauck moved the ball to The Citadel 49, but three plays later an Alford fumble was recovered at the 50-yard line by defensive lineman Kevin Graham. Redshirt freshman Shon Belton, inserted into the game at quarterback, completed a pass to Jordan for 39 yards to the VMI 10. The Bulldogs settled again for a 20-yard field goal by Goins after the Keydet defense stiffened and led 23-14 with 5:58 left in the half.
Goins would later add field goals of 23 and 34 yards to extend The Citadel margin to 29-14 with 7:51 left in the game. The Keydets subsequently moved it twice into the red zone on follow-up possessions, but came away empty on points.
Western Carolina 48, Furman 10
CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- Troy Mitchell passed for 305 yards and three touchdowns and added a pair of rushing scores to propel Western Carolina to a 48-10 victory over Furman in Southern Conference football action Saturday afternoon at E.J. Whitmire Stadium.
Mitchell, a senior, staked Western Carolina (6-3, 4-2 SoCon) to a 14-0 first quarter lead with his two rushing scores and completed 27-of-35 passes, including scoring strikes covering 29, 36, and 21 yards, to finish the contest with 360 yards in total offense and five touchdown responsibilities.
The win snapped the Catamounts' four-game home series losing skid to Furman (4-5, 2-3 SoCon) and marked only the second triumph over the Paladins in Cullowhee in the last nine meetings.
Western Carolina's spread offense generated 581 yards in offense, rushing for 276 and passing for 305. Furman finished with 329 total yards.
The Paladins' troubles started early when Antonio Wilcox's fumble at the Western Carolina 37 was recovered by the Catamounts' Sertonuse Harris at the Western Carolina 31. From there WCU quickly covered 69 yards to grab a 7-0 lead following a Mitchell 3-yard scoring run.
Furman's Issac Garcia fumbled the ensuing kickoff return, giving the Catamounts the ball at the Paladin 26, and three plays later Mitchell reached the end zone on a 2-yard run to give WCU the quick 14-0 lead.
Western Carolina made it 21-0 early in the second quarter on the first of Mitchell's three scoring strikes, a 29-yard connection with Tyler Sexton to complete an 11-play, 70-yard drive.
Mitchell's next tally covered 36 yards to Steffon Hill to stretch the lead to 28-0 at the 9:27 mark of the second quarter.
The two teams traded field goals the rest of the way to send the game into halftime with the Western Carolina leading, 31-3
Furman took the second half kickoff and drove 73 yards before being stopped back twice from the WCU 1-yard line to turn the ball over on downs.
The Paladins' lone touchdown came on redshirt freshman fullback Kealand Dirks' 1-yard run, the first of his career, on the final play of the third quarter.
P.J. Blazejowski took over for Reese Hannon at quarterback in the second half and completed 7-of-12 passes for 132 yards while rushing for 24 yards.
Detrez Newecome ran 21 times for 184 yards for Western Carolina, and Steffon Hill paced the Catamounts' receivers with 10 receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for a score.
Mercer 17, Chattanooga 14
MACON, Ga. - The streak is over. The third-ranked Chattanooga Mocs dropped a 17-14 decision at Mercer. That ended the run of 12 straight Southern Conference wins and puts an exclamation point on next week's matchup with The Citadel.
Big plays and turnovers haunted the Mocs at Five Star Stadium. John Russ hit Jimmie Robinson in the flat in the opening possession of the second half. He broke a tackle and sprinted down the right sideline for the 64-yard score and a 17-7 advantage.
The defense kept the Bears off the scoreboard the rest of the way, but turnovers plagued the offense. Chattanooga lost two fumbles at the Mercer 17 and at midfield, while throwing an interception that was picked at the Bears 16 in the second half.
Jacob Huesman (112) and Derrick Craine (102) each topped the 100-yard mark on the ground as the squad posted 220 on the day. Huesman added 197 in the air on 15 of 21 passing. Stovall had a career-high six catches for 78 yards.
Tee Mitchell led the Bears with 66 rushing yards. Russ had 218 yards of total offense, running for 56 and throwing for 162. He completed nine of 19, scoring two TDs – one each with the arm and legs.
