Air Force Academy
Wofford
Falcons Fly Past Wofford, 49-0
8/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug 30, 2003
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) - Air Force missed Dan Shaffer last season. He returned Saturday and made an immediate impact.
Shaffer scored three touchdowns in his first game since the opener in 2002 and Fisher DeBerry won his 150th game as Air Force beat Wofford 49-0.
"I'm so happy for Dan," DeBerry said. "I don't think any of us realized the tremendous sacrifice he's made for this team. I've never been around a guy who was any more determined to come back."
Shaffer, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against Northwestern in the opener last year and missed the season, ran for 64 yards on 12 carries. Quarterback Chance Harridge ran for 92 yards and a touchdown and was 5-for-9 passing for another 61 yards for Air Force.
"It was an awesome feeling to get back into the end zone," Shaffer said. "It made all the work worth it."
DeBerry, a 1960 graduate of Wofford, improved to 150-83-1 in his 20-year coaching career.
Wofford, a Division I-AA program, managed only nine first downs and 175 yards of total offense. The Terriers crossed midfield twice in the first half, reaching the Air Force 37 on their first possession before being forced to punt.
The Terriers had 54 yards of total offense in the second half.
"We were hunting and pecking on offense all game and could not be consistent," Wofford coach Mike Ayers said. "You give Air Force the ball too many times and they are going to grind you and wear you down."
Wofford forced punts on the Falcons' first two possessions before a short punt set the Falcons up near midfield. Air Force went on a 10-play, 58-yard drive, all coming on the ground, to set up Shaffer's 1-yard run on the second play of the second quarter.
The Terriers appeared headed for a game-tying score, reaching the Air Force 21 on their next drive. Trey Rodgers kept the drive alive with passes of 15 and 11 yards to Shiel Woods, but Dennis Polland and Larry Duncan stopped Rodgers on fourth-and-2 at the Falcons' 12-yard line.
"We've gone for more fourth downs that you have hair on your head," Ayers said. "We had a guy that didn't block his guy."
Air Force went down the field on a 10-play drive that was highlighted by a 13-yard run by Joe Schieffer and 29-yard run by Harridge. Adam Cole capped the 88-yard drive with a 2-yard run off right tackle.
"I thought the fourth down stop and our drive after it were the two big series of the game," DeBerry said. "I thought they took the starch out of them."
The Falcons added a 2-yard TD run by Shaffer in the last 15 seconds of the half to take a 21-0 lead into intermission.
Air Force scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the second half. John Rudzinski returned an interception 21 yards to the Wofford 11, and three plays later Harridge scored on a 3-yard run.
Shaffer scored his third touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run. The Falcons pulled their starters and immediately scored on backup quarterback Adam Fitch's 2-yard pass to John Schwartz.
Jacob Kendrick completed the scoring with a 3-yard run.
