CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Wofford College football team kept their playoff hopes alive with a 36-28 win over Chattanooga on Saturday afternoon at Finley Stadium. The Terriers kicked a field goal with just over two minutes remaining to give them an eight point advantage and the defense held to preserve the win.
 
Wofford moves to 7-3 on the season and 5-2 in the Southern Conference. Chattanooga, ranked #7 in the nation, is 8-2 overall and 6-2 in league play. The Terriers were led by Lorenzo Long with 123 rushing yards and a touchdown and Lennox McAfee had 160 kick return yards, including a touchdown. The Mocs had 57 rushing yards from Derrick Craine and Alejandro Bennifield was 19-of-32 passing with two interceptions.
 
"First of all, Chattanooga is a heck of a football team," said head coach Mike Ayers. "It was one of those deals where if we won this game it was going to have to be a complete team effort. We were going to have to take care of the ball and defensively we were going to have to be opportunistic and make some plays. I thought everyone stepped up and created energy. We are hoping if everything works out, and we still have to play VMI and they are a tough football team, we are in a situation where every game is a playoff game. I can't say enough about our coaches and the plan they put together to prepare the kids. The kicking game was huge and the last two minutes seemed like they took an hour. You are hoping someone makes a play and we made the last play to win the game."
 
The Mocs had the ball first and used a 53-yard kickoff return to begin the drive just past midfield. Nine plays later, Chattanooga had a 7-0 lead after a five-yard touchdown reception by Richarde Bagley at the 10:33 mark of the first quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, Lennox MacAfee went 100 yards down the near sideline to tie the game at 7-7 with 10:21 on the clock in the first. The Mocs went three-and-out on their second possession of the game. The Wofford offense took to the field for the first time and gained a pair of first downs before taking the lead with a 51-yard field goal by David Marvin. The Terriers scored at the 4:06 mark in the first quarter for a 10-7 game.
 
On the next drive by the Mocs, they regained the lead with a 20-yard pass to Derrick Craine for a 14-10 score with 1:06 left in the first quarter. With the ball back, Wofford had a 31-yard run by Blake Morgan and a 17-yard reception by Andre Stoddard. Chandler Gouger caught a 16-yard pass from Brandon Goodson in the end zone to give the Terriers a 17-14 lead at the 12:25 mark of the second quarter. The Wofford defense forced a three-and-out and took over at the 11-yard line. Will Gay picked up a first down and a pass to Jason Hill added a first down, but the Terriers were forced to punt. On the first play for the Mocs, a deep pass by Alejandro Bennifield was intercepted by Jaleel Green. Wofford had to punt after a pair of first downs and the Mocs started at their own one yard line with four minutes left in the half. On the second play, Dylan Young stopped Derrick Craine in the backfield for a safety and Wofford took a 19-14 lead with 3:18 on the clock.
 
On the free kick return, Lennox McAfee went 60 yards and a facemask penalty gave Wofford the ball at the 12 yard line to start the drive. Brandon Goodson ran for a first down and Will Gay capped the short drive with a two-yard touchdown run and a 26-14 lead with 1:06 left in the first half. The Mocs used another strong kickoff return to begin their next drive just across midfield. After three first downs, an eight yard touchdown pass to Richarde Bagley cut the Wofford lead to 26-21 with ten seconds remaining. Wofford took a knee to end the first half.
 
To start the second half, Wofford went three-and-out and punted. The Mocs had one first down, but back-to-back sacks forced a punt. The Terriers then had one first down before punting. Jireh Wilson picked off Alejandro Bennifield in the backfield and returned it ten yards to the five yard line. Lorenzo Long scored from the one to give Wofford a 33-21 lead at the 7:16 mark of the third quarter. Chattanooga gained one first down before punting back to the Terriers. Wofford had a fourth-and-one, but were inches short and the Mocs took over at the 31 yard line. A 30-yard pass gave the Mocs first-and-goal from the one. After stopping the Mocs three times, a one-yard pass to Xavier Borishade on fourth down cut the Wofford lead to 33-28 with 14:55 on the clock in the fourth quarter.
 
The Terriers picked up two first downs and were faced with a fourth-and-three, which was a yard short and the Mocs took over at the 36 yard line. They had one first down before punting and Wofford began at the 11 yard line. A 35-yard reception by Will Gay was followed by three first down runs by Lorenzo Long to move inside the 20. A 24-yard field goal by David Marvin gave the Terriers a 36-28 lead with 2:08 left in the fourth quarter.
 
The Mocs had a first down following a roughing the passer call on the Terriers with a minute remaining. A quarterback keeper moved the ball to midfield and a pass picked up a first down at the 40. A pair of pass break-ups made it fourth down for the Mocs with 25 seconds remaining. A pass to Derrick Craine picked up the first down and then the Mocs had two incompletions. On third down, Tyler Vaughn sacked Alejandro Bennifield for a loss of ten yards and the clock expired.
 
Wofford had 342 total yards, with 247 rushing. Chattanooga had 265 total yards, 177 of which were rushing. Both teams had 19 first downs. Wofford was 7-of-15 on third downs and 0-of-2 on fourth downs. Chattanooga was 3-of-11 on third down and made both fourth down attempts. Both teams were called for three penalties. Wofford had a 35:06 to 24:54 time of possession advantage, which included 11:27 in the fourth quarter.
 
Wofford vs. Chattanooga Post-Game Notes
The Terrier defense has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in a game this season. They allowed only 88 yards to the Mocs.
 
The 100-yard kickoff return by Lennox McAfee was the longest of his career and his first kickoff return for a touchdown. The 100-yards tied the school record for longest kickoff return, which was set last year by Nick Colvin at Idaho. McAfee had 160 kickoff return yards in the game, the fourth most in school history.
 
The Terriers defense recorded a safety for the first time since October 8, 2011 at The Citadel.
 
Chandler Gouger's 16-yard reception in the second quarter was his third touchdown this season. He has a catch in eight straight games.
 
The Terriers have seven wins on the season, topping the total from last year (5-6) with one game remaining. It was the first win by Wofford in Chattanooga since 2011.
 
Lorenzo Long had 123 rushing yards, his 7^th 100-yard game of the season and 15^th of his career. He topped the 1,000 yard mark in a season for the first time in his career and is the 19^th player in school history to reach that mark. He now has 3,138 career rushing yards to rank 7^th in school history.
 
The interception by Jaleel Green was his fourth this season and seventh of his career. The interception by Jireh Wilson was the first of his career.
 
Nick Ward and Colton Clemons missed the game due to concussions. Jaleel Green left the game due to injury.
 
Game captains were Will Gay, Anton Wahrby, Terrance Morris and Tyler Vaughn.
 
Attendance was 8,750 at Finley Stadium.
 
Wofford will return home on November 19 against VMI to close out the regular season at 1:30 p.m.