The 4th-ranked Chattanooga Mocs moved to 3-0 on the season with a 21-14 win at Furman in the Southern Conference opener. The Mocs defense surrendered their first points of the campaign ending a 171-minute, 51-second stretch.
It was a defensive struggle throughout the first half. The lone score was a 33-yard strike from Alejandro Bennifield to C.J. Board for a 7-0 halftime advantage.
That changed in the third quarter. The Mocs scored on two 70-plus-yard drives capped by runs by Derrick Craine (2 yards) and Bennifield (1).
The 21-0 lead stood until nearly the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
The Paladins got on the board after taking over on their own 45. Five plays later, Thomas Gordon sprinted in from 10 yards out with 8:09 to play.
After a touchback, Craine got the ensuing drive started with a 21-yard run around the right side. The drive stalled at the Furman 45 where Colin Brewer pinned the hosts at their own six with less than six minutes to play.
Reese Hannon’s 36-yard connection with Gordon got the Paladins across midfield. A holding penalty and sack by Keionta Davis pushed Hannon and his mates back to their own 35. It was fourth-and-14 at the 50 when Hannon, under duress from Davis, lofted a ball just kept off the turf by Bradford Lemmons for a first down. A facemask penalty moved the ball to the Mocs 18.
It took three plays to get into the end zone as the lead narrowed to 21-14 with 1:01 to play. The onside kick was recovered by Bennifield, who took two knees and headed to the locker room with the victory.
“A win is a win,” coach Russ Huesman shared. “It’s big, and they are excited about it. Anytime you get a win in the conference it’s huge.
“We are happy with it, but we’ve got so much to clean up. We drawing way too many penalties. We did some stupid things towards the end, so we have a lot of work to do.”
Bennifield completed 11-of-14 passes for 146 yards with one touchdown and an interception. Craine had a game-high 79 yards rushing on 18 carries. Board led the receiving corps with four catches for 48 yards.
Nakevion Leslie had a game-high 15 tackles to tie his career high. He added a sack and three pass breakups. Davis tallied a sack, pass breakup and blocked field goal.
The Paladins fell to 0-3, 0-2 in league play losing by a combined 12 points. Hannon threw for 174 yards coming in relief of starter P.J. Blazejowski after halftime. He completed nine-of-11 in the fourth quarter for 132 of the 174 yards.
Gordon had 66 yards receiving on five catches while notching 26 yards (3 carries) on the ground. Andrej Suttles accumulated a team-best 27 yards rushing as the Mocs defense limited Furman to 85 yards rushing, an average of 2.7 yards per rush.
“For three-and-a-half quarters, our defense was great,” Huesman noted. “The last half-quarter was not what we want to play defensively.
“The first three-and-a-half quarters, we were lights out. We have a good football team coming in next week.”
The Mocs return home next weekend for a 2 p.m., kickoff against Samford at Finley Stadium. Blue & Gold Mini-Plans are available online or by calling the UTC Ticket Office at (423) 266-MOCS (6627). Check the GoMocs.com football schedule page for links to video, audio and live stats.