The No. 19 ranked Chattanooga Mocs football team used a dominating and balanced effort to help capture its fourth-straight win after claiming a lopsided 37-5 victory over Wofford during Southern Conference action on Saturday afternoon inside Finley Stadium in Chattanooga.
Following the victory, Chattanooga improves to 4-3 overall this season and enhances its SoCon record to 3-1. Wofford drops to 3-4 overall this year and 1-3 inside league competition.
"That's a good football team we just played.
When we practiced Tuesday, I thought it was the most physical practice we had in six years. When you go and prepare, do things right, prepare the right way, you have a chance to be pretty good," said head coach Rusty Wright after the victory.
"Our kids prepared extremely well this week, and they knew there was a good football team coming in here. I thought our staff did a great job this week on coming up with a game plan."
After receiving the opening kick, Chattanooga lost a fumble on the second play from scrimmage which resulted in a Wofford recovery at the UTC 22. The Mocs defense limited the Terriers to just three yards on four plays, resulting in a 37-yard field goal from Devery Cagle to give the visitors an early 3-0 lead (12:17).
UTC responded with a 13-play, 47-yard scoring drive that ended with a 31-yard Jude Kelley field goal to tie the game 3-3 with 6:25 left in the opening quarter. A defensive stop led to a lengthy 16-play; 70-yard touchdown drive capped off with a Jay Gibson two-yard reception to allow the hosts to claim a 10-3 lead at the 12:43 mark of the second.
The Terries pinned the Mocs at its own one-yard line on a 44-yard punt before knocking Reggie Davis back on the first play of the series to record a safety and cut its deficit to 10-5 (8:39) before half. The two teams would head into the locker room separated by the five-point difference after exchanging empty possessions down the stretch.
Chattanooga kicked off the scoring in the second half with a one-yard Chase Artopoeus sneak following a seven-play, 81-yard touchdown drive at the 10:32 mark to extend its lead, 17-5. Kobe Joseph came away with an interception on the following Wofford possession to set the offense up deep in enemy territory at the 16-yard line.
Two plays later, Artopoeus tucked and escaped a couple would-be Wofford tacklers with a few elusive moves to score from 13 yards out, giving the Mocs a sizable 24-5 (9:42) advantage. The rushing touchdown marked QB1's first career multi-score game on the ground.
The scoring continued for the Chattanooga squad with consecutive field goals from Kelley, who converted from 48 yards (3Q 2:27) and 44 yards (4Q 7:11) to make it 30-5 in the game's waning moments. Reuben Lowery III decided to join the scoring affair on the defensive side with a game-sealing, 61-yard interception return for a touchdown to put the finishing touches on the 37-5 victory.