CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Presbyterian College finished its first year of NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Football with a winning record, but the Blue Hose ended the season on a somewhat sour note on Saturday with a 28-24 loss to Charleston Southern at CSU Stadium.
The Blue Hose conclude their first FCS season with a 6-5 record, while CSU will play their final game of the 2007 season against Coastal Carolina next Saturday with a 5-5 ledger entering the contest.
PC was 2-2 against Big South teams in their first FCS season with wins over Coastal Carolina and VMI.
In a season full of record-breaking performances, PC concluded their final game having reset the record for most points in a season with 404 points. The old record was 402 set in the 2005 season.
The score tied 21-21 in the final minutes of the game, PC took back the lead at 24-21 when Cam Miller (Lyman, S.C.) hit a career long 40-yard field goal with just over a minute left.
Charleston Southern would take their first lead of the game and claim the victory with seven seconds left in the game when Sidney Bryant found Dee Brown for the game-winning touchdown.
S.J. Worrell (Madison, Ga.) led the Blue Hose offensively in the loss, finishing his sophomore season with his second 100-yard game of the year and third of his career in the CSU game with 113 yards on 17 carries.
Teammate Larry Thomas (Orangeburg, S.C.) set a new personal-high in the contest with 10 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown.
The Blue Hose defense had two players record double-digit tackles in the game as Chris Bowman (Conway, S.C.) and Ryan Anderson (Forest, Va.) both finished the game with career-highs in total stops. Bowman had 14 tackles in the loss, while Anderson ended the game with 13 stops.
Bryant led CSU in the game, ending his efforts on the day with 382 yards passing and four touchdowns.
The Blue Hose wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the game, winning the coin toss prior to the game and electing to take the football.
PC took full advantage of their first possession of the game, marching 72 yards in eight plays to score their first touchdown of the game on a 17-yard pass from Mullins to S.J. Worrell with 11:41 left in the first quarter.
PC's 7-0 lead was made possible after a drive that included Butler completing his second pass in as many weeks from his wide receiver position when he calmly searched for an open receiver on a double reverse, eventually finding Durant for a 23-yard reception.
The Blue Hose pushed its lead out to 14 with just under a minute left in the first quarter, but this time it was the defense that scored the points.
The Buccaneers had looked as if they were going to tie the football game at 7-7, pushing their way inside the Blue Hose 10-yard line. CSU quarterback Sidney Bryant then garnered PC a huge break when he fumbled the football.
Chetyuane Reeder (Clinton, S.C.) opportunistically plucked the football off the carpet and then matriculated the football up the field for a 78-yard touchdown to give PC a 14-0 lead after Cam Miller's (Lyman, S.C.) extra point.
Reeder's fumble return for a touchdown marked the first time since the 2005 season that a Blue Hose defensive player had returned a fumble for Blue Hose points. Prior to Reeder's touchdown the last time a PC defensive player had returned a fumble for a touchdown was in the 2005 season when Antwan Thomas (Hawkinsville, Ga.) returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown in PC's 37-3 victory over Carson-Newman on Oct. 8, 2005.
Charleston Southern on its first possession of the second quarter pulled to within seven at 14-7 when Markus Murry caught a five-yard touchdown pass from Bryant with 13:50 left in the second quarter.
The Blue Hose would then pull back on top by 14 with 4:29 left in the first half when Mullins found Larry Thomas (Orangeburg, S.C.) for a six-yard touchdown reception that earned PC a 21-7 lead.
The touchdown was Thomas' team second-best seventh touchdown reception of the year.
The Buccaneers would pull back to within seven on their very final possession of the first half as Bryant found Vernon Huger for a four-yard touchdown with 28 seconds left in the half to set the score at 21-14 in favor of the Blue Hose.
After neither team could find the end zone in the third quarter, Charleston Southern tied the game at 21-21 with 13:48 left in the game when Bryant found a streaking Dee Brown for a 53-yard touchdown reception.
