Box Score Senior Day is supposed to be a day where senior football players step up big, and Homecoming should always be memorable. Senior defensive back Calvin Bini made sure both came true for Campbellsville University on Saturday, as he blocked a field goal to secure a 22-21 victory over Faulkner University with 18 seconds left to play.

 

With the Tigers holding a narrow lead, Faulkner drove 48 yards in seven plays to set up a potential game-winning field goal try from 37 yards. Bini slipped around the left side and blocked the kick as it came off the foot of Faulkner kicker Thomas Price, as the Finley Stadium crowd erupted in cheers.

"I got over there to the short side and they didn't have the personnel over there to line up. I just came in tight and took it off the kicker's foot," Bini said. "As a kid you dream so much about playing college football, and then senior day comes and it's kind of surreal because it happened so fast, but it's good to pull a victory out in my final home game."

The win snaps a four-year losing skid on Homecoming, giving the Tigers their first Homecoming win since a 62-60 barn burner over Cumberland University on Oct. 22, 2005.

"I thought this was a huge win for our program. I think you can see signs today of what we've been talking about learning to compete for 60 minutes of championship football. Today we still didn't do it. We had some let downs, but at the same times I thought our guys kicked a little bit of that door down and found a way to win one of these battles in the end," CU head coach Perry Thomas said. "The seniors go off of this field with a victory and I think we put on a good show for the crowd. They got their money's worth, that's for sure."

Campbellsville opened the game with a 12-0 halftime lead after eating up nearly 20 minutes of first half clock on offense.

The Tigers moved the ball to the Faulkner 24 after the first three minute of play, but turned the ball over on downs back to the Eagles. However, the Tiger defense only had one play, as Derek Mincy forced a fumble on the first offensive snap by Faulkner and Jeffrey Demary recovered. CU's offense took back over on the 21. Four plays and 1:21 later, Mark Terry found the end zone from nine yards out for the Tigers' first points, 6-0.

With 11 minutes of offensive possession in the first half, the Tiger defense kept Faulkner off the field, allowing only one first down in the opening quarter.

Campbellsville opened the second quarter with a near six-minute drive that ended in a 53-yard touchdown pass to Gerwan Brewer from Will Warf. The Tigers opted for a 2-point try since David Hon's extra point failed in the first quarter, but Warf's pass attempt failed.

Faulkner's offense began to wake up in the second quarter, driving to the Tiger 27. As Faulkner QB Zach Tribble threw his first pass into the end zone, Bini was there for his first big play of the game - a touchdown-saving interception. The Tiger offense looked to turn the takeaway into points, but was shutdown with a high snap on third down that lost 23 yards and killed the drive.

Tribble threw another interception inside the red zone, as Tiger freshman Chris Chapman picked off a pass on the CU 16. However, Campbellsville was held scoreless for the rest of the half.

Time of possession flipped in the second half, as the Eagles drove the field and take seven minutes off the clock to open the third quarter. The 60-yard drive stalled at the Tiger eight yard line, setting up a 25-yard field goal try by Price, which was blocked by senior Trey Mayes.

Campbellsville responded with an 80-yard drive before Terry had the ball jarred loose as he flipped toward the goal line on his second attempt at a touchdown in the game. Raquil Ward recovered the Anthony Haywood forced fumble and returned it to the CU 30 to set up a six-minute touchdown drive by Faulkner. Tribble found Jur Williams on a 5-yard pass to put Faulkner on the board, 12-7, to start the fourth quarter.

Hon stretched the lead back to a touchdown difference with a 20-yard field goal, after Terry and Wayne Coffee combined for 66 yards on the ground to drive inside the Eagle 5.

Faulkner's next score came as a result of a Tiger turnover following a fumble by Brewer, recovered by Trent Ross. On a flea-flicker, Deonta Allen found Kameron Clay for a 35-yard strike, pulling the visitors from Alabama within two points, 15-13, with 11 minutes left in the game. The Eagles struck again with seven minutes left on a 4-yard run by Tris McCathern and 2-point pass from Tribble to Leslie Jones to give Faulkner a 21-15 lead.

Facing their fifth straight Homecoming loss, the Tiger offense was forced to be patient. After holding Faulkner three-and-out with 3:34 left, the Tigers took over on their own 13.

This was the time for the first-year Tigers to shine on Senior Day. Brewer, who had 203 all-purpose yards, set up the go-ahead touchdown by collecting 42 of the Tigers' 87 yards on their final offensive drive. Terry finished it out with a 2-yard score to tie the game and give him 229 yards rushing. Hon converted the extra point kick to take the lead, 22-21.

"The play coach called, we usually have success on. I knew it was going to be there, but I figured I'd have to cut it back, because they were trying to edge off the whole game. I saw the cut back lane for the end zone and went for it" Terry said of his game-tying score. "We did it for the seniors to win a homecoming and to win that last home game. It's my first year, and I've had more fun this year than anytime."

Campbellsville (5-4) takes a week off before traveling to the University of Virginia at Wise on Nov. 6. Kickoff will be 1:30 p.m. ET.

