posted September 6, 2008
The UTC Mocs used a big third quarter to roll over Cumberland University, 47-6, at the home football opener on Saturday evening. The Mocs led 16-6 at halftime.
Kent State transfer Tony Pastore did not start, but appeared to win the starting role as he amassed over 300 yards in passing yardage.
UTC, rebounding from a resounding loss at mighty Oklahoma, got on the board first after the ball went over the head of the Bulldog punter. The Mocs took it in from the 29-yard-line in eight plays.
Starting quarterback Jare Gault got the score, though he fumbled just short of the goal line and then fell on the ball across the line.
Both teams struggled early with their kicking games, and the UTC extra point try hit the upright.
Moc kicker Craig Camay was wide on a later 40-yard field goal attempt, but then he made one from the 27 for a 9-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Cumberland put together a long drive before stalling at the Moc 37.
Pastore, replacing Gault, had two strikes to Clint Woods. Then he hit Blue Cooper, who made an outstanding catch in the end zone.
Cumberland came back as quarterback Matt Eads hit Dexter Elston on a pass out of the backfield.
He was almost all alone when he caught the ball over the middle and scampered in from 27 yards. The Bulldogs also missed an extra point try to leave the score at 16-6.
Cumberland had another opportunity late in the first half, but former Hixson High star Tony Swafford picked off a pass in the end zone.
The Mocs were driving as time ran out at intermission. Cooper was not able to hang onto a long toss from Pastore at the end.
Cumberland began the second half with an impressive drive of over four minutes. However, the Bulldogs were halted after 13 plays.
On the opening play of the second half for UTC, Pastore hit Woods in stride on a pass play that went all the way from the UTC 35 to the Cumberland 14.
Camay then nailed a 40-yard field goal to move the lead to 19-6.
UTC quickly scored again after stopping Cumberland three and out. Jordan Hazard, the junior from Marietta, had a long kickoff return. Then Pastore threw off a bootleg to Woods, who took it in. The Mocs led 25-6.
Pastore engineered two other quick scores, including hitting Cooper on a play that got to the one-yard line. Errol Wynn carried it on in.
Then Pastore, the junior from Woodstock, Ga., connected with Cooper again to make it 40-6.
Cumberland attempted a 32-yard field goal, but Swafford blocked the kick.
Shaun Kermah, who switched to UTC from Glendale (Calif.) Community College, charged up the middle for a score that made it 47-6 after the extra point.
Curt Bureau, the former Sequatchie County quarterback from Dunlap, saw action for Cumberland in the second half and had a pass dropped that should have resulted in a touchdown.
For UTC, former Boyd-Buchanan quarterback Sloan Allison took some snaps at quarterback in the fourth quarter.
UTC gained 368 yards in the air for the day. Pastore had career high numbers with 320 yards on 15 of 27 passing. He tossed three touchdowns to go with one interception. Gault was five-of-nine for 48 yards.
The defense held the Bulldogs to 283 yards on the night. The Mocs were paced by linebacker Joseph Thornton’s nine stops. Safety Swafford made five tackles to go with an interception and a blocked kick.
The Mocs travel to Florida State next weekend.
UTC and Cumberland are now both 1-1 on the season.
It was the first meeting between the two schools since 1925.
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