Box Score For the first time this season there was no mud on HIG Field, but the Campbellsville University Fighting Tigers still had to play through the slop before turning Senior Day into a second-half thriller. Campbellsville overcame a 20-3 deficit to beat Union College, 31-29, and guarantee the program's first winning season since 2004.
"This win just moves us to another level in this program," said Campbellsville University head coach
Perry Thomas, who took over the CU program in 2008 after a 0-10 season the year before. "It also says a lot about our seniors' character for staying with the program and not giving up in the tough years."
Campbellsville's first six-win season since 2004 looked like it may have to wait another week during the first half, as the Tigers were held to three first downs, despite out gaining Union, 173 yards to 89. The difference maker was three fumbles. The first of which was returned 55 yards for a Union touchdown by Josh Littleton and a 7-0 lead six minutes into the game.
Tiger wide out Harold Small was stripped of the ball on the fifth play of Campbellsville's next drive to help set up a 32-yard Union field goal by Chad Boyington. Before the Tigers realized it, they'd given up 10 points off turnovers. Union punched up two more field goals in the first half before Campbellsville found the board with a 37-yard field goal by David Hon with 1:23 left in the period.
With the offense sputtering, redshirt freshman quarterback Nathan Cooper decided he better refocus.
"I made bad decisions. I know I don't play that way," Cooper said. "I just went in at halftime and got my thoughts together and came out in the second half to start over."
Union didn't allow CU to get rolling right out of the half, as William Roundtree picked off a Cooper pass and took it 42-yards for a touchdown. The Bulldog lead extended to 20-3, with 17 points coming off Tiger turnovers.
It took only three plays and 32 seconds for Campbellsville to answer, as Cooper found
Calvin Mann on a 56-yard pass for the Tigers' first touchdown, cutting the Union lead down, 20-10. Boyington added his third field goal late in the third quarter to give a touchdown lead, 23-10.
But that's when Cooper and the Tigers really found their rhythm. Having already thrown 129 yards in the third quarter, Cooper continued with 118 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Giving credit to his linemen, receivers and the wind, he finished the game with a career-high 346 yards, the third most all-time by a CU quarterback in a game.
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"Our guys didn't drop their heads, and they continued to listen to the coaches. It was their adjustments, not ours, that got them going once they began to execute," Thomas said. "As the game went on, it got a little exciting in the stadium, and that helped us."
David Mason scored from 3 yards out early in the fourth to pull within a touchdown, 23-17. Three minutes later, Cooper found
Josh Madding hanging above the back line of the end zone for a game-tying touchdown from 24 yards out.
"I don't know how he got it," Cooper said. "I knew he would get back there, but I didn't know if he'd be able to stay in bounds."
Cooper extended the lead with 6:29 to play, finding Small on a 52-yard touchdown pass. Hon was perfect on the day, 4-of-4, on extra point tries, helping to give CU the win.
The Tiger defense was the mainstay, holding Union to 229 yards, nearly 170 yards less than the Bulldogs' average per game.
"We've got a heck of a defense … We have all year," said junior linebacker Trey Mayes. "It's really good to see us fight back. We never give up, and that's what Coach Thomas teaches us."
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Jeffery DeMary and the CU defense wraps up a Union player.
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Union fought back to score a touchdown with 1:08 to play on a 2-yard pass from Mike Brikley to Demetrius Hicks. However, senior
Sherman Williams stepped up to pressure and knock down a two-point conversion pass and preserve the win, 31-29.
"When I first got here, things were tough, but the seniors laid the foundation. When I became a senior, it got in my head that we have to work hard no matter what the conditions,"
Williams said. "I'm just glad to get the win. There's nothing more I can say, but 'Go CU!'"
Jeffery DeMary and
Dwight Houston led the Tiger defense with 11 tackles each. DeMary had two behind the line of scrimmage for a total loss of 18 yards. Mayes and
William Harris each had a sack.
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Before the game, Campbellsville University honored 17 seniors: Tiger hostess Megan Keeling of Springfield, Ky.; wide receiver
Michael Thomas of Fort Valley, Ga.; linebacker
Chris Folck of Andersonville, Tenn.; wide receiver
Russell Parker of Bowling Green, Ky.; linebacker and student assistant Kyle Long of Liberty, Ky.; linebacker
Eric Washburn of Lenoir City, Tenn.; kicker
William Smallwood of Cecilia, Ky.; linebacker
Tyler Jackson of Webster, Ky.; linebacker
Trapper Williams of Franklin, Ky.; guard
Kendall Young of Lancaster, Ky.; offensive lineman
Cody McNeal of White Bluff, Tenn.; offensive lineman
Will Brooks of Morristown, Tenn.; tight end Shane Vertrees of Louisville, Ky.; wide receiver
Cameron Logan of Owentown, Ky.; nose guard
Madison Pohl of Lexington, Ky.; nose guard
Sherman Williams of Louisville, Ky.; and defensive tackle
Daniel Elliott of Russellville, Ky.
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The win not only honored the seniors, but also marked the final game to be played on natural grass at Finley Stadium. The Campbellsville University Board of Trustees unanimously approved a motion to add synthetic turf to the field before next season. More than $500,000 has been raised for the $1.2 million campaign that will add turf and lights to the football field and lights at the baseball stadium.
CU (6-4, 3-2 MSC East) travels to Pikeville College next Saturday to close the regular season with a 1:30 p.m. game.
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