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Western Carolinian Volume 70 Number 05

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  • Western slump continues as Cats fall 45-7 to #21 By Andy Gambill WCnewsmagazine What started off as a close game ended in a blowout as the Catamounts were destroyed by the Georgia Southern Eagles 45-7. After a disappointing 17-7 loss to The Citadel the week before, the Cats came out with an even worse effort as the #21 Eagles ran all over the Cats in destroying what lasting hopes Catamount fans had of a SoCon championship. Georgia Southern received the opening kickoff on their own 43-yard line. The Eagles looked to establish the run early and ran the ball 7 straight times for 39 yards before quarterback Jayson Foster connected with Reggie McCutchen for a 23-yard touchdown pass to put the Eagles up 7-0. Western answered back by going to the air. After an incomplete pass on the first down, junior quarterback Justin Clark found wide receiver Michael Hines for a 13-yard screen pass and first down. On the next play, the Cats banged the ball up the middle to John Bush for a 7-yard gain before throwing the ball again this time to J.C. Brown for 4 yards and another first down. Clark hit Darius Fudge for a 7-yard screen pass on the next play, but a false start on second down pushed the ball back to the Western 47-yard line. After a one-yard carry by Fudge, Clark connected with tight end Jacob Hannah for a 10-yard pass to convert for another first down. J.C. Brown ran for 15 yards on the next play to push the ball to the Eagle 27-yard line. Fudge then pounded ahead for 12 yards to get another first down. With 18-and-10 from the Georgia Southern 15-yard line, Clark found Fudge for a 15-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7 and give the mirage of Western keeping the game close. That mirage didnt last long. The next Georgia Southern drive was much the same, as the Eagles pounded the ball down the field for 29 yards on 5 straight plays before Foster connected with McCutchen for a 22-yard touchdown. Western started off their next drive good when Clark found Michael Hines for a 46-yard pass and three plays later connected with J.C. Brown for a 12-yard gain. The drive stalled out after that, though, and Stephen Brown missed a 32-yard field goal wide right. This was when the momentum really began to shift, as Western could not keep up scoring with the aggressive and physical Georgia Southern offense. The Eagles found pay-dirt on their third straight drive, too, but this time did it a little different. After starting out with an incomplete pass, Darius Smiley connected with Foster for an 11-yard gain. The Eagles went back to their smashmouth style of play as they ran the ball 7 straight times for 51 yards before throwing another incompletion. With 3-and-9 from the Western 18, the Eagles went back to the ground and Foster ran for the 18 yards and the touchdown to put Georgia Southern up 21-7. Western punted the ball back on the next drive, and Georgia Southern scored for their 4" straight drive. The Eagles ran the ball 11 straight times for 51 yards to open the drive. After an incomplete pass, the Eagles ran the ball twice for 7 yards. Darius Smiley then connected with Lynon Jefferson for an 8- yard touchdown pass and a 28-7 lead. After a punt from each team, the clock ran out on the first half and the Cats went into the locker room looking for any kind of spark to pull them back from the 28-7 deficit. Western never found any such spark though but came out in the second half with another punt. Georgia Southern looked just as good as they did in the first half. They ran the ball 9 straight times for 62 yards and a touchdown. Foster capped the drive off with a 21-yard touchdown run. Western actually showed some signs of life on the next drive when Clark connected on three straight passes for 19 yards to start the drive. Wide receiver Nick Miller ran the ball for two yards on the next play, but an Eagle 15-yard personal foul pushed the ball all the way to the Georgia Southern 44-yard line. Clark then found J.C. Brown for 12 yards and then a first down. After a 7-yard run by Darius Fudge, Clark missed on two Straight passes to force 4"-and-3 on the Eagle 25-yard line. Clark was sacked for a 20-yard loss on the play and suffered a concussion that knocked him out of the game. Clark did not play bad in the game, though, as he went 13-of-22 for 149 and WCnewsmagazine Georgia Southern a touchdown. It was actually one of his better performances of the year, and hopefully the concussion will not be detrimental to the progress he showed in this game. Georgia Southern ran the ball three straight times for 16 yards to start off the next drive. The Eagles went to the air on the next play as Foster connected with Jefferson for a 22-yard gain. The Eagles would run the ball for 17 yards on the next six plays before settling for a 25-yard field goal and a 38-7 lead. Senior tight end/quarterback Josh Lee came into the game for Clark, but he faired no better as he threw an incompletion on 4'-and-15 to give the Eagles the ball back. After a punt by each team, the Eagles would score one last time in the game to reach the final score of 45-7. The Catamounts would also suffer another huge loss to injury before the game was over as standout wide receiver Eddie Cohen, who had just returned from an injury, suffered a very serious injury in the game and was taken to a local hospital. Cohen was released later in the afternoon and will be re-evaluated on Monday. The Catamounts ran into a superior Georgia Southern team on Saturday, and even though the offense played a lot better than it did against the Citadel, the defense had no answer for the Eagle ground game. Georgia Southern piled up 362 yards on the ground and was just too physical for the defense. The defense may have suffered a let-down due to the unrewarded effort against the Citadel. After playing tough against the Citadel for 4 quarters and watching the offense struggle in the loss, the Catamount defense may have just suffered a depressing let-down against the Eagles. Whatever it was that caused the normally strong defense to falter, hopefully it will be fixed by the time the Cats travel to the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga on October 22"4, 27
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