Sept. 30, 2006

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Travis Clark hit Darius Smiley on a 65-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game which led to the 25th-ranked Georgia Southern Eagles to a 24-14 victory over No. 24 Western Carolina Saturday night at E.J. Whitmire Stadium/Bob Waters Field. The Catamounts (2-2, 0-2 Southern Conference) rallied to score twice in the fourth quarter, but failed to get an on-side kick after its final score and the Eagles (2-2, 1-1 SoCon) were able to hold on for the win.

In addition to Clark completing 12-of-22 passes for 195 yards, Chris Covington rushed for 106 yards on 18 attempts, while Lamar Lewis rushed for 97 yards on 18 carries. Georgia Southern, who committed no turnovers, was also able to take advantage of four Catamount turnovers - including WCU's first three interceptions of the season - despite the fact that Western entered as one of the nation's leaders in turnover margin.

With Western missing three defensive tackles due to injury, the Eagles were able to rush for 208 yards on 42 attempts. It was that game plan which led to the 65-yard score on the first play. Knowing GSU would want to run the ball, Western bit on a play action and Clark hit a streaking Smiley on stride for the score. Western's Darren Curtis blocked the extra point to keep the score 6-0.

After a Western punt, Georgia Southern did start pounding the Catamount defense, rushing nine times during an 11-play, 62-yard drive. Covington, who rushed for 106 yards, capped the drive with a one-yard plunge. Clark then made the score 14-0 with by rushing for the two-point conversion.

Both teams were able to move the ball the rest of the first quarter and through the second half, but neither team could put points on the board until Georgia Southern's Patrick Bolen connected on a 33-yard field goal with 11 seconds left in the half to give the Eagles a 17-0 cushion at the break.

Late in the third, Western looked to gain the advantage as Stephen Brown's pooch punt was downed on the GSU one yard line. However, the Eagles chipped methodically marched 99 yards on 11 plays, highlighted by Covington's 33-yard TD run. Bolen's extra point made the score 24-0 .

From that point, Western did come to life. With starting quarterback Bennett Swygert getting injured in the third quarter, backup Todd Spitzer came on to lead the Cats to their first points on the game. Darius Fudge, who later left the game with an injury and gained 97 yards on 22 carries, did most of the work, rushing six times during the 12-play drive. Spitzer capped the drive with a five-yard score to Michael Hines. The Cats came up short on the two-point conversion to make the score 24-6.

Western forced a punt on GSU's next possession then made the game interesting. After Fudge gained eight yards and left the game with an injury, Spitzer hit Mike Malone for a 44-yard screen pass. Two plays later, Spitzer found Chris Jefferson for 11 yards and would finish the drive with a 19-yard pass to Hines. Malone converted the two-point play to cut the Catamount deficit to 10, 24-14.

The Cats attempted and recovered an on-side kick, but would touch the ball just shy of the 10-yard barrier to give the Eagles the ball on the WCU 44. While the Cats forced a punt, Dan Jordan's punt would be downed on the Catamount three. Western would not be able to get a first down and the Eagles took a knee to run out the clock and preserve the victory.

Clark spread his 12 completions over nine receivers. Defensively for the Eagles, Dawayne Grace and John Mohring each had nine stops. Rico Zackery, Terrione Benefield and Dedrick Bynam recorded GSU's interceptions.

For the Catamounts, Hines had five receptions for 57 yards. Swygert completed 9-of-21 passes for 98 yards and three interceptions. Spitzer completed 7-of-17 for 118 yards and two scores. Defensively, true freshman Kadeem Morgan recorded 10 tackles and Mitchell Dukes contributed nine.

Western Carolina will hit the road next Saturday (Oct. 7) to face Elon at 2:00 pm.