Mocs start Wright Era the right way against Eastern Illinois
The Chattanooga Mocs football squad opened the Rusty Wright Era with a 24-10 triumph over Eastern Illinois at Finley Stadium last Thursday night. Wright, a 1996 graduate, took the helm at his alma mater in December 2018.
The Mocs used one-yard scoring runs by Nick Tiano and Ailym Ford to sandwich a 59-yard strike from Tiano to Bryce Nunnelly and Victor Ulmo’s 37-yard field goal. EIU got a 37-yarder from Josh Delgado and a seven-yard John Brantley pass to Nick Stricker.
“It’s hard to win a football game,” Wright shared. “They didn’t quit. We just kept playing. As bad as things got, and as sloppy as things got, they didn’t quit. (EIU) did some things early that we weren’t prepared for, and it kind of hurt us offensively.
“We were trying to figure them out early. In these first games, you just try to find a way to win no matter who you play. I’m thankful for that, I really am, because they found that way.”
Tiano’s plunge came with 5:14 to go in the first quarter. Colin Brewer’s rugby line-drive punt caromed off the shoulder of returner Chris Walker. Adrian King pounced on the fumble at the Panthers’ 13-yard line. Four plays later came the early score.
Delgado capped an 11-play effort on the ensuing drive extended by Mocs penalties. That sent the game into a series of defensive stops.
The Mocs started off on their own 11 midway through the second quarter. Tiano found Reginald Henderson for 18 yards and then hit Lameric Tucker for 12 more. Taking advantage of excellent protection by his offensive front, Tiano looked deep for preseason All-American Bryce Nunnelly to give the Mocs some breathing room.
EIU answered again following the score. The march down the field included two fourthdown conversions. The latter came on fourth-and-three at the UTC 7 with a nice misdirection effort leading to the score from Brantley to Stricker.
But there was 2:33 left on the clock and enough time for Chattanooga to put more points on the board. The Mocs methodically moved down the field before settling for Ulmo’s field goal as the halftime horn blared. Ford got his score on the opening drive of the third quarter where he tallied 37 of his game-high 50 yards rushing. A 14-10 game became 24-10 before the Panthers saw the offensive side of the ball after their touchdown.
“I challenged them in the locker room at halftime,” Wright added when asked about the drive to start the third quarter ending with Ford’s score. “I told them, plain and simple, let’s put something together and put one on the board.”
That ended the scoring for the night. The Panthers threatened repeatedly but could not break through the Mocs’ defense. The good guys stopped their visitors on downs once and Kameron Brown’s pick with 2:04 to play ended another. The final horn stopped EIU’s final foray in Mocs’ territory.