JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – ETSU football earned a season-shifting result on Saturday, taking down Wofford, 41-10. The victory was the Bucs’ first in the SoCon this season.
The Blue and Gold did it without the top three quarterbacks on their depth chart entering the 2023 campaign.
Redshirt-freshman William Riddle was expected to start against the Terriers, but instead, junior Haynes Eller trotted out with the starting offense on the opening drive.
“William on the sideline, he said ‘Coach, I’m just not a good practice player,'” head coach George Quarles recalled after the game. “But he played great.”
Riddle entered in the second quarter and provided a spark to the squad. He finished 8-of-12 for 149 yards and a touchdown in the win.
“Just when you have the whole team and you have the guys behind you,” Riddle said “that makes it easy because everyone’s got nerves, but the nerves make you realize how bad you want to be and you want to win and you want to compete at every level.”
His hot-hand performance not only helped the Bucs bury their opponent, but it also opened some eyes on the sideline.
“You know, who knows,” Quarles said. “I think TD [Timmy Dorsey] should be back next week. But you know as well as William played this week, it’d be hard to to go in a different direction. I just think, you know, he did some things that we haven’t done much of in the last two years.”
ETSU travels to Chattanooga for the latest installment in the Rail Rivalry trophy battle on Saturday at 1 p.m.
