Nov. 14, 2009

Box Score

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Samford junior running back Chris Evans rushed for a career-high 257 yards on 37 carries and became Samford's all-time career rushing leader in leading the Bulldog football team to a 27-24 Southern Conference win at Wofford Saturday afternoon.

"This was a good win against a really good Wofford team," Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said. "This was a team win. At the end of the first half, the defense stopped them from going in from the one-yard line. We challenged them at halftime, and we came out and stopped them on their first possession, and then our offense didn't punt in the second half. We just got in rhythm, Chris was special, and the offensive line did well. And then, Dustin Taliaferro, the last two weeks has played awfully well."

Evans' single-game total breaks his previous high of 212 yards against Austin Peay as a freshman in 2007. Evans now has 3,379 career rushing yards, eclipsing the previous record of 3,122 yards set by Jerome Russell from 1996 to 1999.

For this season, Evans now has 1,053 yards, making him the first player in Samford history to rush for over 1,000 yards in three-straight seasons.

"It's a great feeling," Evans said. "Everything came together on offense. The (offensive) line wanted to get me the record today and they kept pushing me there at the end when I was getting tired. They really encouraged me to keep running hard."

Samford sophomore quarterback Dustin Taliaferro completed 19-of-26 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns. Riley Hawkins caught five passes for 103 yards. Richie Fordham and Jonathan Lowery each caught a touchdown pass from Taliaferro.

Defensively for Samford, Bryce Smith led the team with 11 tackles. Rumiko Forrester recovered a fumble and Patrick Hatcher blocked a Wofford field goal.

For Wofford, Michael Scott rushed 12 times for 165 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Mitch Allen rushed 10 times for 103 yards.

Wofford struck first when Allen hit Brenton Bersin for a 69-yard touchdown pass with 5:09 to go in the first quarter. Christian Reed added the extra point to give the Terriers a 7-0 lead.

Samford got on the scoreboard when Cameron Yaw connected on a 35-yard field goal with 1:31 left in the first quarter to cut Wofford's lead to 7-3.

Wofford carried the 7-3 lead into halftime, though both teams had chances to put more points on the scoreboard. Samford missed two field goals, one from 52-yard out and one from 43 yards. Wofford's Reed had a 41-yard field goal attempt blocked by Hatcher. The Terriers also drove to the Samford one-yard line with less than a minute to play in the second quarter, but the Samford defense came up with the stop on fourth-and-one to end the scoring threat.

The scoring picked up in the third quarter. Samford took its first lead of the game when Taliaferro hit Fordham for an eight-yard touchdown pass with 9:59 to go in the third, and Yaw added the PAT to give Samford the 10-7 lead. Wofford tied the score at 10-10 when Reed kicked a 24-yard field goal with 5:39 to go in the quarter.

Samford came back quickly when Taliaferro scored on a one-yard run with 4:24 left in the third, and Yaw's extra point gave Samford a 17-10 lead. Wofford came back on the first play of its next drive when Scott scored on a 59-yard run with 4:08 to go in the quarter. Reed's PAT made the score 17-17.

Samford took the lead for good when Yaw kicked a 25-yard field goal with 46 seconds to go in the third quarter to make the score 20-17. Samford stretched its lead to 27-17 when Taliaferro hit Lowery for a 15-yard touchdown with 10:57 to go in the game.

Wofford cut the lead to three when Mike Rucker scored on a 14-yard run with 8:28 to go in the game. Reed's PAT made the score 27-24. Samford, however, was able to put the game away with a 17-play, 8:28 drive to make the final score 27-24.

The win was the first road win of the season for Samford. The Samford offense totaled 478 yards, including 304 rushing yards.

Samford will wrap up the 2009 season with a home game against sixth-ranked Elon on Saturday, Nov. 21. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. kickoff from Seibert Stadium.