Chattanooga Escapes Upset Bid By Mars Hill

Saturday afternoon’s college football game at Finley Stadium between Chattanooga and Mars Hill should have been a “get well” game after last week’s last-minute loss to Jacksonville State.

Instead, it was a battle of survival for a Mocs team that was ranked in the top 10 of the FCA poll at the start of the season following a less-than-convincing 44-34 victory over the Lions.

The announced crowd was 9,491, but there was nowhere near than many people in the stands on a perfect fall afternoon.

Mars Hill is a Division II team that plays in the South Atlantic Conference .

It’s a school located in North Carolina that has an enrollment of 1,250, but you would have never known that by the way the Lions played.

For the second-straight week, the Mocs gave up more than 400 yards total offense as the Lions finished with 428 yards on 59 plays, an average of more than seven yards per play.  Jacksonville State finished with 411 last week in a 23-20 victory.

Needless to say, Chattanooga coach Russ Huesman was less than pleased with his team’s defense.

“A win is a win, but we can’t continue to play defense like this and keep giving up big plays and expect to beat a good football team,” he said following the game.

“Our offense carried us today as we moved the ball all game long, but I can’t fathom us playing defense as bad as we played.  Our defensive coaches just didn’t have our kids ready to play and I’m part of that too, but we’ll get it fixed.

“We took what they gave us, but give Mars Hill a lot of credit as they flat got after us.  We scored touchdowns when we had to have them and we had some big conversions on third down, but if we play like this next week at Samford, we’ll get run out of the stadium.

“I got a pit in the bottom of my stomach every time they snapped the ball, but it’s absolutely uncalled for how bad we played on defense.  We’ve got to get it fixed,” he added.

Mars Hill coach Tim Clifton, who has been the Lions leader for the past 23 years, was simply ecstatic over how his supposedly-outmatched team played.

“We left three starters at home and our best receiver didn’t play as he was injured, but these kids played extremely hard today and I couldn’t be any more proud,” Clifton said at midfield shortly after the final horn sounded.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win, but they were able to run the ball there at the end and that may have been the difference, but I’m not sure we’ve ever played any better,” he added before heading to the Mars Hill dressing room.

The Mocs took the opening kickoff and marched 73 yards in 10 plays, scoring the first touchdown on a four-yard pass from quarterback Jacob Huesman to Alphonso Stewart.  Henrique Ribeiro’s kick made it 7-0 with 10:59 left in the opening quarter.

The Lions came right back to knot the score as they moved 75 yards in 15 plays, taking 7:39 off the clock to score the tying touchdown on a 13-yard pass from Matt Layman to Keshaun Taylor. Tyler Stewart’s PAT made it 7-7 with 5:12 left.

After an exchange of punts, the Mocs missed second scoring opportunity when a 43-yard field goal attempt hit the upright and bounced back.

The Lions needed just 75 seconds to take the lead as Shaikel Davis raced 73 yards off tackle for a touchdown with 12:56 left in the second stanza.

Chattanooga’s Derrick Craine, who led the Mocs rushing attack with 169 yards on 28 carries, found the end zone from the 3 with 7:26 before halftime to once more tie the score.

 Again, the Lions wasted no time regaining the lead.

Taylor was on the receiving end of a little swing pass to the right that ended up going 75 yards for a touchdown as Mars Hill kept the momentum with a 21-14 lead.

Craine scored his second TD of the day on a run from the 1 to cap a 13-play, 75-yard drive to tie the score at 21 with 1:41 left before the break.

No question, UTC’s Huesman had a few choice words for his defense at the break and the Mocs played a bit better in the second half.

Craine scored his third TD on a run from the 8 while C.J. Board caught a 16-yard pass from Huesman as the Mocs pulled ahead by 35-21 with one quarter remaining.

However, the Lions weren’t ready to toss in the white towel.

Taylor scored two more touchdowns on passes of 29 and 35 yards from Layman, but Craine scored his fourth TD of the day on a six-yard pass from Huesman with 3:59 to play to save the day for the Mocs.

Chattanooga’s offense piled up 518 yards, including 253 on the ground and 265 through the air while Mars Hill countered with 428 yards that included 167 yards rushing and 261 passing.

Craine was Chattanooga’s leading rusher with his 169 yards while Huesman added 44 yards on 10 attempts.  Davis was the rushing leader for the Lions with 128 yards on 17 carries, including the 73-yarder for a touchdown.

Xavier Borishade was UTC’s leading receiver with 10 catches for 116 yards.  Wil Young and C.J. Board both had two for 38 and 35 yards respectively, while Stewart had two for 29.

The Mocs finished the day with 28 first downs compared to 16 for the Lions.

Mars Hill, now 0-2 following Saturday’s loss, will be at home next Saturday to host Limestone while the 1-1 Mocs will travel to Birmingham to face the Samford Bulldogs.

MARS HILL  7  14  0  13  --  34

CHATTANOOGA  7  14  14  9  --  44

UTC – Alphonso Stewart 4 pass from Jacob Huesman (Henrique Ribeiro kick), 10:59 left in first;

MHU – Keshaun Taylor 13 pass from Matt Layman (Tyler Stewart kick), 5:12 left in first;

MHU – Shaikel Davis 73 run (Stewart kick), 12:56 left in second;

UTC – Derrick Craine 3 run (Ribeiro kick), 7:26 left in second;

MHU – Taylor 75 pass from Layman (Stewart kick), 7:12 left in second;

UTC – Craine 1 run (Ribeiro kick), 1:41 left in second;

UTC – Craine 8 run (Ribeiro kick), 11:20 left in third;

UTC – C.J. Board 16 pass from Huesman (Ribeiro kick), 1:23 left in third;

MHU – Taylor 29 pass from Layman (kick blocked, but returned by Trevor Wright), 13:49 left in fourth;

MHU – Taylor 35 pass from Layman (Stewart kick), 7:56 left in fourth;

UTC – Craine 6 pass from Huesman (Ribeiro kick), 3:59 left in fourth.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)