NOTES | QUOTES | PHOTOS

CHATTANOOGA --- The 20^th-ranked Chattanooga Mocs football team suffered a heartbreaking 52-50 defeat as time expired to 17^th-ranked Western Carolina in a wild and crazy offensive shootout on Homecoming Saturday during Southern Conference action inside Finley Stadium.
 
Following the loss, Chattanooga falls to 4-2 overall on the season and dropped its first league game of the season, moving to 3-1. WCU improves to 5-1 overall and remains perfect in SoCon play at 3-0 after the win.
 
Despite racking up 543 total yards of offense, controlling the ball at a 41:03-18:57 advantage, and seeing a school-record performance from Javin Whatley (353 all-purpose yards), it was WCU who converted a 32-yard field goal at the final horn to walk away with the thrilling SoCon victory.
 
"That's a good football team over there, give them a lot of credit. They stayed the course and played, and they made one more play than we did," said head coach Rusty Wright following the game.
 
"I know it's hard in that locker room … our kids battled all night and I'm proud of that group in there. Better days will be ahead, we've got some things we can fix, but that was a much better team that took the field tonight than the one that did last Saturday. That's where we've got to continue to go."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Chattanooga grabbed an early 3-0 lead on a Clayton Crile 47-yard field goal at the 6:03 mark of the opening quarter. WCU quickly responded with a touchdown on a 55-yard catch and run to jump ahead 7-3 less than two minutes later.
 
The Mocs regained the lead, 10-7, on an Ailym Ford three-yard touchdown rush up the middle before extending the advantage to 17-7 following a 31-yard touchdown connection from Chase Artopoeus to Javin Whatley with 7:49 left in the first half.
 
Both teams combined for three touchdowns and a field goal over the final seven-plus minutes of the first half which ultimately led to a 27-21 Chattanooga lead at the break. Crile's second field goal of the game beat the halftime buzzer and created the six-point edge in favor of the hosts.
 
After a personal foul call on third down extended the drive, WCU's Desmon Reid scampered 58 yards to the house two plays later to give the Catamounts the lead 28-27 with 9:00 even left in the third. UTC responded with a nine-play, 65-yard scoring drive capped off by Whatley's third touchdown reception of the game to pull back ahead 34-28 (4:09 3Q).
 
Western Carolina continued its explosiveness on offense as the third quarter came to a close, breaking off a 37-yard touchdown rush to once again flip the lead, 35-34. WCU intercepted an Artopoeus pass at the quarter transition break and immediately connected on a 37-yard touchdown pass to build the edge to eight, 42-34, with 14:45 left in the contest.
 
Whatley stepped up yet again four minutes later, hauling in his fourth touchdown reception of the game from 32 yards out, leading to a successful two-point conversion and tying the game 42-42 (10:29). After a defensive stop gave the ball back to the Mocs, the Catamounts defense produced a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown that broke the tie, 49-42, with 5:55 remaining.
 
Artopoeus responded in emphatic fashion, leading the Chattanooga offense all 80 yards in 11 plays while taking up 4:54, ultimately connecting with Evan Brown on a five-yard throw and catch. UTC elected to go for two instead of the game-tying extra point. The result? Success. Ford's trick-play jump pass found the hands of Camden Overton in juggling fashion, giving UTC a 50-49 lead with 0:53 left and igniting the crowd.

Much of how the WCU offense produced all game, it was no different in the final seconds as the Catamounts needed just five plays to go 60 yards to set up a potential 32-yard game winning field goal with 0:04 left. WCU's Richard McCollum knocked it through to give the guests a wild 52-50 victory.

SCORING SUMMARY
1^st Quarter
UTC – 6:03 – C. Crile 47 yd field goal – 3-0 UTC
WCU – 3:47 – C. Lee 55 yd touchdown reception thrown by C. Gonzales (XP GOOD) – 7-3 WCU
 
2^nd Quarter                                                                                                         
UTC – 14:15 – A. Ford 3 yd touchdown rush (XP GOOD) – 10-7 UTC
UTC – 7:49 – J. Whatley 31 yd touchdown reception thrown by C. Artopoeus (XP GOOD) – 17-7 UTC
WCU – 5:04 – D. Reid 70 yd touchdown rush (XP GOOD) – 17-14 UTC
UTC – 3:45 – J. Whatley 8 yd touchdown reception thrown by C. Artopoeus (XP GOOD) – 24-14 UTC
WCU – 1:28 – C. Lee 28 yd touchdown reception thrown by C. Gonzales (XP GOOD) – 24-21 UTC
UTC – 0:04 – C. Crile 23 yd field goal – 27-21 UTC
 
3^rd Quarter
WCU – 9:00 – D. Reid 58 yd touchdown rush (XP GOOD) – 28-27 WCU
UTC – 4:09 – J. Whatley 11 yd touchdown reception thrown by C. Artopoeus (XP GOOD) – 34-28 UTC
WCU – 0:54 – B. Adams 37 yd touchdown rush (XP GOOD) – 35-34 WCU
 
4^th Quarter
WCU – 14:45 – D. White 37 yd touchdown reception thrown by C. Gonzales (XP GOOD) – 42-34 WCU
UTC – 10:29 – J. Whatley 32 yd touchdown reception thrown by C. Artopoeus (2PT GOOD) – 42-42 Tied
WCU – 5:55 – E. Jones IV 48 yd interception return (XP GOOD) – 49-42 WCU
UTC – 0:53 – E. Brown 5 yd touchdown reception thrown by C. Artopoeus (2PT GOOD) – 50-49 UTC
WCU – 0:00 – R. McCollum 32 yd field goal – 52-50 WCU

RECORDS – No. 20 Chattanooga 4-2, 3-1 SoCon ∙ No. 17 Western Carolina 5-1, 3-0 SoCon
 
SERIES – Chattanooga now leads the all-time series 30-19 after tonight's defeat.
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW | MORE
1. 102 combined points is a season high… most since 115 in the 59-56 win over #17 Appalachian State on Oct. 30, 2004... 1,094 yards combined in total offense… the Mocs rolled up 543 while the Catamounts posted 551… most since 1,337 yards in the win over App State (695/642).
2. Javin Whatley recorded career highs in receptions (11), yards (231) and TDs (4)... school-record 353 all-purpose yards including his 114 on kick returns and six rushing… broke the mark of 328 by Charles McNeill vs. Kentucky State on Nov. 24, 2001… 1st time a Moc had 300+ in a SoCon game.
3. Ailym Ford ended with 89 rushing yards on 21 carries and a touchdown… also threw the PAT conversion giving the Mocs a 50-49 lead with 53 seconds remaining after Brown's catch... Ford now has 3,890 career rushing yards… needs 110 to become the second Moc with 4,000 career yards... 161 short of Jacob Huesman's record of 4,051.
 
QUOTABLE | MORE
HC Rusty Wright on next steps.
"A month ago, we were dead. Now we're sitting here at 4-2, 3-1 in the league with a pretty good football team. We've got an opportunity to keep playing and go finish this thing out. If we had won it, we would've shown up tomorrow and Monday to try and go get it figured out. I know they're hurting; they've got every right to be. I have a feeling this league is going to get crazy before it's over, so we've just got to keep playing and keep ourselves alive in it."
 
WR Javin Whatley on his school record performance.
"It was a good performance, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. All that matters is the team getting the win, and we came up just a little short today. We'll go back out there Monday and work."

NEXT GAME – Saturday, Oct. 14 – No. 20 Chattanooga (4-2, 3-1 SoCon) at (RV) Mercer (4-2, 2-1 SoCon) – 4:00 p.m. ET – Macon, Ga.

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