Chattanooga Whips Western Carolina For Seventh Straight Win

Derrick Craine Scores Four TDs As Mocs Roll, 41-13

  • Saturday, October 31, 2015
  • John Hunt

The Chattanooga Mocs had to kick a late field goal last Saturday to be VMI on the road, but that wasn’t the case Saturday at Finley Stadium when the fourth-ranked Mocs hosted Western Carolina on a cloudy Homecoming afternoon.

This game was decided in the first half as the Mocs averaged over 10 yards per play in building a 35-6 lead.  Henrique Ribeiro had field goals of 38 and 30 yards in the second half after kicking all five extra points in the first half.

The final score of 41-13 wasn’t quite as bad as last year’s 51-0 shutout at Cullowhee, but it was a thorough whipping from start to finish as the Mocs won for the seventh straight game, improving to 7-1 and 5-0 in SoCon action.

Western Carolina had won four straight since a 55-10 whipping in Knoxville against Tennessee on Sept.

19, so the Catamounts are now 5-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play.

But on a day when 11,495 showed up and endured a light rain in the second half, they got their money’s worth from an offense that finished with 547 total yards.

To show you just how dominating and effective the Mocs were in the first half, they scored touchdowns on five of six possessions as they piled up 384 yards on 37 plays.

For the record, those unsung heroes better known as the UTC offensive linemen don't get much recognition, but they include sophomore Jacob Revis at center, sophomore Josh Cardiello at right guard, senior Synjen Herren at left guard, sophomore Hunter Townson at right tackle and junior Corey Levin at left tackle.

They were as good as anybody around on Saturday.

Derrick Craine, that bulldog of a running back who is 5-10 and 205 pounds, had an impressive showing in the first half as he scored four of those five touchdowns as he gained 80 of his 103 yards in the opening 30 minutes.

“Thanks to those guys up front, I had a pretty good day, but running behind them is a real blessing,” the junior from McDonough, Ga. said following the game.

“They have been outstanding all year, but when you look up and see that we had 356 yards rushing, what they’re doing is working,” he added.

All five of Chattanooga’s first-half TDs came on long drives, including distances of 81, 75, 82, 87 and 80 yards.  The longest one time-wise was just 3:41,  but it was Craine’s run from the 6 with 27 seconds left in the half that allowed the hosts to take a comfortable lead into the dressing room at the half.

The longest drive of the day time-wise resulted in a field goal, but it was a 14-play drive covering 68 yards that erased 7:20 off the third-quarter clock.

Ribeiro's 38-yard boot gave the Mocs a 38-6 lead with 3:27 remaining in the third stanza.

Needless to say, head coach Russ Huesman was more than pleased with the way his team played, going as far as saying this was their best performance of the season.

“What a great job by our football team, especially the offense,” he said after improving to  48-30 in his seventh season as the Mocs head man.

“We challenged those guys this week and they responded, but I’m excited because of how well we played.  We had a bunch of big plays and we didn’t have any turnovers.  And we just beat a really good football team.

“I don’t think we could have played much better.  We just have to play better against a quarterback like Troy Mitchell.  He’s an outstanding player,” Huesman added.

While the Catamounts had to punt on their first two possessions at the start, they marched 71 yards in nine plays to get within 7-6 with 3:02 left in the opening stanza. 

Detrez Newsome, who finished with 39 yards rushing, scored from the 2, but Chattanooga maintained the lead when Isaiah Mack blocked Logan Howard’s extra-point kick.

The Mocs then scored touchdowns on four straight possessions while the Catamounts didn’t score any more as their other first-half possessions ended  with another punt, a lost fumble and a missed field goal.

Senior quarterback Jacob Huesman became the all-time passing leader for the Mocs in the first half as he completed all 10 of his passes for 169 yards.  He finished with 191 yards on 14 of 15, including a long of 49 yards to former Bradley star James Stovall.

Huesman also led the Chattanooga ground game with 168 yards on 20 carries, including a long of 60 in the first half.

The former Baylor star didn’t dodge the question when asked about getting caught from behind on that play, which moved the ball from the Chattanooga 25 to the Western 15.  Craine scored four plays later to give the Mocs a 28-6 lead.

“There’s a big difference between 180 and 220 pounds, but the guy (Keion Crossen) had a good angle.  The good news is that we scored right after that,” Jacob smiled, referring to how much bigger he is now since he graduated from high school.

“We needed a game like this.  We were able to survive on the road, but we had a game like this coming and we came out today really fired up.  I’ve had rough couple of weeks, but we were firing on all cylinders today.  It’s hard to say what will happen in the coming weeks, but we just need to keep winning,” he added.

While the Mocs had two running backs who went over 100 yards, Richarde Bagley was the leading receiver with four catches for 48 yards, including a long of 29.  Stovall had the most yards with 63 on three grabs, including the 49-yarder in the first half.

Western Carolina finished with 283 total yards, including 178 through the air and 105 on the ground.

Mitchell completed 22 of 32 passes, including a long of 43 yards to Steffon Hill that accounted for the Catamounts final TD late in the third quarter when the outcome had long been decided.

Hill finished with 72 yards receiving on five catches while Newsome had seven catches for only 10 yards.

The Mocs finished with a season-high 31 first downs while the Catamounts finished with 18.

Saturday’s win was the 12th straight conference win for the Mocs, second only to Appalachian State’s 26 straight from 2006-09. 

The Mocs had won six straight three times under Huesman, the last time before that back in 1977.

The Catamounts host Furman next Saturday while the Mocs will be on the road to face Mercer.  The final regular-season home game will be on Nov. 14 when Chattanooga hosts the Citadel while the regular season concludes a week later with a road game at Florida State.

WESTERN CAROLINA  6  0   7  0  --  13

CHATTANOOGA  14  21  3  3  --  41

UTC – Derrick Craine 5 run (Henrique Ribeiro kick), 9:56 left in first;

WCU – Detrez Newsome 2 run (kick blocked), 3:02 left in first;

UTC – Craine 21 run (Ribeiro kick), 1:54 left in first;

UTC – Jacob Huesman 4 run (Ribeiro kick), 12:46 left in second;

UTC – Craine 1 run (Ribeiro kick), 7:09 left in second;

UTC – Craine 6 run (Ribeiro kick), 0:27 left in second;

UTC – Ribeiro 38 field goal, 3:27 left in third;

WCU – Steffon Hill 43 pass from Troy Mitchell (Logan Howard kick), 0:35 left in third;

UTC – Ribeiro 30 field goal, 6:00 left in fourth.

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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