SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College football team took a 38-35 lead with under two minutes to play, but Tennessee Tech answered with a touchdown with 1:06 left in the game for a 42-38 win on Saturday afternoon at Gibbs Stadium. The Terriers scored first and led late in the fourth quarter before the Golden Eagles rallied late.
Wofford is 2-3 and 1-2 in the SoCon. Tennessee Tech, ranked tenth in the nation, is 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league play. The Terriers were led by quarterback
Ethan Drumm with 304 passing yards and touchdown passes to four different receivers, while
Gerald Modest Jr. had 17 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown. Tennessee Tech quarterback Jax Leatherwood was 38-of-48 passing for 427 yards and five touchdowns.
"I am very proud of the way the kids played," said head coach
Shawn Watson. "They played a really good game. There were explosive plays on offense and the defense did a nice job. We obviously let them back in that ball game. We have got some things to shore up and things to address as a staff. I'll continue to push all sides of the ball because we've got a good group of kids. I thought they did a great job today in the schematics part, taking advantage of some coverage things that were there, and we were able to hit some really big plays. Guys made great catches, and Ethan had a really good game, so I'm really proud of the progress we showed there."
Wofford opened the game and had two first downs by penalty to move across midfield. A 40-yard touchdown pass from
Ethan Drumm to
Colby Alexander gave the Terriers a 7-0 lead with 12:35 on the clock. The Golden Eagles had two first downs and then converted a fourth-and-two. A sack and penalty forced a punt, and Wofford took over at the 20-yard line. After going three-and-out and punting, Tennessee Tech moved down the field and tied the game at 7-7 with a four-yard touchdown pass with 1:51 left in the first quarter.
With the ball back,
Ethan Drumm completed passes to
Colby Alexander and
Isaiah Scott for first downs. On the first play of the second quarter, a fourth-and-two pass by the Terriers was incomplete. The Golden Eagles had two first downs to move across midfield before
Jacobi Hatter intercepted a pass and Wofford took over at the 40-yard line. The Terriers put together a six-play drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown reception by
Isaiah Scott to make it a 14-7 game with 9:29 on the clock.
After the Golden Eagles gained one first down and punted, the Terriers wasted little time in scoring as
Ethan Drumm found
Jack Ewell, who went 76 yards down the far sideline for a touchdown. Wofford held a 21-7 lead at the 5:01 mark of the second quarter. Tennessee Tech had a 59-yard completion to move the ball to the ten-yard line. On second down, a 10-yard touchdown pass cut the lead to 21-14 with 3:17 left in the half. Wofford had three first downs, including a 42-yard reception by
Colby Alexander. The drive was capped by an 11-yard touchdown reception by
Terrence Honeywood for a 28-14 lead with 48 seconds left in the half. The Golden Eagles worked the sideline and had three first downs, but a 52-yard field goal attempt as time expired was wide left.
Tennessee Tech opened the second half with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to make it a 28-21 game. Wofford answered with a drive that covered 75 yards and ended with a 14-yard touchdown run by
Gerald Modest Jr. to extend the lead to 35-21 with 10:42 left in the third quarter. The Golden Eagles went on a long drive that consumed over nine minutes. On fourth-and-goal from the two, the pass was incomplete in the endzone and Wofford took over on downs. They went three-and-out and punted. Beginning at the 43-yard line, Tennessee Tech had one first down before facing a fourth-and-five. A 24-yard touchdown pass with 12:46 left in the fourth quarter made it a 35-28 game. Wofford went three-and-out and Tennessee Tech converted a fourth-and-one before adding four more first downs. The Golden Eagles tied the game with an eight-yard touchdown pass with 3:23 left in the fourth quarter. With the ball back, Wofford had two first downs and
Sam Spence kicked a 53-yard field goal for a 38-35 lead with 1:46 remaining. Tennessee Tech needed just 30 seconds to score a touchdown and take their first lead of the game at 42-38 with 1:06 left on the clock. Wofford failed to convert a fourth-and-14 and the Golden Eagles took a knee to end the game.
Wofford had a season-high 380 total yards on offense, with 304 passing yards. Tennessee Tech had 501 total yards, with 427 of those passing yards. Wofford had 20 first downs to 27 for the Golden Eagles. Wofford was 5-of-11 on third down and 0-of-2 on fourth down. Tennessee Tech was 7-of-14 on third down and 4-of-5 on fourth down. Wofford had two penalties for 15 yards, while Tennessee Tech had 12 penalties for 138 yards. Tennessee Tech had a 39:22 to 20:38 time of possession advantage.
Wofford vs. Tennessee Tech Post-Game Notes
This was the fifth meeting between the teams, with Wofford holding a 4-1 lead in the series. This is the first season that Tennessee Tech is a member of the Southern Conference.
Jack Ewell's 76-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter was the first of his career and is tied for the ninth-longest in school history.
Ethan Drumm had 304 passing yards, the sixth-most in school history. The four passing touchdowns in a game are tied for the second-most in school history.
The 53-yard field goal by
Sam Spence in the fourth quarter was a career-long and the fourth-longest in school history.
The Wofford defense was led by
Wyatt Ward with eleven tackles.
Jacobi Hatter had his first career interception in the second quarter.
The last time an opponent returned a kickoff for a touchdown was on October 31, 2015, by VMI.
Game captains were
Clayton Hixon,
Isaiah Scott, and
Alijah Williams.
Attendance at Gibbs Stadium was 6,284.
Wofford will be on the road for the next two games before returning on October 17 to host VMI as part of Homecoming weekend activities. Tickets are available by visiting
https://woffordterriers.com/tickets.
