Ford, Ibitokun-Hanks score 4TDs, lead Mocs past W. Carolina

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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Ailym Ford ran for 195 yards and two touchdowns and Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks ran for 125 yards and two scores and Chattanooga overwhelmed Western Carolina 60-36 on Saturday.

Chattanooga (2-3, 1-0 Southern Conference) amassed 589 yards offense and scored eight touchdowns.

Ford scored on the Mocs' second drive for a 6-0 lead. Will Jones put Western Carolina (1-3, 0-2) on the board for its only lead with a 1-yard run to end an 11-play, 53-yard drive with 2:22 left in the first quarter.

The Mocs seized control in the second with four touchdowns and a field goal. Ibitokun-Hanks had scoring runs of 24 and 73 yards. He sandwiched his touchdown runs around a fake punt by the Catamounts' Caleb Ferguson that resulted in a 69-yard touchdown run that narrowed the deficit to 20-14.

Western Carolina closed to 27-21 with 5:24 left before halftime, and 44-36 just before the end of the third. But Chattanooga kept up its offensive pressure with two TDs and a field goal in the fourth.

Connell Young led Western Carolina with 217 yards on 24 carries and the Catamounts finished with 497 yards offense.