SPARTANBURG, S.C. – On Saturday afternoon, the Wofford College football team came away with a 17-13 win over Gardner-Webb University at Gibbs Stadium. In the heat of the first half, the Terriers took a 14-3 lead at the break, which was extended due to a thunderstorm. The Runnin' Bulldogs cut the advantage to 17-13 in the middle of the fourth quarter. With under a minute to play,
Alijah Williams intercepted a pass to seal the win for the Terriers.
Wofford is 2-0 and Gardner-Webb is 0-2 to begin the season.
J.T. Fayard was 11-of-22 passing for 120 yards, while
Gerald Modest Jr. had 20 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown. Special teams was a highlight for the Terriers, with
Ivory Aikens scoring a touchdown on a kickoff return and
Cillian Bonner landing three punts inside the two-yard line. The Runnin' Bulldogs were led by Cole Pennington with 378 passing yards on 54 attempts, as they had a 438 to 208 advantage in total offense.
"It was a game that was very hot and then we had the thunderstorm break," said head coach
Shawn Watson. "It was just a lot of adversity that you had to get through, and you know the kids were really resilient. I thought the defense did a great job in the second half especially. We had some critical punts that were hit by Cillian and we had really good special teams play again. Gerald Modest played a really good game and ran hard. He's just a high-effort guy that really pours his heart and soul into every moment in the game, so he played well for us. We didn't get our receivers involved like I would like to have. We've got to get our passing game cleaned up so we keep moving forward."
The Terriers opened the game with a 97-yard kickoff return by
Ivory Aikens for an early 7-0 lead. Gardner-Webb had three first downs before a sack by
Jordan Johnson forced a fumble that was recovered by
Jeremiah Shelby. With the ball back, Wofford gained three first downs before a pass was intercepted by the Runnin' Bulldogs. Gardner-Webb then had five first downs to drive inside the 10-yard line. A tackle for loss by
Nicholas Mathious forced Gardner-Webb to attempt a 25-yard field goal, which made it a 7-3 game with 1:20 left in the first quarter. Wofford gained one first down before punting, with the ball downed at the one-yard line.
Gardner-Webb had one first down before punting, and then on the ensuing drive Wofford had one first down before punting. With the ball back, the Runnin' Bulldogs had a first down before punting, with Wofford taking over at the 21-yard line with 6:23 left in the second quarter. A 35-yard catch by
Colby Alexander moved the Terriers across midfield and a first down reception by
Terrence Honeywood put the team in the redzone.
Gerald Modest Jr. took in the final nine yards as Wofford had a 14-3 lead with 2:37 left. After Gardner-Webb had two big passing first downs, a 41-yard field goal attempt was wide right with 48 seconds left in the half. Wofford went three-and-out and punted, with the ball rolling dead as time expired in the half.
Lightning was detected in the area at the beginning of halftime. The delay lasted a total of 1:38, with the second half beginning with the Runnin' Bulldogs receiving the kickoff. They gained two first downs before a run on a fake punt was stopped by the Terriers as
Anderson Smith forced a fumble that was recovered by
Grant Tucker. Wofford had one first down before
J.T. Fayard was sacked and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Gardner-Webb. They went three-and-out, but a roughing the punter penalty gave the Runnin' Bulldogs a first down. On third-and-long, a Wofford personal foul gave Gardner-Webb another first down. They scored on a six-yard touchdown run to make it a 14-10 game with 4:47 left in the third quarter.
Wofford gained a first down on their next drive before having to punt, with Killian Bonner landing it at the one-yard line. The Runnin' Bulldogs went three-and-out and punted, with Wofford taking over at midfield. A pass to
Jack Ewell for a first down was followed by a 32-yard field goal by
Sam Spence for a 17-10 lead with 11:07 left in the fourth quarter. The Runnin' Bulldogs went three-and-out and punted, with
Isaiah Scott returning it to the 35-yard line. Wofford was unable to gain yardage and punted, with it downed at the two-yard line. A 79-yard pass completion and another passing first down moved the ball inside the 10-yard line. They settled for a 33-yard field goal to cut the score to 17-13 with 5:37 remaining in the game. Wofford then went three-and-out and punted. Gardner-Webb had three first downs to move to the 20-yard line. A third-down conversion spotted the ball inside the 10 with a minute to play. An interception by
Alijah Williams was returned to the 29-yard line with 28 seconds remaining to seal the win.
Wofford had 208 total yards on offense, with 120 passing yards. Gardner-Webb had 438 total yards, with 378 of those passing yards. Wofford had 12 first downs to 24 for the Runnin' Bulldogs. Wofford was 7-of-15 on third down. Gardner-Webb was 7-of-17 on third down and 0-of-1 on fourth down. Wofford had 6 penalties for 62 yards, while Gardner-Webb had nine penalties for 77 yards. Gardner-Webb had a 33:51 to 26:09 time of possession advantage.
Wofford vs. Gardner-Webb Post-Game Notes
This was the 30
th meeting of the two teams that are only 30 miles apart. The Terriers have a 22-8 lead in the series that began in 1972. Wofford has won the last six meetings.
The temperature at kickoff was 99 degrees, marking the hottest game ever at Gibbs Stadium. The previous high was 91 degrees on September 12, 2005, against Georgia Southern.
The 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by
Ivory Aikens was the fifth-longest in school history.
The Wofford defense was led by
Elijah Washington with eight tackles, including one for loss.
Jordan Johnson recorded his first career sack and forced fumble.
Alijah Williams had his first career interception.
The win gives Wofford a 2-0 start for just the second time in the last seven seasons (2024).
Game captains were
Gavin Batt,
Clayton Hixon, and
J'vion Luster.
Attendance at Gibbs Stadium was 3,527.
Wofford will be on the road for the next two games at Kent State and at Chattanooga before returning home on September 26 to host SoCon newcomer Tennessee Tech. Tickets are available by visiting
https://woffordterriers.com/tickets.
