ETSU win over Catamounts caps off 'amazing' weekend

East Tennessee State football coach Will Healy talked about an amazing weekend for the Buccaneer athletic program. The volleyball team won the Southern Conference regular-season championship, both the men's and women's basketball teams won their games, and it was capped off by his football team winning 52-35 over Western Carolina. It evened up the all-time series 27-27-1 in the Blue Ridge Border Battle on a day when the offense racked up 638 yards, the most since football returned in 2015. Most remarkable, the Bucs (6-4) were down to fourth-string freshman quarterback Jackson Byrd in the second half and without star running back Devontae Houston. Healy felt it was huge for the Bucs to go up 10 points early. But, the Catamounts stormed back and were leading 28-17 with 3:22 left in the first half. "We went the spell there where they made it an 11-point game," Healy said at Monday's football press conference. I thought we had some incredible responses on offense to make it back to a four-point game. "The drive right before the half to make it 28-24 was massive." Healy is referring to a 12 play, 75-yard drive with quarterback Jacolby Criswell connecting with tight end Cole Keller on 6-yard touchdown with 23 seconds left. With Byrd taking over in the second half, he led a 9-play, 63-yard drive to put the Bucs on top. Western Carolina responded with a 61-yard pass play from quarterback Taron Dickens to Michael Rossin to go up by four points. But, the Bucs scored the final 21 points of the game for the victory. The final score was the result of a 10-play, 99-yard drive. On a gutsy call, Byrd completed a 39-yard pass play to Jeremiah Harrison when the Bucs were backed up on their own 1-yard line. "It's really impressive to see the resiliency of our football team," Healy said. "You're playing your fourth-team quarterback, you're down on the road against a top 25 football team that's playing for the playoffs. To see our team be able to find a way to win by 17 points is a testament to them and their character — 638, yards offense, six touchdown passes." There were numerous individual standouts including Criswell and Byrd each with three touchdown passes. Jason Albritton with a career-high 125 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Harrison had 139 yards and two touchdowns on five catches, and Hakeem Meggett had 113 yards and two touchdowns also on five catches. Trevor Moffitt was the defensive leader with 10 tackles and three pass breakups. Jivon Oggs had eight tackles, as did Ty Anderson despite him missing the first half for targeting call in the previous game. Jackson Crosby was named the SoCon Player of the Week after making one of the biggest plays of the game, breaking through the Western Carolina line to block a punt. "We made the plays that we needed to, offensively, defensively and special teams," Healy said. "We showed them today the difference between winning and losing football games and the plays that we made. It's really impressive to see the growth of our team." NEXT UP ETSU hosts The Citadel in the season finale Saturday at 1 p.m. It's also Military Appreciation Day. It will be the final game for 25 ETSU seniors. "They've believed in what's going on, although they're not going to see the true fruits of their labor," Healy said. "They've done an amazing job of setting the foundation and we owe it to them to set the foundation this weekend."