SEWANEE, Tenn. - The University of the South football team scored three straight touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but two missed point-after-attempts were the deciding factor, as the Tigers fell to Westminster College (Mo.), 30-29, Saturday afternoon from historic Hardee-McGee Field at Harris Stadium.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final Score: Westminster (1-0) 30, Sewanee (0-2) 29
Sewanee Athletics Social Media | Twitter/Instagram: @SewaneeTigers
Football Social Media | Twitter and Instagram: @SewaneeFootball
HOW IT HAPPENED
-The teams went back-and-forth in the opening quarter in a steady rain. Early in the second quarter, the Blue Jays used an 81-yard run from Taylor Dobbins to give WC the early 7-0 advantage with 9:24 left in the half.
-On the next possession, the Tigers used a 71-play drive, as
Jeremiah Young found
Cyrus McCullough for the 11-yard touchdown reception. Trying to catch the defense off-guard on a two-point attempt, Sewanee fumbled the ball on the wet turf and Robert Anthony ran the ball back. The Blue Jays led 9-6 with 7:40 left in the second stanza.
-Late in the half, Wyatt Ellis posted an 11-yard pass to Trey King for the score to put the Blue Jays up 10 points, 16-6 with less than two minutes left in the half.
-The Tigers, as the rain got heavier, were able to secure points on their final possession of the half, as
Brody Palmer drilled a 43-yard field goal with 35 seconds left in the half. However, it was the visitors with a 16-9 lead at the break.
-WC came out of the third quarter strong with touchdowns on back-to-back possessions to lead 30-9 with 4:38 left in the period.
-Late in the third quarter, the Tigers began a surmountable comeback. After a punt that started the drive at the Sewanee 22-yard-line, the hosts put together a 78-yard, seven-play drive.
Cooper Hancock, who came back to action after seeing action on the first two drives of the game, passed to
Cyrus McCullough for a 41-yard reception.
-Leading 30-16 with 14:53 left in the period, the Blue Jays had an opportunity to extend the lead with a 30-yard field goal attempt by Tim Branneky. However, it was blocked by Sewanee and the Tigers took over.
-On the next possession, Hancock and McCullough connected again for a 25-yard score to cut the deficit to one score, 30-23, with 10:06 left in the game.
-After Sewanee attempted to catch Westminster napping on an onside kick, Taylor Dobbins saw the ball poked out by
Alex Parris and later recovered the ball.
-With the ball in Westminster territory, the Tigers went to the ground. After Michael McGee had 18 yards on three carries,
George Morrice punched it in from 30 yards to make it a one-point game, 30-29, with 7:55 left in the game. However, with the rain continuing to the fall, the point-after-attempt was for not.
-Sewanee's defense stood tall for the final two drives to keep Westminster off the scoreboard. On Sewanee's final drive of the game, with 1:19 left, the Purple and White had a huge help with a short punt by WC, and Sewanee started at the Blue Jay 24-yard-line.
-The Tigers were unable to push the ball down the field, and
Brody Palmer's 38-yard go-ahead field goal with nine seconds remaining was wide left to seal the deal for the visitors.
SEWANEE KEY STATISTICS
-
Cooper Hancock finished with a 10-of-23 performance under center with 143 yards. In the second half, he was 8-of-17 for 124 yards and two touchdowns.
Jeremiah Young also posted a touchdown and 57 passing yards.
-
Cyrus McCullough had 231 all-purpose yards in the contest: 96 on the kick return, 41 on punt returns and 94 receiving yards. The senior also added three touchdown receptions.
-
George Morrice had 102 yards on the ground on seven carries and a 30-yard touchdown run.
-
Michael McGhee and
Hunter Jones added 30 rushing yards each.
-On defense,
Jacob Jackson had 13 total tackles, while
Keegan Glaze had eight tackles, two for a loss.
Kaleb Seay also added two tackles for a loss.
WESTMINSTER KEY STATISTICS
-Taylor Dobbins posted a 169-yard performance on the ground on 22 carries and two scores.
-Wyatt Ellis posted 85 rushing yards and 11-of-19 for 107 through the air for the quarterback.
-Dawson Brandt and Cooper Mange had seven tackles each to lead the Blue Jays.
UP NEXT
Sewanee is back in action next weekend at Hendrix. The two teams added this game after their respective Week 1 matchups were canceled due to COVID.
For the latest news on the Sewanee Tigers, follow @SewaneeTigers on
Twitter and
Instagram, and like us on
Facebook.