STATS

PHOTO GALLERY 1 | PHOTO GALLERY 2


NOTES
- Mark Terry rushed for a career-high 229 yards, becoming the sixth Tiger running back to rush for 200 yards in a game.

- Will Warf's touchdown pass to Gerwan Brewer in the second quarter tied the school record for most team touchdown passes and touchdown receptions in a season (20).

- Prior to the game, Campbellsville honored 12 senior football players: Trey Mayes, Karl-Henry Charles, Dexter McAtee Jr., Geoffrey James, Calvin Bini, Detrick Briggs, Cedric Taylor, Quinn Givhan, Blake Robbins, A.J. Brown, Lincoln "Bubba" Lawless and Matt Rigdon. CU senior Tiger Hostesses Robin Hopkins and Ashley Todd were also honored, along with CU manager Matt Hayden.

- Prior to the game, Donna Pierce was honored for 22 years of service as the Fighting Tigers' administrative assistant. She will retire at the end of the year.

- Prior to the game, Campbellsville's all-time leading rusher Greg Fountain was introduced to the crowd. Fountain recently was named the Maple League Import Player of the Year in Finland after leading the Maple League in yards rushing as a pro player in 2010.

- During halftime, Faith Manion of Leitchfield, Ky., was crowned the 2010 Homecoming Queen. She represented the CU Honors Club in the Homecoming Court. First runner-up was Brooke Cato of Woodburn, Ky., and second runner-up was junior women's soccer player Leslie Carver of Alexandria, Ky.

- Grand prize of the CU Homecoming Parade float competition went to Baptist Campus Ministries. K.E.A.-S.P. was second and Connected Cultures was third.


QUOTES
PERRY THOMAS - Head Coach
On the senior class
"This group has continued to move the program to the next level. We're not there yet, but they've been an instrumental part of the progress we have made here. It's tough when you get a new coach, because you get a new philosophy. It's tough when you're building, because you have to do so much mental discipline to build, and these guys have hung in there with us. They're the ones that stayed. The first year we got here, a lot of them ran off. These guys are the ones that stayed, so we're extremely proud of them."

On Calvin Bini
"I thought Calvin stepped up big. We needed him today. That's what you want out of your leaders. You want your leaders to step up when the game's on the line. You always hear the phrase that big time players show up to play in big time games, and that's basically at any time when the game's on the line, you need those leaders to come through for you. I thought Calvin did today. He blocked the field goal and had some other big plays."

On Gerwan Brewer


"If there's an All-American athlete position on that NAIA All-American team, I think Gerwan has to be a candidate for that. He shows up in every phase of the game - in the kicking game, whether it's returning or making tackles. Offensively out of the backfield or as a receiver. He's a dandy, and we have him back three more years."

"Gerwan's a playmaker. Most of the time if you say a guy's a playmaker, you're saying on offense or at a certain position, but Gerwan's a playmaker at whatever he's in. To be honest with you, on that last drive that Faulkner had, I thought hard about putting Gerwan in at safety, just because he's the type of kid you can put back there and make something happen. We didn't do it, because we have a lot of confidence in those guys."

On having alumnus Greg Fountain and other alumni at the game
"It's great to have Greg back and down on the sideline. A lot of these guys played with Greg and he was part of the foundation of what we're trying to build now. It was also great to see so many of the alumni back. I probably had 10 to 15 of them come in my office before the game, I mean guys that were on the first team, and tell me, 'Coach, we're proud of what's going on here. We're behind you and we like where things are going. Just keep up the good work.' That means a lot to you as a coach and the team and program. We certainly want those guys proud of where this program is going."

CALVIN BINI
On the field goal block
"There was a little confusion. Usually I line up on the left side, but then they called right block and they over loaded on the right side, so me and Ced (Cedric Taylor) switched. He was like, 'Go ahead and get it. Go ahead and get it.' Then at the last second, coach yelled, 'Left, left,' so me and Ced did another switched again, a double switch. I got over here to the short side and they didn't have the personnel over there to line up. I just came tight off his butt and took it off the kicker's foot."

On his interception in the end zone first half
"I was going with my coaching ... We're taught to read the receiver and read his eyes. When you see his eyes get big and look up, you know its time to look up. That's what I did and the ball was there."

On his senior season
"Although it has been kind of a down year, I got a lot of positive from it, I'm not going to lie. With my relationship with the Lord, the adversity I've been facing my senior year has allowed me to rely more in the Lord. As a Chrsitian, things aren't always going to go your way. I've learned how to stay positive and keep glorifying the Lord and doing my . Even though I haven't been as productive as I'd like to be statistically, I think it's a great thing because I've been able to grow as a man and a Christian."

MARK TERRY
On his third quarter fumble
"The defender got up under me and put his head on the ball. He made a good play. I wish I could take it back."

CHRIS CHAPMAN
On his first career interception
"They were throwing curl routes the whole game. I gave them a little move to the right and I just in front of the route. The quarterback was showing us the whole game where he was throwing the ball, I was just lucky to come down with the ball."


Updated 10/24/10, 11:07 p.m. ET