NOTES | QUOTES

FLORENCE, Ala. --- The Chattanooga Mocs football team fell behind early before its comeback efforts fell just short during a 41-27 season-opening loss at North Alabama on Saturday evening inside Braly Stadium in Florence, Ala.
 
Chattanooga opens the season 0-1 following the loss. North Alabama improves to 1-1 after the victory.
 
"We just didn't do things that we'd been doing up until this point. I'm not taking anything away from them, give those guys credit. They played their tails off and they made plays when they had to," said head coach Rusty Wright following the game.

"It took us a little while to get going, but once we got going, we looked pretty good, but we just weren't consistent. That's it. We need to do what we're supposed to do all the time."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
North Alabama raced out to an early lead after Takairee Kenebrew hauled in touchdown passes from 25 and 59 yards to give the Lions a 14-0 advantage with 6:00 left in the first. It was Kenebrew for a third time in the early going, this time hauling in a 21-yard touchdown catch to extend the hosts lead to 21-0 with 14:00 left in the half.
 
Chattanooga answered immediately with a 4-play, 75-yard scoring drive that concluded with an eight-yard TD catch from Sam Phillips to make it 21-7 with 12:36 on the board in the second. Jude Kelley converted a 27-yard field goal four minutes later to cut the deficit to 21-10 which would end as the first half tally.
 
After the two teams traded turnovers to begin the second half, Chris Houston hauled in a quick strike from Chase Artopoeus and raced 36 yards to the endzone to pull UTC within four, 21-17, with 12:05 left in the third. The Mocs defense followed with a fourth-down stop on the ensuing drive which ultimately led to a 20-yard Kelley field goal, making it 21-20 at the 6:12 mark.
 
The Chattanooga defense allowed just 28 yards of total offense during third quarter action which provided the offense a plethora of opportunities. Gino Appleberry capped off a 10-play, 63-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run to give UTC its first lead of the game, 27-21, with 14:58 left in the contest.
 
Still leading 27-21, the Mocs elected to try a long 53-yard field goal attempt which fell just short of the crossbar and allowed UNA to take over at its own 36. The Lions quickly responded with a three-play touchdown drive, highlighted by a 44-yard catch from Kenebrew, to tie the game 27-27 (XP no good) with 8:49 left.
 
UNA immediately forced UTC into a three-and-out and took over at its own 47 before regaining the lead 34-27 (6:17 4Q) after a five-play, 53-yard touchdown drive was finished off on a 10-yard throw and catch. The Mocs pushed inside the UNA redzone with just under two minutes, but a broken fourth-down scamper fell a yard short of the chains and resulted in a turnover on downs at the 1:51 mark.
 
The Lions put an exclamation point on the contest with an emphatic 81-yard touchdown run with 1:00 that allowed for the 41-27 final. UNA started the game with 21 unanswered points and ended the game with 20-straight points.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
1^st Quarter
UNA – 11:54 – T. Kenebrew 25 yd reception thrown by N. Walters (XP GOOD) – 7-0 UNA
UNA – 6:00 – T. Kenebrew 59 yd reception thrown by N. Walters (XP GOOD) – 14-0 UNA
 
2^nd Quarter
UNA – 14:00 – T. Kenebrew 21 yd reception thrown by N. Walters (XP GOOD) – 21-0 UNA
UTC – 12:36 – S. Phillips 8 yd reception thrown by C. Artopoeus (XP GOOD) – 21-7 UNA
UTC – 8:09 – J. Kelley 27 yd field goal GOOD – 21-10 UNA
 
3^rd Quarter
UTC – 12:05 – C. Houston 36 yd reception thrown by C. Artopoeus (XP GOOD) – 21-17 UNA
UTC – 6:12 – J. Kelley 20 yd field goal GOOD – 21-20 UNA
 
4^th Quarter
UTC – 14:58 – G. Appleberry 2 yd rush (XP GOOD) – 27-21 UTC
UNA – 8:49 – J. Daniels 10 yd rush (XP NO GOOD) – 27-27 Tied
UNA – 6:15 – D. Warfield 10 yd reception from N. Walters (XP GOOD) – 34-27 UNA
UNA – 1:00 – J. Daniels 81 yd rush (XP GOOD) – 41-27 UNA
 
RECORDS – Chattanooga 0-1 ∙ North Alabama 1-1
 
SERIES – Chattanooga now leads the series 3-1. UTC is now 1-1 all-time in Florence.
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- Trailed 21-0 in the first 16 minutes of the game... scored 27 unanswered over the next 29:02… UNA scored the final 20 points over the final 8:49.
- Chase Artopoeus was 22 of 46 for 311 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in his debut... most yards passing in a Mocs debut since Cole Copeland's 317 on Oct. 7, 2017 against Furman... most in a season opening debut since Chris Sanders threw for 358 in the Sept. 2, 1999 win at Samford (29-27).
- First career 100-yard receiving game for sophomore Javin Whatley… six catches for 106 yards with 52 yards coming after the catch… six receptions tie career high (at ETSU last year).
 
QUOTABLE
On moving forward in a positive direction.
"We will, we just need to figure out how to go out and consistently do that. We had three guys up front playing for the first time, a quarterback playing for the first time, two linebackers starting for the first time. We'll be fine. I told them in the locker room that we have a chance to be a really good football team, we just need to consistently do things. We did not deserve to win the game today. We made too many mistakes and they didn't." - Rusty Wright, head coach

NEXT GAME – Saturday, Sept. 9 - Chattanooga (0-1) vs. Kennesaw State (1-0) – 6:00 p.m. ET (ESPN+) – BUY TICKETS

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