CONWAY, S.C. - The Presbyterian College football team lost a heartbreaker at Coastal Carolina Saturday afternoon by a 41-37 score.

The Blue Hose are 0-10 on the season and 0-5 in Big South Conference play. The Chanticleers improve to 5-5 on the year and 3-2 against league competition.

After recovering an onsides kick with 2:54 to play, the Blue Hose earned a first down on a Lance Byrd 13-yard rush, moving to CCU's 44-yard line. A holding penalty made it first-and-21 on the PC 45. However, the team regrouped after a time-out.

On third-and-17, Brandon Miley completed a 15-yard pass to Sean Adegbola to the Coastal Carolina 36. Each team called time and on fourth-and-two, the Chanticleers defense stopped Byrd a yard away from the first down, ending PC's upset bid.

The Blue Hose found themselves down 14-0 with 17 seconds left in the first quarter after the Chanticleers drove 10 plays in 89 yards for a touchdown. PC was then intercepted on its ensuing drive, giving the ball back to the home squad. However, the Blue Hose were up to the challenge, forcing a three-and-out.

Head coach Harold Nichols went to Brandon Miley on the next drive. Although he missed his target on the first play, a holding call on CCU gave the Blue Hose the ball on the 47-yard line. He then completed a pass to Adegbola, getting the ball down the CCU 35. He went back to the well, hitting Adegbola for a 35-yard touchdown on the next play.

The Chanticleers missed on three straight passes, giving PC the ball back with 11:05 to play before halftime.

Miley and the PC offense used a methodical 10-play drive that took 4:40 off the clock. During the drive that resulted in a tie game, Miley hit Sean Armstrong for a 14-yard gainer. The team mixed in a couple Byrd runs and a pass to Byrd. Miley then hit a deep pass to Robert Bumgarner for a 20-yard gain, giving Nichols' team the ball on the 20.

Back-to-back penalties pushed the Blue Hose back to the 28-yard line. On first-and-18, Miley hit Byrd for 18 yards. On the next play, Miley ran through the Chanticleers' defense for the score. Aaron Mayes' extra point knotted the score at 14-14.

With 1:18 left to play in the half, Coastal Carolina started a drive that resulted in the go-ahead touchdown with just 14 ticks left on the clock.

The Chanticleers widened the lead to 14 after the first drive in the second half, but the Blue Hose responded with a three-play, 73-yard drive of their own to once again pull within a touchdown.

After Byrd was stopped behind the line of scrimmage, he reeled of a 30-yard gainer. With the running game clicking, Miley handed the ball off the Michael Ruff, who scampered 44 yards for the touchdown.

Trailing 35-21 with 13 seconds left in the quarter, Ruff ripped off another huge chunk of yardage, getting all the way down to the CCU 17. A sack and two incomplete passes forced PC to try for the field goal, which Mayes drilled from 46 yards out to make the score 35-24.

The Chanticleers quickly responded with a touchdown of their own to put the score at 41-24 after a missed extra point.

Miley directed another scoring drive, this time using nine passes in the 13-play drive. With a few runs mixed in the drive, PC faced a third-and-goal from the three-yard-line. Miley hit Bumgarner for the quick score with 4:52 to play.

Needing to score quickly, PC went for an onsides kick and recovered the ball. Byrd took the hand-off and rushed 12 yards for a first down. On a third-and-nine, Byrd hauled in a pass for the first down. Miley then hooked up with Patrick McKoy on back-to-back plays, the last of which was a 29-yard toss for the touchdown. The Blue Hose then missed the extra point, resulting in the 41-37 score.

For the game, Byrd led the Blue Hose with 22 rushes for 148 yards. Ruff had five carries for 97 yards. Miley had a huge day, completing 20-of-32 passes for 251 yards.

Defensively, Damon Lawrence intercepted a pass and Darnell Epps recovered a fumble. Justin Bethel led the way with 11 total stops and Brian Leonardi had two quarterback hurries.

PC was three-for-three in its red-zone chances and held the ball for 31:21. However, the team amassed 126 yards in penalties.

The Blue Hose recorded 487 yards of total offense to 469 by Coastal Carolina.

The Blue Hose host the Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb on Nov. 21. Kick-off is slated for 1 p.m. The game is the last of the season for PC and is Senior Day.