BOONE, N.C. – Jesse McCoy rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns, but it was Gabriel Jackson’s 61-yard touch-down run with 1:36 remaining that carried Wofford to a 26-19 victory and spoiled Appalachian State’s Homecoming before 17,297 spectators. The win improved Wofford to 6-2, 4-1 while the Appy drops to 5-3 and 3-2.
Two plays after the Mountaineers knotted the score at 19-19, Jackson found running room on an inside handoff and out-raced the field for the game winner. The point after made the tally 26-19.
Appalachian’s recent run of success in close games looked like it would help, as Joe Burchette found Andrew Layton with a 15-yard pass to start what would be ASU’s final drive. Appalachian had won four games by single-digit margins.
On the next play, Burchette was picked off by Roland Harris. It was Burchette’s third interception of the day.
The loss was Appalachian’s first to Wofford since a 26-16 setback on Oct. 30, 1971. It snapped a string of eight straight wins over Wofford and marked ASU’s first loss to Wofford since it joined the SoCon in 1997.
At 28-11-2 all-time in Homecoming games, Appal-achian’s last Homecoming loss was a 24-10 loss to Marshall on Oct. 26, 1996.
Wofford returns home to Gibbs Stadium Saturday to face The Citadel at 1:30 p.m. Appy will travel to Chattanooga next week for UTC’s Homecoming game at 1:30 p.m.
Georgia Southern 28
The Citadel 24
CHARLESTON, S.C.-QB Chaz Williams rushed for two touchdowns and threw for two more scores to lead No. 10 Georgia Southern to a come-from-behind victory over The Citadel.
“I thought Chaz grew up today, in fact, the whole team did,” said GSU coach Mike Sewak. I give all the credit to The Citadel. They fought hard and kept the ball away from us, especially in the first half.”
Georgia Southern returns home to face ETSU on Nov. 2, while The Citadel travels to Spartanburg to take on Wofford with a 1:30 p.m. start.
Western Carolina 45
Chattanooga 28
CULLOWHEE, N.C.-Running back Manny DeShauteurs accounted 222 yards of offense, including a career-high 163 on the ground, to lead Western Carolina to a 45-28 Homecoming victory over Chattanooga Saturday afternoon at E.J. Whitmire Stadium. Western has won each of its last five Homecoming tilts and eight of the last 10.
DeShauteurs carried the ball 23 times, also a career-high, and caught two passes for 59 yards. With the Cats holding on to a slim 24-21 lead midway through the fourth quarter, Catamount quarterback Pat Cilento completed a short pass to DeShauteurs in the flat, which turned into a 50-yard touchdown play. With Western running out the clock holding a 38-28 lead, DeShauteurs broke a 42-yard rushing touchdown with 35 seconds left in the game to provide the final 45-28 margin.
On the defensive side for Western (4-5, 2-4 SoCon), junior defensive end Michale Spicer tallied seven tackles, including five for losses and 3.5 sacks. The five tackles for loss ties a WCU single-game record, which he also accomplished this season versus West Virginia Tech. He also played a key role in WCU’s taking a 38-21 lead 15 seconds after DeShauteurs’ 50-yard TD reception. Spicer pressured Chattanooga quarterback Ryan McCann into throwing an errant pass, which WCU junior linebacker Rod Dunlap picked off and returned 14 yards for a score. With his effort, Spicer moves to fifth on Western’s career sacks list (18) and sixth on the schools tackles for loss list (36).
Western Carolina will return to action next Saturday at VMI. Kickoff is set for 1 pm in Lexington, Va. Chattanooga will host Appalachian State next Saturday at 1 pm.
VMI 38
Liberty 14
LEXINGTON, Va.-Junior slotback T.J. Snelling rushed for 125 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns and freshman Sean Mizzer gained 121 yards to lead VMI over Liberty.
Snelling scored on touchdown runs of 16 and two yards as the Keydets rolled up 338 yards rushing, their most since 1996.
VMI raised its record to 5-4 for the first time since 1981, and notched its most wins in a season since 1982.
The win was also VMI’s third straight victory – the first time a Keydet squad had attained such a string since 1981.
Liberty’s Dre Barnes rushed for a career-high 202 yards on 24 carries, but it wasn’t enough as the Flames fell to 2-6 on the year.
The Keydets never trailed in the contest. VMI took its opening drive 41 yards on eight plays and tallied first on John Bell’s first rushing touchdown of the year, a 12-yard burst up the middle. Bell carried four times for 30 yards on the drive, and converted a fourth down play to keep the possession alive.
VMI held the advantage in time of possession for the third straight game, controlling the football for 34:16 in the contest, including a 21:18 to 8:42 bulge in the second half.
Gibson completed 11 of 23 passes for 116 yards and one touchdown. Garcia led VMI receivers with four catches for 40 yards and one score, while sophomore Greg Carlson caught three passes for 48 yards.
The Flames rolled up 370 yards total offense. Liberty quarterback Gus Condon completed 11-of-29 passes for 119 yards and one touchdown, and Cline and Samkon Gado each caught three passes for the Flames.
Flame linebacker Kendrick Howard led all tacklers with 14 stops, and VMI freshman free safety Robert Mason led the Keydet defense with 12 stops. Junior cornerback Michael Kirk, who returned to action for the first time last week after being sidelined for three games with a sprained ankle, picked off a Condon pass in the endzone with 6:04 left in the game.

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