STATESBORO, Ga. -Georgia Southern fullback Jermaine Austin rushed for a game-high 133 yards while quarterback Chaz Williams added 117 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Eagles to a pivotal 36-20 Southern Conference victory over Appalachian State Saturday.
“This is a great win for our football team,” Georgia Southern coach Mike Sewak said. “I felt we were very crisp and the guys were ready to play.”
Senior slotback Mark Myers (107) also reached the triple-digit mark to help Georgia Southern record 364 ground yards on the way to 437 yards of total offense. Williams’ effort marked only the second time in school history (Tracy Ham in 1986 and Greg Hill in 1998) that an Eagle signal-caller has recorded four consecutive 100-yard rushing games.
“You could tell when he (Williams) started to let the game come to him,” Sewak said. “He played another great ball game for us.”
Appalachian State (5-2, 3-1) tried to rally behind the efforts of quarterback Joe Burchette who completed 23-of-44 passes for 206 yards but the Eagles’ defense held on to hand the Mountaineers their worst SoCon loss since falling 52-28 to ETSU on Oct. 4, 1997.
“We’ve got our backs to the wall,” ASU coach Jerry Moore said. “It’s back to Furman, Georgia Southern and us. It’s time to find out what kind of ball club we have. Whether we are all talk or any good.”
Georgia Southern (5-2, 4-1) used Anthony Williams’ game-opening 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown for a 7-0 lead. The return was the first of his career and the first by an Eagle since Bennie Cunningham’s 89-yard return against Oregon St. on Sept. 18, 1999.
“Our guys are starting to believe and you can really see the fight in them coming out,” Sewak said. “Every week someone is coming up big for us. I’m very proud of our team.”
Georgia Southern, which was held to just five total yards in the opening 15 minutes, quickly exploded early in the second quarter.
Facing a third-and-six situation from their own 24-yard line, the Eagles used a 62-yard pass play from Williams to slotback Zzream Walden to set up the first of Williams’ three scores – a three-yard keeper with 11:57 left in the half to give GSU a 14-10 advantage, a lead the Eagles would never relinquish.
Williams also finished off Georgia Southern’s next drive, a four-play, 54-yard march, with a one-yard scoring run to extend the Eagle cushion to 21-10 before Scott Shelton drilled a 36-yard field goal with 3:12 left in the second quarter to give GSU a 24-10 halftime lead.
Georgia Southern’s defensive unit, despite playing without starting linebacker Mike Ward and three-time All-America tackle Freddy Pesqueira, held the Mountaineers to just 24 rushing yards in the second half.
“The defense was tremendous today,” Sewak said. “They could have mailed it in without Freddy and Michael Ward out there but everyone stepped up instead. The whole unit played well.”
On the other hand, after a sluggish first half, the Eagle offense racked up 225 of its 364 rushing yards in the final 30 minutes of play.
GSU has now won 31 of their last 32 regular season home contests and 22 of their last 23 SoCon games at Paulson Stadium.
VMI 35
Chattanooga 31
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga football team dropped its seventh straight game of the season as VMI posted a come-from-behind victory at Finley Stadium.
VMI’s Sean Mizzer led all rushers with a season-high 125 yards on 19 carries. Mizzer scored twice as the Keydets, 4-4, 2-3, have beaten UTC the last two years. This was the final meeting between the two teams as SoCon rivals as VMI will join the Big South next season.
Mizzer’s second touchdown, a two-yard run with 8:16 remaining, gave the Keydets the lead for good. The Mocs reached the VMI 32-yard line on their final possession, but a fourth-down pass attempt was incomplete, sealing the win.
Keydet quarterback Ryan McCann threw for a career-high 260 yards to eight different receivers. He completed 16-of-25 passes and did not throw an interception. Hain led the Mocs on the ground with 82 yards on 22 carries. Jones caught four passes for 93 yards, while Grier had four for 65 yards. Gibson threw for 223 yards on 16-of-28 passing. Pedro Garcia hauled in a game-high six passes for 113 yards.
Chattanooga’s Josh Cain recorded 17 tackles marking his seventh double-digit effort this year, and his eighth consecutive since last year.
Furman 37
The Citadel 10
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Lamar Rembert’s 83-yard touchdown run keyed a powerful rushing attack that propelled the NCAA I-AA sixth-ranked Furman Paladins to a win over The Citadel Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium.
Rembert’s scoring run, which came on the final play of the first quarter, gave Furman (5-2, 3-1) a 14-0 lead and keyed the Paladins to their fourth straight win over The Citadel (2-5, 1-3) and 15th straight home victory against conference opposition. Rembert finished with a game high 87 yards on five carries as Furman piled up 345 yards on the ground and five touchdowns on the way to 508 yards in total offense.
“It was very big the way we came out today,” said Furman coach Bobby Lamb, whose Paladins suffered a crushing 15-14 loss to App. State last week.
“I didn’t know how we would react from the loss last week, but we answered that question with the way we came out in the first quarter,” Lamb said. “We were ready to play.”
Furman’s defense played a significant role, limiting The Citadel to only 252 total yards and picking off Bulldog quarterback Jeff Klein four times, including a pair by cornerback Rodney Johnson. Klein entered the contest having thrown only one interception in 197 attempts.
“Our defense played great; they’re a scrappy bunch,” Lamb said. “We didn’t rush the passer that well, but we made some big plays in the secondary with the interceptions. I’m proud of the way they played.”
Furman quarterback Billy Napier connected on 11-of-19 passes for 163 yards, including five for 80 yards to split end Isaac West, who completed his comeback from a fractured collarbone sustained in the Paladins’ 17-7 win over Richmond on Sept. 21.
Furman returns to action next Saturday when it comes to Johnson City to face the Buccaneers at 3 p.m.
Wofford 31
Western Carolina 24
J.R. McNair rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns to lead a Wofford attack that totaled 397 yards on the ground in a win over Western Carolina in Spartanburg, S.C.
Freshmen Aaron Johnson and Gabriel Jackson, filling in for an injured Jesse McCoy, rushed for 81 and 80 yards, respectively. Coming into the game, Johnson and Jackson had totaled 109 yards on the season. McCoy, the Terriers’ leading rusher with 425 yards on a 9.2 per carry average, suffered a concussion last week at VMI and was held out of action. He will return next Saturday at Appalachian State.
Four of Wofford’s five scoring drives were at least 74 yards in length, including a 19-play, 77-yard drive that covered 9:40 in the second half.
The Terriers held a 36:28-to-23:32 edge in time of possession and were 4-of-5 on fourth-down conversions.
“Our offensive line was the key to the game,” Wofford coach Mike Ayers said. “We were able to take it right at them and we challenged them on fourth down several times. Western Carolina is too good to let them have the football too many times.
Catamount quarterback Pat Cilento completed 30-of-37 passes for 295 yards. Brenden Roy was the leading target with six receptions for 40 yards, while Lamont Seward added five catches for 62 yards.
“Wofford did a great job and they really stuck it to us,” Western Carolina coach Kent Briggs said. “You can’t give up that many yards and let them stay on the field and expect to win.
“We had chances but they were able to keep the ball moving. They did a really good job with the dive and some misdirection plays that worked.

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