The Citadel rallies late to beat East Tennessee State 31-25

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — Raleigh Webb scored the go-ahead touchdown on his only carry and The Citadel rallied in the fourth quarter to beat East Tennessee State 31-25 in Saturday’s Southern Conference season opener.

Trailing 17-7, The Citadel closed on Dominque Allen’s 1-yard TD run before Webb capped an 11-play, 66-yard drive with the go-ahead score on a 7-yard run.

ETSU (1-2, 0-1) closed to 28-25 in the fourth quarter on Jajuan Stinson’s 4-yard TD run but was stopped on downs on its next possession.

Allen’s 44-yard pass play to Josh LeBlanc on third-and-8 helped set up Jacob Godek’s 46-yard field goal that iced the game.

The Citadel (3-0, 1-0) amassed 435 yards of total offense to ETSU’s 208, including 331 yards rushing. Brandon Rainey scored on a 10-yard run and Allen on a 1-yarder. Grant Drakeford gained 93 yards on nine carries.

Austin Henrik was 18-of-32 for 182 yards passing for ETSU, with an interception and TD passes of 22 yards to Vincent Lowe and 8 yards to Drake Powell.

› Robert Morris 23, VMI 0

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Jimmy Walker threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns to help Robert Morris beat VMI.

The Robert Morris defense forced three turnovers and limited VMI to 182 total yards.

Walker hit Warren Robinson for a 39-yard gain and then, after a short run by Harrison Dreher, connected with Brandon Magee on a 23-yard pass to make it 7-0 with 13:35 left in the first quarter. Gerald Ferguson’s fumble recovery near midfield set up a 5-yard touchdown reception by Reggie Green that made it 14-0 with 1:50 left in the first half.

VMI (0-3) went three-and-out on the opening drive of the third quarter and Robinson returned the ensuing punt 38 yards to the 26. Three plays later, Walker’s 15-yard TD pass made it 20-0 after Nick Bisceglia missed the PAT attempt. Bisceglia’s 32-yard field goal capped the scoring with 6:08 to play.

› Western Carolina 42, Gardner-Webb 27 BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — Detrez Newsome scored two touchdowns, rushing for 146 yards to go over 3,000 for his career, and Western Carolina defeated Gardner-Webb.

Newsome’s scores came on runs of 84 and 7 yards, extending his school record for total touchdowns to 42.

The Catamounts (2-1) finished with 435 against the Runnin’ Bulldogs (1-2).