Box Score Game Box (pdf)
Inside Wofford Football
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Wofford football team defeated The Citadel 21-10 on Saturday night at Johnson Hagood Stadium. The Terriers had two passing touchdowns by Michael Weimer and Donovan Johnson added a rushing touchdown for the 15th straight win in the series.
The Terriers open at 1-1, while The Citadel is 0-2. Wofford was led by Donovan Johnson with 149 yards rushing on 32carries, while Will Gay had 81 rushing yards and a touchdown reception. The Bulldogs had 64 rushing yards by Aaron Miller, who also had 93 passing yards.
"We did a nice job tonight," said head coach Mike Ayers. "The coaching staff did a nice job coming up with some things. They wanted to go man-to-man against us in a couple of situations and we had a better match than they had. Two things that stop out to be game-changers were that we played lights out on defense and we were able to throw the ball."
Both teams went three-and-out and punted to open the game. On the second series for Wofford, the squad gained two first downs before the drive ended with a 35-yard field goal that was wide left. The Citadel had one first down before punting the ball back to the Terriers. A 33-yard completion from James Lawson to Wade Francis moved the Terriers across midfield, but the drive ended with a punt. The Citadel had a first down, but had to punt with 2:14 left in the first quarter.
Wofford gained 21-yard on a pass from Lawson to Will Gay, but punted the ball back to the Bulldogs. After trading three-and-outs, The Citadel had the ball and gained only one yard before punting back to the Terriers with 10:50 on the clock in the second quarter. Wofford had a 25-yard run by Donovan Johnson and then a 30-yard pass from Michael Weimer to Will Irwin gave the Terriers a 7-0 lead with 8:38 left in the first half.
The Citadel gained one first down and punted, however the return was muffed and the Bulldogs recovered at the 26-yard line. The Bulldogs missed a 30-yard field goal, giving the ball back to Wofford with 3:49 on the clock. A 40-yard run by Will Gay moved the ball inside the red-zone. Donovan Johnson capped the drive with a one-yard run by Donovan Johnson for a 14-0 lead with 1:28 left in the half. The Citadel did not gain a first down before the half ended.
To open the second half, The Citadel used a 29-yard run by Aaron Miller to set up a 25-yard field goal to make it a 14-3 game with 11:50 on the clock. Wofford drove down the field and was in the red-zone when Brandon McCladdie picked off Michael Weimer and returned it down the sideline 92 yards for a touchdown. The score was 14-0 with 5:33 left in the third quarter.
Wofford gained one first down before punting back to The Citadel. The Bulldogs added a first down, but were forced to punt. The Terriers then went on a fifteen play drive that covered 96 yards as Michael Weimer found Will Gay in the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown. Wofford had a 21-10 lead with 6:25 remaining in the game. The Citadel was sacked on fourth down, turning the ball back over to Wofford with 5:03 on the clock. The Terriers went three-and-out and punted with 4:05 left in the game. The Bulldogs started at the two-yard line and moved all the way to the Wofford ten before coming up short on a fourth-and-seven play. Wofford ran out the clock for the win.
Wofford had 421 total yards, with 280 on the ground. The Citadel had 262 total yards, 154 of which were rushing. Wofford had a 21 to 14 advantage in first downs. Wofford was 9-of-18 on third downs. The Citadel was 3-of-15 on third down. Each team had two penalties. Wofford had a 34:12 to 25:48 time of possession advantage.
Wofford vs. Citadel Post-Game Notes
Running back Donovan Johnson ran for over 100 times for the sixth time in his career. He crossed the 2,000 career rushing mark with 2,019.
Wofford has now won the Southern Conference opener for the tenth time in 17 seasons, including the last four straight.
The Terriers have won 15 straight in the series over The Citadel, however the Bulldogs still lead the series 40-25-1.
There were no major injuries for the Terriers in the contest.
Game captains were Ty Gregory and SeQuan Stanley.
Attendance was 14,545 at Johnson Hagood Stadium.
