Box Score Game stats (pdf)
Watch Highlights
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford football team used 501 rushing yards to defeat Western Carolina 45-14 on Saturday afternoon at Gibbs Stadium. The Terriers had three players with over 100 yards rushing as the team averaged 9.4 yards per play in the contest.
The Terriers are 5-1 on the season and 3-0 in the conference and the Catamounts are 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led in rushing by Mitch Allen with 178 yards, Eric Breitenstein with 149 yards and Donovan Johnson with 123 yards. Brian Kass added two touchdown passes in the game. The Catamounts were led by Michael Johnson with 69 rushing yards and Anderw Rogers with 43 receiving yards. On the day, Wofford had 590 total yards to only 219 for the Catamounts.
“We were concerned coming into the game because of the mental approach and the intensity,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “We played two tough games in Furman and Georgia Southern. Western is a good team and as a coaching staff we knew they had big play capability and sometimes it is hard to convince guys to be in it mentally. We did some things that hurt us and put us behind the eight ball, but that being said we responded and did the things that we needed to do offensively and defensively. We had a great day defensively. I was really pleased with the way were able shut them down. They struggled trying to run the ball against us and we became opportunistic when they threw it. The kicking game we have to continue to improve and step up our game.”
The Catamounts first drive ended with a sack of Zac Brindise by Josh Roseborough that forced a fumble which Roseborough also recovered. After gaining one first down, the Terriers scored with a 26-yard field goal by Christian Reed at 10:07 in the first quarter.
Wofford’s defense forced Western Carolina to punt on their second possession of the game, but the Terriers gained only one first down before punting back to the Catamounts. Despite a short field, Keaton Thompson intercepted a pass at the line of scrimmage to give the ball back to the Wofford offense.
With the ball back, a 37-yard run by Mitch Allen got the Terriers deep inside Catamount territory. Wofford converted a fourth-and-one on the four-yard line and Eric Breitenstein carried it in from one-yard out for a 9-0 lead at 13:54 in the second quarter.
After a sack by Ameet Pall, the Catamounts were three-and-out and punted. On the first play for the Terriers, Angelo Brown came up with an interception of Mitch Allen and returned it to the Wofford 42-yard line. Western Carolina was able to convert the turnover into points when Michael Johnson rushed for a one-yard touchdown to make it a 9-7 game with 9:20 left in the first half.
Wofford was driving when Randy Pressley stepped in front of a pitch by Mitch Allen and returned the fumble 51-yard to the end zone to take a 14-9 lead at 6:21 in the second quarter. Back on offense, the Terriers used a 44-yard run by Mitch Allen to move to the ten-yard line. The drive was capped by a nine-yard run by Eric Breitenstein. The two-point conversion run failed and Wofford had a 15-14 lead with 2:47 left in the half.
The Terrier defense came up with a tackle for loss and a sack, forcing a three-and-out for the Catamounts. On the second play of Wofford’s next drive, Brian Kass found Brentin Bersin for a 47-yard touchdown and a 22-14 lead with 47 seconds left on the clock. The Catamounts gained two first downs before the end of the first half.
After trading punts to open the second half, Wofford was able to use two key runs by Eric Breitenstein, including a 34-yard touchdown run, to take a 29-14 lead at 8:55 in the third quarter. With the ball back, the Catamounts picked up two first downs before punting the ball to the two-yard line. Wofford drove the 98-yards and capped the drive with a 32-yard touchdown run up the middle by Mitch Allen for a 35-14 score after the point after was missed with 1:08 left in the third quarter.
Following a three-and-out by the Catamounts, the Terriers were able to drive the field again and score on an eleven-yard touchdown pass from Brian Kass to Devin Reed to increase the lead to 42-14 with 13:07 on the clock in the fourth quarter.
With another punt by the Catamounts, the Terriers moved the ball downfield with a 54-yard run by Donovan Johnson. The drive ended with a 31-yard field goal by Christian Reed for a 45-14 score with 5:29 remaining in the game. The next drive by the Catamounts ended with an interception by Coleman Hornaday. Chris White was under center for the next drive by Wofford that ended with a punt. Western Carolina got the ball back with 1:29 on the clock and Coleman Hornaday again came up big with an interception in the end zone. Wofford took a knee twice to run out the clock on the victory.
The Terriers had 590 total yards, with 501 on the ground. Western Carolina had 219 yards,114 of which were rushing. Wofford had the time of possession advantage. Wofford was 4-of-11 on third downs. Western Carolina was 4-of-12 on third down.
Next weekend Wofford will travel to Elon for a 1:30 p.m. conference match-up. Elon had an open date this weekend.
Wofford vs. Western Carolina Post-Game Notes
The interceptions by Coleman Hornaday in the fourth quarter were the first of his career. He is the first Wofford played to have two interceptions in a game since Seth Goldwire had two at Georgia Southern on September 28, 2008.
Game captains for Wofford were Pat Illig and Tommy Irvin.
Wofford has won five in a row against the Catamounts and eight of the last ten meetings overall.
Linebacker Mike Niam returned to action for the first time since at Wisconsin (9/19/2009) and led the team in tackles with eight. He is the sixth different player to lead the team in tackles this season.
The touchdown pass in the second quarter to Brenton Bersin was the first of the career for Brian Kass. He added his second career touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
Mitch Allen had a career-high 178 rushing yards. Eric Breitenstein added 149 rushing yards and Donovan Johnson recorded his first career 100-yard rushing game with 123 yards. It is the first time in Wofford’s Division I era with three rushers over 100 yards in the same game.
The 501 total rushing yards were the most by the Terriers since rushing for 510 yards on October 2, 1999 against Chattanooga. It is only the ninth time in school history with more than 500 yards rushing in a game.
Attendance was 8,248 at Gibbs Stadium.
