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Foster, Austin lead Eagles to easy victory over WCU
Georgia Southern compiled 362 rushing yards and 448 yards of total offense in a 45-7 rout of Western Carolina in Southern Conference football action Saturday at GSU.
A crowd of 14,156 at Paulson Stadium saw Jayson Foster gain 149 yards on the ground and Jermaine Austin add 117.
Darius Fudge paced the ground game for WCU (1-2, 2-3) with 68 yards in 11 attempts.
Justin Clark completed 13 of 22 passes for 149 yards.
The Eagles (3-1, 4-2) drove 57 yards in eight plays on the game’s first possession. Foster’s 16-yard run sparked the march, and Reggie McCutchen caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Foster on fourth-and-1 from the 23. Jonathan Dudley kicked the first of his six extra points for a 7-0 lead four minutes into the game.
The Catamounts responded by moving 80 yards in 10 plays. Clark completed passes of 13 yards to Michael Hines and 10 yards to Jacob Hannah. J.C. Brown had a 15-yard run, and Fudge gained 12 before Clark’s 15-yard TD pass to Fudge. Former Smoky Mountain kicker Stephen Brown added the extra point for a 7-7 tie with 6:45 to go in the first quarter.
Teddy Craft’s 43-yard kickoff return put GSU in business at its 44. Foster’s 14-yard run along with a face mask penalty was followed two plays later by Foster’s 22-yard scoring pass to McCutchen for a 14-7 lead with 4:16 to play in the opening quarter.
Clark’s 46-yard pass to Hines helped put Western in position for Brown’s 32-yard field goal attempt, which sailed wide right.
The Eagles moved 80 yards in 11 plays, including Austin’s 14-yard run and Foster’s 15-yard scamper. The payoff was an 18-yard run by Foster building the margin to 21-7 with 12:35 to go in the half.
Following a punt, GSU drove 79 yards in 15 plays to score on its fourth straight possession. Foster had runs of 15 and 10 yards in the march, which was aided by a face mask penalty. Lynon Jefferson caught an 8-yard pass from Darius Smiley for a 28-7 advantage with 59 seconds to go in the half.
The Eagles continued the onslaught by driving 62 yards in nine plays on their first possession of the second half. Foster had a 12-yard run, and Jefferson picked up 10. Foster’s 21-yard TD run made it 35-7 with 10:28 to go in the third stanza.
Western reached the GSU 25 on its next possession, but Clark was sacked by A.J. Bryant for a 20-yard loss.
Foster’s 22-yard pass to Jefferson led to Dudley’s 25-yard field goal for a 38-7 lead with 1:54 to play in the third period.
The Eagles completed the scoring on Steve Steele’s 4-yard run with 4:01 on the clock. The 66-yard drive took 14 plays, including runs of 12 yards by Smiley, 20 yards by Austin and 14 yards by Melvin Greer.
Rico Reese and Lamar Barnes both had 11 tackles for the Eagles. Andre Brown, James Conklin and Shelton Gaffney all were in on 10.
John Manning led WCU with eight tackles.
WCU GSU
13 First Downs 27
26-70 Rushes-Yds. 71-362
16-26-0 Passing 5-11-0
169 Passing Yds. 86
5-41.6 Punts-Avg. 2-37
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
6-49 Penalties-Yds. 5-35
WCU 7 0 0 0 7
GSU 14 14 10 7 45
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