Lucas Webb tied for game-high honors with 10 tackles and an interception. It was the first pick of the year for Russ, while it was Webb's second of the season and eighth of his career. Nakevion Leslie added seven tackles with 1.5 for loss.
Tripp Patterson and Lendell Arnold paced Mercer with 10 tackles apiece. Arnold also forced a fumble. Zach Jackson added nine stops with one for loss, a fumble recovery and an interception.
Mercer got on the board first with a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Russ. Huesman answered on the next possession with a 7-yard run to tie it, before the home team responded with a 19-yard field goal after a five-plus minute drive ended up two yards shy of the end zone.
Chattanooga came back with a nearly seven-minute march to end the half. It ended with Henrique Ribeiro's 36-yard field goal attempt sailing just left to send the teams into halftime with a 10-7 Mercer advantage.
Samford 43, Clark Atlanta 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford football team posted its first shutout of the 2015 season in earning a 43-0 homecoming win over Clark Atlanta Saturday afternoon at Seibert Stadium.
"It's always good to see the guys happy, they put in a lot of work," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "Today was a game we were supposed to win and we went out and won it. We'll take them any way we can get them against any opponent. It's really good to see our guys excited for the first time in quite some time."
The shutout was the first for Samford since Nov. 1, 2014, when the Bulldogs earned a 55-0 win over Concordia. The defense limited Clark Atlanta to just 179 yards of offense in the dominating win.
Samford senior place-kicker Anthony Pistelli, who transferred this season from Valdosta State, set two Samford records in the win. He set the record for field goals in a single game with five and for points by a kicker in a single game with 19.
Offensively for Samford, quarterback Devlin Hodges completed 24-of-34 passes for 307 yards and three touchdowns. Emmanuel Obajimi caught three passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns, while Gavin Sinclair had six catches for 68 yards and a score. Denzel Williams led the Samford running game with nine rushes for 48 yards and a touchdown.
Senior defensive lineman Michael Pierce led the defense with seven tackles, including six solo stops. Fellow seniors Josh Killett and Trey Wesley had an interception each for the defense.
For Clark Atlanta, Jaha McCray rushed 24 times for 78 yards. Matthew Vincent was 5-of-16 passing for 54 yards and an interception, while Dashawn Blow was 5-of-13 for 42 yards and an interception. The Clark Atlanta defense was led by Joshua Tate with nine tackles, including seven solo stops.
Samford got the scoring started early with the Bulldogs scoring a touchdown on the game's opening drive. Hodges connected with Obajimi for a 42-yard touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead with 13:52 left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs struck again on their next drive. Hodges hit Sinclair for a 24-yard touchdown pass for a 14-0 Samford lead with 9:24 to go in the first quarter. Samford added one more score in the first quarter when Pistelli kicked a 25-yard field goal to make the score 17-0 with 20 seconds left in the opening period.
On Samford's first drive of the second quarter, Pistelli kicked a 28-yard field goal to push the Bulldogs' lead to 20-0 with 12:38 to go in the quarter. Hodges connected with Obajimi for a 51-yard touchdown with 6:28 left in the second quarter to make the score 27-0.
Pistelli added two late field goals in the second quarter. He made kicks from 20-yards out with 2:20 to play and from 40-yards out at the end of the half to send Samford to halftime with a 33-0 lead.
In the third quarter, Williams scored on a 14-yard run with 10:02 to go, making the score 40-0. Pistelli added his fifth and final field goal from 42-yards out with 3:54 left in the fourth quarter to make the final score 43-0.
In the win, the Samford offense had four scoring drive of less than two minutes. For the season, the Bulldogs now have19 scoring drives that have lasted less than two minutes.
In addition to the win, Samford also celebrated its homecoming and Senior Day for the 22 seniors on the Bulldogs' roster. Lauren Elizabeth Sims was named the Homecoming Queen, while Walker Edmondson was named the Homecoming King.
With the win, Samford improves to 4-5 on the season. Clark Atlanta drops to 1-8 with the loss.