RELEASE DATE: 11/12/05

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: HENGEHOLD, DAVIS AND MONTGOMERY SET SCHOOL RECORDS IN SEASON ENDING LOSS AT #9 NCAA DIVISION I-AA COASTAL CAROLINA

CONWAY, SC – John Hengehold’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Tyrone Robinson  gave Mansfield an early lead and held up for one quarter before #9 NCAA Division I-AA ranked Coastal Carolina scored 71 unanswered points in posting a 71-8 win in Brooks Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Playing before one of the largest crowds in school history in their first game against a NCAA Division I-AA opponent, the Mountaineers showed little nervousness or intimation taking the opening kickoff and driving 80 yards for the touchdown.

A banged up Hengehold keyed the opening drive, completing 3-of-4 passes for 64 yards and rushing for eight yards. The drive was highlighted by a 24-yard pass from Hengehold to Ozzie Mathis on a 3^rd and two from the MU 28 yard line.

Hengehold hit Robinson for the touchdown on a 4^th and 7 from the Coastal 34 yard line for a 6-0 lead and Poohbear McNeal bullied his way into the endzone for the two point conversion, silencing the crowd of 6,592 just 4:28 into the game.

That lead held up until Patrick Hall capped off an eight play, 64 yard drive with a 27-yard touchdown run for the first of Coastal Carolina’s 10 touchdowns on the day.

As expected, Coastal Carolina dominated the game after the Mountaineers first two possessions, racking up 581 yards in total offense while holding the Mountaineers to a season low 150 yards, including just 36 yards on the ground. The 71 points were also a Big South Conference record.

Coastal Carolina used 13 different runners to rush for 385 yards with Patrick Hall rushing for 75 yards on eight carries including a touchdown. Starting quarterback Tyler Thigpen completed all six of his passes for 86 yards and a touchdown before giving way to backup William Richardson in the second quarter. Richardson hit 8-of-12 passes for 110 yards and two TD’s.

Hengehold completed 13-of-27 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown while being intercepted twice. Rodney Davis caught six passes for 29 yards to set a new school record for receptions in a season with 64.

Ozzie Mathis had four catches for 42 yards with Tyrone Robinson pulling in two balls for 35 yards and a touchdown.

Poohbear McNeal was held to a season low 12 rushing yards to end the season with 1,094 yards, the third best in school history. Senior Ronnie Montgomery, who missed five games during the middle of the season, returned nine kicks for 92 yards to break his kick return yards in a season record set last year with 776 yards this year. He also broke John Miller’s (1990-93) career kickoff return record returning 93 kicks for 1,965 yards in his career.

Junior linebacker Andre Turner paced the defense with a game high 16 tackles, including a tackle-for-loss and a sack. Safety C.J. Okogeri had 13 tackles while senior linebacker Jason Zeigler added 11.  Montgomery, playing in the final game of his illustrious career was credited with nine tackles while safety Paul Potzman had eight tackles.

Despite ending the season as just the third team in the school history to lose 10 games in a season, the Mountaineers return an exciting nucleus for next year -- especially on offense.

Freshman quarterback John Hengehold turned in one of the best season’s in Mountaineer history completing 197 of 349 passes for 2,415 yards and 22 touchdowns. He set a new school season record for competitions surpassing the 196 by Bill Bair (1991) and Travis Motley (2002) while tying Motley for the school record for touchdowns in a season with 22. He became the first quarterback in school history to have at least one touchdown pass in all 11 games during the season.

Freshman wideout Rodney Davis was equally impressive, breaking the school record for receptions in a season (61, Mark Doherty – 1994) with 64 for 734 yards and six touchdowns. Sophomore wideout Tyrone Robinson had 36 catches for 543 yards and six touchdowns while junior Ozzie Mathis had 35 catches for 481 yards and seven TD’s.

Junior running back Poohbear McNeal, who had set the school career rushing record earlier in the season, finished the season with 1,094 rushing yards while also catching 40 passes for 389 yards with eight combined touchdowns. He has now rushed for 3,601 yards in his first three seasons while scoring 30 touchdowns.

