Sept. 21, 2003

Cullowhee, NC - Nehemiah Broughton traced a line across his chest with his finger, just above the blue number 30 on his Citadel football jersey.

"From here on up was across the goal line," the Bulldogs' tailback said, shaking his head. "The second time, I really thought I was in. But we didn't get the call. That's football."

Broughton was stuffed twice on the goal line by the Catamounts defense, at least according to the referees. That second-quarter stand was the turning point -- and in the end, the difference -- in Western Carolina's 28-21 victory over the Bulldogs before 8,549 fans at Whitmire Stadium.

After stopping Broughton on third and fourth down from their own 1-yard line, the Catamounts marched 99 yards for a TD that gave them a 13-0 lead. Western Carolina led by 20-0 at the half and held off a Citadel rally to win for the sixth time in the last seven meetings between the teams.

Citadel quarterback Willie Simmons, who hit 23 of 38 passes for a career-best 323 yards, threw two touchdown passes in the second half to Scooter Johnson, the first pulling the Bulldogs to within 20-14 with 4:17 left in the game.

But Western Carolina QB Brian Gaither, scrambling on a third-and-9 play, found speedy receiver Xavier Godard alone behind The Citadel's secondary for a 62-yard TD pass that clinched the outcome with 2:26 left.

Simmons' 8-yard TD pass to Johnson made it 28-21 with 45 seconds to go, but Travis Zobel's onside kick took a big hop out-of-bounds to snuff hopes of a miracle comeback.

That left The Citadel with a 1-3 record (0-1 in the Southern Conference), and coach Ellis Johnson with mixed feelings.

"It's complicated," the coach said. "Obviously, you've very disappointed with them after a loss, but I'm also so proud of them for their effort."

Gaither completed 16 of 26 passes for 224 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Godard, as the Catamounts improved to 2-2 (1-0 in the Southern Conference).

The Citadel gained 425 yards to Western's 365, and ran 79 plays to the Catamounts' 59. But the Bulldogs' inability to control the line of scrimmage showed as they netted just 102 rushing yards on 41 tries.

Simmons was sacked three times for 23 yards in losses and threw an interception, and the Bulldogs couldn't gain a couple of inches when they needed it most, at the goal line.

"The thing that continues to bother me is that we've got experienced guys up front and we can't control the line of scrimmage," Ellis Johnson said.

"We've got to go back and look at that and see what we've got in the running game. If we've got to manhandle the guy in front of us and hold that block for long, we're not going to be successful," he said.

That was the case on Western Carolina's goal-line stand. Trailing by 7-0, the Bulldogs drove 85 yards to the WCU 1, less than a foot from the end zone. Broughton ran right on third down, then went left on fourth down, twisting to get into the end zone. The refs never raised their arms.

"I was at the bottom of the pile, waiting for him to give the signal," Broughton said. "But guys were dragging me backward after I was down. I could feel myself sliding backward, and I guess they marked the ball after I slid backward."

Said Ellis Johnson: "The (coaches) in the press box said it looked like he got in, but it's not a touchdown until the referee calls it. Those were just power plays, and if you can't get it in from the 1-foot line, you've got problems."

Western then took the ball 99 yards for a TD, the key play a 41-yard screen pass to tailback Manny DeShauteurs, to lead by 13-0 with 4:49 left in the half. The Citadel handed Western a 20-0 lead by losing 29 yards on three plays, then missing a tackle on tailback Nicholas Wishart's 41-yard TD run just 66 seconds before the half.

"I really thought we had a chance to win at the end," Ellis Johnson said. "But we just shot ourselves in the foot too many times in the first half."