BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? Presbyterian College football outscored Samford in the second half, but the Blue Hose could not emerge with the victory as the Bulldogs took a 34-24 win on a rainy Thursday evening at Seibert Stadium.
The score was tied 21-21 in the opening minutes of the final quarter, but Samford scored 13 in the fourth quarter to secure the win. The Bulldogs improved to 2-1 with the victory, while PC dropped to 1-2.
PC running back S.J. Worrell (Madison, Ga.) led the Blue Hose in the game, finishing with 124 yards of total offense. Worrell had 52 yards and a touchdown receiving in the contest and rushed for 72 yards on 15 carries.
He was one of three Blue Hose to secure a touchdown catch as Justin Durant (Florence, S.C.) and Brandon Clark (Duluth, Ga.) both hauled in touchdown passes as well.
PC quarterback Grayson Mullins (Columbia, S.C.) passed for 213 yards in the loss, completing 23 of his 47 pass attempts.
Mullins' 47 pass attempts marked the first time since the 2005 season when Zach Ellis attempted 44 passes in the NCAA Division II Playoff loss to Central Arkansas that a Blue Hose hurler had attempted 40-plus passes.
Antoine Carter (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Adam McKinney (Augusta, Ga.) both led the Blue Hose defensively in the loss with seven tackles each. Carter had six solo stops, while McKinney had five solo tackles.
The Blue Hose entered the fourth quarter down by seven, but quickly changed that when Anthony McKnight (Sumter, S.C.) intercepted Samford quarterback Jefferson Adcock and returned the football to Samford 13-yard line.
The Blue Hose did not wait long to tie the game at 21-21 as Mullins found Durant for a 13-yard touchdown on PC's first play offensively on the fourth quarter. The touchdown reception was the first of the season for Durant.
The Bulldogs would take back the lead with 12:28 left to play in the game when Derek Slaughter stripped Worrell (Madison, Ga.) and returned the football 55 yards to put Samford ahead 27-21.
The score would remain 27-21 though after Samford was charged with unsportsmanlike conduct, thus forcing them to try a 35-yard extra point. PC's Chetyuane Reeder (Clinton, S.C.) blocked the try and the Blue Hose kept it within six.
The Blue Hose would pull closer on their next possession with Cam Miller (Lyman, S.C.) squeaking in a 33-yard field goal to put PC behind by just three at 27-24.
PC trailed the Bulldogs 21-7 at the halftime buzzer, but Mullins somehow found Clark (Duluth, Ga.) for a 14-yard touchdown reception on PC's second possession of the third quarter.
Mullins' seemingly had nobody open on third-and-six from the 14-yard line, but threaded the football in nicely to the back of the end zone into the diving hands of Clark.
The Bulldogs looked as if they would push the lead back to 14, but the defense would not let it happen. Samford had the ball as close as third and inches just outside the end zone, but Julius Dixon's Blue Hose defense forced the Bulldogs into a fumble that caused the Bulldogs to settle for a field goal attempt.
The Bulldogs would not be able to convert the chance as field goal kicker Mark Prevost missed a 23-yard field goal to keep the score 21-14 and the Blue Hose in the game entering the fourth and final quarter.
Down 7-0 in the opening moments of the contest, PC responded to Samford finding the end zone on its first possession of the game by marching 80 yards on nine plays on its third possession of the contest to square the game at 7-7 after Miller's extra point went through the uprights.
Worrell (Madison, Ga.) scored PC's first points of the game when he took advantage of a well-timed shovel pass from Mullins to bust up the middle for 31 yards and find the end zone for his second touchdown reception of the season.
The Bulldogs moved their way back ahead on the very next possession, ending the first quarter with a 14-7 lead after Samford quarterback Jefferson Adcock found Joe Jones for a 23-yard touchdown.
Samford pulled ahead by 14 shortly thereafter when Mullins' pass was intercepted by Jay McCurty off a carom by PC wide receiver Terrance Butler. The ball fell into McCurty's hands at the PC 36-yard line and he did the rest, taking it to the end zone untouched to place Samford on top 21-7.
It marked the first time that the Blue Hose had allowed an interception to be returned for a touchdown since PC fell 21-13 at Bailey Memorial Stadium to Charleston Southern in week two of the 2006 season.
Samford running back Adrian Bradley kicked off the game's scoring and gave the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead when he scored on a two-yard run with 9:23 left in the first quarter.
The Blue Hose will next travel to Cullowhee, N.C. to take on the Western Carolina Catamounts at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22 at Whitmire Stadium. It is the second of three consecutive road tilts for PC.
PC will follow that up by playing North Carolina Central at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29 before returning to Bailey Memorial Stadium for its Homecoming game against North Greenville on Saturday, Oct. 6. The Blue Hose and Crusaders will kick things off at 2 p.m.