Box Score (Final)

         Mansfield vs #9 Coastal Carolina (Nov 12, 2005 at Conway, SC)

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score

-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----

Mansfield...........  8  0  0  0  -  8       Record: (1-10)

Coastal Carolina....  8 28 28  7  - 71       Record: (9-1)

Scoring Summary:

1st 10:32 MU - ROBINSON, T. 34 yd pass from HENGEHOLD, J. (McNEAL, P. rush), 9-80 4:28, MU 8 - COASTAL 0

    06:58 COASTAL - HALL, P. 27 yd run (BURGESS, R. pass from THIGPEN, T.), 8-64 3:31, MU 8 - COASTAL 8

2nd 14:20 COASTAL - PERKINS, A. 1 yd run (HOKE, J. kick), 7-56 2:49, MU 8 - COASTAL 15

    09:39 COASTAL - PERKINS, A. 3 yd run (HOKE, J. kick), 7-96 2:53, MU 8 - COASTAL 22

    05:33 COASTAL - NOBLE, C. 12 yd pass from THIGPEN, T. (HOKE, J. kick), 4-47 1:42, MU 8 - COASTAL 29

    00:37 COASTAL - BURGESS, R. 13 yd pass from RICHARDSON, W. (HOKE, J. kick), 4-34 0:24, MU 8 - COASTAL 36

3rd 11:52 COASTAL - CARSON, T. 9 yd pass from RICHARDSON, W. (HOKE, J. kick), 9-48 2:58, MU 8 - COASTAL 43

    09:25 COASTAL - FORDHAM, J. 5 yd run (HOKE, J. kick), 3-12 1:29, MU 8 - COASTAL 50

    04:30 COASTAL - ROBINSON, C. 3 yd run (HOKE, J. kick), 7-41 3:19, MU 8 - COASTAL 57

    00:35 COASTAL - McDONALD, C. 17 yd run (HOKE, J. kick), 6-73 2:48, MU 8 - COASTAL 64

4th 00:57 COASTAL - FRASER, T. 3 yd run (HOKE, J. kick), 6-35 3:33, MU 8 - COASTAL 71

                                     MU  COASTAL

FIRST DOWNS...................        8       31

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............    26-36   54-385

PASSING YDS (NET).............      114      196

Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  29-14-2  18-14-0

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   55-150   72-581

Fumble Returns-Yards..........      1-4      0-0

Punt Returns-Yards............      1-5     3-35

Kickoff Returns-Yards.........   10-133     2-47

Interception Returns-Yards....      0-0     2-23

Punts (Number-Avg)............   7-37.3   1-39.0

Fumbles-Lost..................      2-1      2-2

Penalties-Yards...............     4-27     5-40

Possession Time...............    27:22    32:38

Third-Down Conversions........  3 of 15  9 of 10

Fourth-Down Conversions.......   2 of 3   0 of 0

Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      0-0     9-10

Sacks By: Number-Yards........      1-4      1-7

RUSHING: Mansfield-DAVIS, R. 8-20; McNEAL, P. 12-12; FIELDS, B. 1-6;

HENGEHOLD, J. 5-minus 2. Coastal Carolina-HALL, P. 8-75; ROBINSON, C. 6-63;

McDONALD, C. 5-49; SITTON, A. 6-44; THIGPEN, T. 3-28; FORDHAM, J. 6-27; PERKINS,

A. 4-23; FRASER, T. 4-22; BROWN, C. 4-21; TOLBERT, M. 4-20; HAMPTON, B. 2-8;

BROCK, L. 1-5; CLARDY, R. 1-0.

PASSING: Mansfield-HENGEHOLD, J. 13-27-2-112; HUNT, B. 1-2-0-2. Coastal

Carolina-RICHARDSON, W. 8-12-0-110; THIGPEN, T. 6-6-0-86.

RECEIVING: Mansfield-DAVIS, R. 6-29; MATHIS, O. 4-42; ROBINSON, T. 2-35;

McDONOUGH, D. 1-6; McNEAL, P. 1-2. Coastal Carolina-BURGESS, R. 4-72; NOBLE, C.

2-21; PARKS, P. 1-24; DAVIS, D. 1-21; McKINNON, R. 1-17; DANNELLY, T. 1-12;

CARSON, T. 1-9; CANNON, B. 1-8; WILLIAMS, D. 1-6; FRANKLIN, A. 1-6.

INTERCEPTIONS: Mansfield-None. Coastal Carolina-WILLIAMSON, T. 2-23.

FUMBLES: Mansfield-DAVIS, R. 1-1; HENGEHOLD, J. 1-0. Coastal

Carolina-BROWN, C. 1-1; GREENE, J. 1-1.

Stadium: Brooks Stadium        Attendance: 6592

Kickoff time: 12:30 pm  End of Game: 3:27      Total elapsed time: 2:57

Officials: Referee: Scott McElwee; Umpire: Donald Yates; Linesman: Mike Owens;

Line judge: Tommy Giles; Back judge: James Cole; Field judge: Frank Overcash;

Side judge: D. Harrison; Scorer: Kent Reichert;

Temperature: 64        Wind: ESE 9mph  Weather: Sunny, mild