NOTES | QUOTES | PHOTOS

CHATTANOOGA --- The Chattanooga Mocs football team won its 10^th-straight Southern Conference opener dating back to 2014 after cruising to a 48-3 lopsided victory over The Citadel on a soggy Saturday evening inside Finley Stadium.
 
Following the win, Chattanooga improves to 2-1 overall and begins league play 1-0. The Citadel moves to 0-3 overall and 0-1 after the conference opener.  
 
"I have 11 days that are scheduled anxiety. It doesn't matter until the game is over," said head coach Rusty Wright following the dominant performance.
 
"I did take my headphones off for the first time and just let the kids play, which was good, but I want us to always do things right … we did what we were supposed to tonight."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Chattanooga opened up a quick 14-0 lead on its first two offensive possessions of the game after a pair of touchdown tosses from Chase Artopoeus, the first from 25 yards to Jamoi Mayes and the latter from eight yards out to Camden Overton. The Mocs would hold on to the two-touchdown lead through the first quarter of action.
 
The early dominance from UTC proved to be the overall theme of the first half as the hosts entered the break with a convincing 31-3 advantage after racking up 232 yards of total offense while forcing two turnovers in the process. Ailym Ford (seven yards) and Lance Jackson (five yards) recorded their first rushing touchdowns of the season and kicker Jude Kelley converted from 33 yards to account for the second quarter attack.
 
Kelley chipped in a 27-yard field goal on the second half's first possession to make it 34-3 before Artopoeus registered his third touchdown pass of the night on an 18-yard connection with Javin Whatley, extending the lead to 41-3 with 3:38 left in the third.
 
Redshirt freshman QB Luke Schomburg took over for the starter Artopoeus in the fourth quarter and connected on one pass to true freshman A.J. Little, which went the distance for 57 yards and a touchdown to cap off the 48-3 one-sided victory.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
1^st Quarter
UTC – 10:24 – J. Mayes 25 yd TD reception thrown by C. Artopoeus (XP GOOD) – 7-0 UTC
UTC – 4:28 – C. Overton 8 yd TD reception thrown by C. Artopoeus (XP GOOD) – 14-0 UTC
 
2^nd Quarter
CIT – 11:21 – C. Kintner 49 yd FG – 14-3 UTC
UTC – 6:36 – A. Ford 7 yd TD rush (XP GOOD) – 21-3 UTC
UTC – 3:15 – L. Jackson 5 yd rush (XP GOOD) – 28-3 UTC
UTC – 1:43 – J. Kelley 33 yd FG – 31-3 UTC
 
3^rd Quarter
UTC – 8:57 – J. Kelley 27 yd FG – 34-3 UTC
UTC – 3:38 – J. Whatley 18 yd TD reception thrown by C. Artopoeus (XP GOOD) – 41-3 UTC
 
4^th Quarter
UTC – 7:55 – A. Little 57 yd TD reception thrown by L. Schomburg (XP GOOD) – 48-3 UTC

RECORDS – Chattanooga 2-1, 1-0 SoCon ∙ The Citadel 0-3, 0-1 SoCon
 
SERIES – Chattanooga now leads the all-time series 35-20-2 after tonight's meeting.
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- Ailym Ford moved into second place on the all-time UTC rushing list after finishing the game with 127 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries… surpassed Gwain Durden (77-80) after surpassing the 3,687 career yard mark… now has 3,717… highest career total in program history by a running back… QB Jacob Huesman (12-15) leads at 4,051.
- Chase Artopoeus' eight touchdown passes through the first three games is the most since Alejandro Bennifield's nine during the 2016 season… finished the game 12-of-16 for 200 yards and three touchdowns… final QBR was 241.9.
- Scored touchdowns on the first four drives of the game… followed with FGs (33, 27 yds, Jude Kelley) on the fifth and sixth and another touchdown on the seventh building a 41-3 lead through three quarters.
 
QUOTABLE
Rusty Wright on Ailym Ford's impact and the history he made tonight.
"He ran the ball hard and he ran the ball with purpose tonight. He can probably handle more carries, and we've got a gauntlet over the next seven weeks, so we were just trying to use as many of those guys as we can. He's just such a good football player and such a good young man that you just want good things to happen for him. As hard as he's worked for this football program over the last four or five years, you want good things to happen for him because of what he's sacrificed for us."

RB Ailym Ford on the work required to move into 2nd All-Time in school rushing yards.
"I just enjoy every day. The moment I stop loving it is the moment I stop playing this game. I just take it as a learning process throughout my five years here and just enjoy the people around me."

NEXT GAME – Saturday, Sept. 23 - Chattanooga (2-1, 1-0 SoCon) at No. 18 Samford (1-2, 0-1 SoCon) – 3:00 p.m. ET (ESPN+)

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