Never-say-die Mocs stun The Citadel
Call it a comeback. Feel free, it’s why there’s 60 minutes on the clock. The Chattanooga Mocs entered the fourth quarter down 26-12 to The Citadel. They left Finley Stadium with a pivotal 34-33 Southern Conference victory.
“I was playing with everything I got,” Coach Rusty Wright explained in the post-game press conference. “Trying every way we know how to win a football game. I didn’t do anything. Those kids went and played. We just tried to put them in the best spots we could put them in, and hopefully that is good enough.
“The one thing I hope they realize is, if we keep playing, you never know. That is one thing we are starting to learn around here a little bit, because it is ugly (the adversity). It is as ugly as you will ever be around, but I can’t tell you how proud I am of those guys in that locker room.
“We lost our starting center early,” he continued. “Had guys go down… we didn’t have one of our wideouts that last drive. That defense played 40 minutes of football. They just kept lining up and playing.
“I hope it will go a long way for us in the future.”
The offense put 167 yards on the board over the first 45 minutes, but they accumulated 249 in the final frame. It began with Elijah Ibitokun-hanks’ 45-yard dash to the end zone. Wright then chose to go for two cutting the margin to 26-20.
It seemed like the Bulldogs would put the game away with 8:49 to go as Clay Harris bulled his way in from seven yards out making it a 13-point advantage.
Nick Tiano and the Mocs offense took over at the 25-yard line. An 11yard pass to Reginald Henderson was followed by 13 more to Chris James. Tiano then went deep to Bryce Nunnelly down the left sideline for 40 yards to the 11 and Ibitokun-hanks scored on the next play for a quick-strike response and a 33-27 score.
The defense forced a three-andout on the Bulldogs’ ensuing possession, giving the offense the ball back at their own 12 with 5:07 remaining. Tiano and Nunnelly connected again for 50 yards, IbitokunHanks ran for 22 and the Mocs were in business at the Bulldogs’ 16. However the drive stalled at the 11 as two passes into the end zone fell to the turf.
A defense that spent nearly 40 minutes on the field went back out in desperation mode with 2:16 on the clock. Three plays for seven yards with all three timeouts spent and the offense would get one more chance after Matt Campbell boomed a 55yard punt down to the Mocs’ 27.
Despite no timeouts and only 1:41 to work with, Tiano scrambled out of pressure for eight yards and 15 additional yards were added a facemask penalty. The three following plays resulted in three incompletions, but on fourth-and-10, the line gave Tiano time to find Kanore Mckinnon, who came back to the ball and snagged a first down at The Citadel 35.
Two plays later, Tiano hit Tyrin Summers on a slant to the 20 and an out to Juwan Tyus put the ball on the 12 before Tiano scrambled the rest of the way for the score on the next play. Victor Ulmo added the all-important extra point.
“Unbelievable,” he began to explain. “I couldn’t dream of a better way for us to finish here (at Finley Stadium). Just a dramatic, emotional win. It was physical, we fought all game.
“That play, I dropped back, didn’t really see anybody and felt the middle open. I just ran and thankfully got in there.”
That left just 21 seconds for The Citadel to answer down one. Javonte Middleton took the ensuing kickoff at the goal line. He had a sliver and broke through the hole before Ulmo made the stop at the 28.
Marshall Cooper broke up the first pass attempt and Khayyan Edwards pressure Bulldogs’ quarterback Brandon Rainey on the next pass with just two seconds to go. Rainey hit Jacob Godak for 15 yards in the middle of the field on the next play. Godak tried the hook-and-ladder, but the lateral attempt was fumbled and recovered by UTC’S Camiron Smith, cementing the triumph.
Despite an early safety, it was a good start for the Mocs. Tiano hit Summers for a 75-yard score and found Nunnelly from 27 out later in the first quarter. A missed PAT and two-point conversion had the tally at 12-2 for the good guys.
The Bulldogs came back with a vengeance scoring 24 unanswered points over the next 30-plus minutes. Rainey scored once with his legs and twice via his arm in building the 26-12 advantage, setting up the Mocs’ dramatic victory.
Chattanooga (6-5 overall) is now 5-2 in the Southern Conference and could end up in a three-way tie for the Socon title after Saturday. The Mocs will play at VMI at 1 p.m.