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Inside Wofford Football

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In a game that featured two weather delays, the Wofford College football team defeated North Greenville 42-27 at Gibbs Stadium on Saturday night. With a one point lead in the third quarter, the Terriers came out after the second delay of the game and scored three straight touchdowns for a 42-20 lead on the way to the victory.
 
The Terriers are 1-1, while North Greenville is also 1-1. Wofford was led by Lorenzo Long with 138 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Evan Jacks was 6-of-9 passing with one touchdown and he also ran for 53 yards. Cole Higbie led the defense with ten tackles. North Greenville was led by Nelson Hughes with 33-of-43 passing for 370 yards, while Robbie Brown caught 13 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown.
 
"It is hard to explain," said head coach Mike Ayers. "They are a good team offensively and have a sound scheme. We were moving the ball and all of a sudden every series became critical because we could not stop them. Some of it dealt with guys getting confused on how to play certain coverages, which is our fault as coaches. We did enough offensively to hang in there and we finally got the message through during the second delay. We made some changes in the locker room and started controlling the tempo of the game defensively and we survived. The best part of the game was the kicking game. Those guys were a big part of winning this football game."
 
The Terriers had the ball first and went three-and-out and punted. The Crusaders gained three first downs and capped the drive with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Nelson Hughes to Mason Sanders. North Greenville had a 7-0 lead with 9:57 on the clock in the first quarter.
 
On next drive for Wofford, the Terriers picked up three first downs before Ray Smith scored on a 26-yard run with 5:14 left in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7. The Crusaders opened their next drive with a 58-yard pass to Robbie Brown. Brion Anderson intercepted Nelson Hughes in the endzone to end the scoring threat.
 
After a penalty backed up the Terriers to the 15-yard line, Evan Jacks scrambled and found a wide open Will Irwin for a touchdown. The 85-yard reception was the longest in school history and gave Wofford a 14-7 lead with 31 seconds left in the first half. The Crusaders then drove down the field and added points on a 33-yard field goal by Justin Gravely to make it a 14-10 game with 11:15 on the clock. At that point, the game was delayed for 45 minutes due to lightning in the area.
 
Once play resumed, the Terriers drove to the 20-yard line and had fourth-and-three. A false start penalty backed up Wofford and the fourth-and-eight run by Evan Jacks was one yard short. The Crusaders used a pair of big pass plays, including a 39-yard touchdown pass from Nelson Hughes to Robbie Brown, made it a 17-14 game with 1:22 left in the first half. The Terriers gained one first down, but Evan Jacks was intercepted on the final play of the half.
 
The Crusaders had the ball to open the second half. On third down, Drake Michaelson intercepted Nelson Hughes and returned it to the 10-yard line. Will Irwin ran the ball in from the nine-yard line, dragging along several defenders. Wofford had a 21-17 lead with 12:08 on the clock in the third quarter.
 
On the next drive by North Greenville, they gained three passing first downs before settling for a 40-yard field goal by Justin Gravely that hit the left upright and dropped over the crossbar. The Terriers had a 21-20 lead with 7:49 left in the third quarter. Wofford gained three first downs before additional lightning caused a delay. After a 72 minute delay, but with heavy rain still falling, the Terriers gained a pair of first downs. Lorenzo Long capped the drive with a four-yard touchdown run. Wofford had a 28-20 lead with 3:23 remaining in the third quarter.
 
North Greenville went three and out and punted. With the ball back, Wofford used a 46-yard run by Lorenzo Long to move downfield. Long ended the drive with a one-yard run for a 35-20 lead with 12:33 left in the game. The Crusaders picked up one first down, but Nelson Hughes fumbled and the ball was recovered by Tyler Vaughn at the 27-yard line. Lorenzo Long added his third touchdown of the day on a four-yard run for a 42-20 lead with 9:43 left on the clock. On the next drive by North Greenville, Nelson Hughes ran the ball in from one-yard out to cut the score to 42-27 with 6:21 left in the game.
 
Wofford gained two first downs, but had to punt back to North Greenville with 2:39 left on the clock. The Crusaders had one first down and lined up to punt with 1:38 remaining when the lights at the stadium went out. The game was called at that point, with Wofford earning the 42-27 victory.
 
Wofford had 452 total yards, with 337 on the ground. North Greenville had 447 total yards, 370 of which were passing. Wofford had a 24 to 21 advantage in first downs. Wofford was 4-of-7 on third downs and 0-of-1 on fourth down. North Greenville was 8-of-15 on third down and 0-of-1 on fourth down. North Greenville had ten penalties to six for Wofford. Wofford had a 29:39 to 28:43 time of possession advantage.   
 
Wofford vs. North Greenville Post-Game Notes
 
The game was the first between Wofford and North Greenville.
 
Wofford has won the last fourteen home openers. The last home opening loss came in 2000 when the Terriers lost 34-14 to Lehigh on September 9. With Mike Ayers at the helm, Wofford is 19-8 in home openers.
 
There was a 45 minute delay due to lightning in the area from 7:45 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. during the second quarter. A second delay in the third quarter was for 72 minutes from 9:47 p.m. to 10:59.
 
Drake Michaelson recorded his first career interception in the third quarter, while Tyler Vaughn had his first career fumble recovery in the fourth quarter.
 
The 85-yard touchdown pass from Evan Jacks to Will Irwin was the longest in school history. The previous long was 79 yards from Bobby Starnes to Jack Whitted in 1949 against Eastern Kentucky.  
 
Game captains were Zach Muller and Bernard Williams.
 
Attendance was7,312 at Gibbs Stadium.
 
Wofford is back on the road next weekend at Gardner-Webb. The game will start at 6:00 p.m.