CONWAY, S.C. ? In one of the largest comebacks in Presbyterian College football history, the Blue Hose erased a one time 24-point deficit to defeat the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 41-34 in overtime on Saturday evening at Brooks Stadium.
PC tallied the game-winning touchdown in the first overtime when Tim Webb (Lugoff, S.C.) found Justin Durant for a 25-yard touchdown reception that gave PC a 41-34 lead after Cam Miller's (Lyman, S.C.) successful extra point.
In NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Football the rules state that each team gets a possession starting at their opponents' 25-yard line and after PC scored on their possession the Blue Hose defense held strong defensively in CCU's possession, forcing the Chanticleers into a fourth and 21.
Coastal Carolina starting quarterback Will Richardson's pass fell short on the fourth and 21 and the Blue Hose walked away with the seven point victory.
The win was PC's fourth straight and improved the Blue Hose to 5-3 overall on the year, including a perfect 2-0 against their future Big South opponents.
The victory by PC also marked the first time that an opponent had come into Brooks Stadium and earned a victory when trailing the Chants at halftime. Entering the game with PC, Coastal Carolina was 16-0 at home when taking a lead into intermission.
The win also marked the first time that PC under Bentley had claimed a victory in a game that they were trailing at halftime.
After taking their first lead of the game at 27-24 with just over five minutes left in the game, PC allowed CCU's Arthur Sitton to score from seven yards out and give the Chants back the lead at 31-27.
The Blue Hose would not let that lead last as on its next possession wide receiver Terrance Butler (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) made it a happy homecoming for himself when he caught a 28-yard pass from Webb to put PC back on top 34-31.
CCU drove down the field on its next drive to square the game at 34-34 after a Justin Durham 32-yard field goal. The Blue Hose then kneeled on the ball to send the game into overtime.
One of the top all purpose football players in the nation, Butler concluded the CCU win with a game-high 185 all purpose yards, including a team-high 130 yards receiving.
S.J. Worrell (Madison, Ga.) had 127 all purpose yards in the victory, finishing the game with 44 rushing yards, which included a career-best three rushing touchdowns.
For the second consecutive contest, Ryan Anderson (Forest, Va.) finished helping to lead the PC defensive unit with nine total tackles. In another happy homecoming, Chris Bowman (Conway, S.C.) tied Anderson for the team-high in total tackles with nine total stops.
Bowman also had 2.5 tackles-for-loss in the game.
In the loss, CCU was led by Jamie Fordham, who had 133 yards rushing. Teammate Brandon Autry led the Coastal defense, finishing with a game-high 10 total stops.
PC erased the one time 24-point deficit and took its first lead of the game with 5:44 left in the game when Webb found Durant for a nine-yard touchdown reception.
The catch was the first of the day for Durant, but most importantly it earned the Blue Hose a 27-24 lead after the missed extra point by Miller.
After waiting until the final minute of the first half to score their first points of the game, PC wasted no time to place points on the scoreboard in the second half, scoring on their first possession.
Worrell willed his way to the points on a one-yard dive up the middle that after the converted extra point put PC behind by only 10 at 24-14.
PC tight end Sam Wilson (Clinton, S.C.) made the score a possibility when after Bentley went for it on fourth-and-one, Webb found a wide open Wilson for a 42-yard reception that gave PC the football at the Chants' one-yard line.
The Chanticleers looked as if they would answer PC's two consecutive scores as they marched the football all the way to the PC one-yard line, but Chetyuane Reeder (Clinton, S.C.) made sure that would not happen.
Coastal Carolina's Fordham busted loose for a 62-yard run, but Reeder chased him down to give CCU a first and goal. Reeder and the Blue Hose defense held strong, forcing the Chanticleers to try a field goal.
Reeder broke away from the pack and blocked the field goal try by Durham. The blocked field goal was the first for the Blue Hose in well over a year as the last time that a PC player had blocked a field goal was in the first game of the 2006 season against West Georgia.
Ironically, Reeder was the Blue Hose player to block that attempt as well.
Reeder's blocked kick garnered the Blue Hose the chance to pull within three as Worrell acquired his third rushing touchdown of the game to set the game at 24-21 in favor of Coastal Carolina.
Down 24-0, the Blue Hose were finally able to tally their first points of the game in the final minute of the second quarter when Worrell rushed the ball in from five yards out to set the score at 24-7 Miller's extra point.
Worrell's third rushing touchdown in the last two games capped a 12-play, 66-yard scoring drive for the Blue Hose. The catalyst for the Blue Hose in the first half, Worrell concluded the first half with 87 all purpose yards, collecting eight catches for 65 yards and rushing for 22 more.
In total, the Blue Hose finished the first half with 127 yards of total offense compared to 243 yards of total offense for the Chanticleers.
The Chanticleers did not waste any time in scoring the first points in the first ever meeting between the two schools as they marched 71 yards in 11 plays to take a 7-0 lead over the Blue Hose.
Eric O'Neal scored the touchdown for CCU, rushing up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown with 10:12 left in the first quarter.
Jamar Anderson placed the Chanticleers up by the score of 14-0 a couple drives later when he caught a 75-yard touchdown pass from Will Richardson with 2:05 left in the first quarter.
On PC's next possession, Coastal Carolina's Keon Cunningham intercepted PC starting quarterback Tim Webb and returned the football to the Blue Hose end zone to give the Chants a 21-0 lead with 1:49 left in the first quarter.
The Chanticleers were able to push the lead to 24-0 with 5:32 left in the second quarter when Justin Durham hit a 30-yard field goal through the uprights.
The Blue Hose next travel to the Commonwealth of Virginia for the third and final game of a three-game road swing. PC will take on Liberty at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27 in Lynchburg, Va.
PC returns home the next week for the first time in four weeks to square off against the Chowan Hawks at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3. The game will be the third and final home game of the year for the Blue Hose.
The Chowan game will also be Parents' day at PC.
