CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – An early spark in the second half cut Georgetown College's lead in half, but Campbellsville University was unable to rally back against the No. 2 team in the NAIA, falling 42-13 at Finley Stadium and Citizens Bank Field on Saturday.

Campbellsville received career performances by two of its sophomore defenders: Darius Skinner and Blake Yong.

Skinner, who broke a school record with 186 yards on 6 kick returns, also forced three turnovers to stop Georgetown's offense. He stripped two fumbles in CU territory, including one at the goal line, which he went on to recover. He also picked off a pass and knocked down a ball at the CU 2. He finished the day as CU's leader in total yards with 199.

Defensively, his five solo tackles were second on the team behind another career-high game by sophomore linebacker Blake Young, who had seven solo stops and eight assisted stops for a career-high 15 tackles. He also had two break ups.

"Darius had a good day defensively and in the kicking game," Thomas said. "I thought today, he played like a preseason All-American should."

Campbellsville opened the second half with a quick strike, aided by a 63-yard kickoff return by Darius Skinner. The return gave CU the ball on Georgetown's 31. After an 8-yard screen pass to Seth McFerrin and a pass interference call, Bryan Parnes found completed an 8-yard touchdown to Demetric Ray to dot the Tigers "I' in the East end zone. With only a minute spent off the clock, CU had cut Georgetown's lead to 21-13.

That spark was snuffed out two possessions later when Jarrod Harrington was charged with a fumble on a muffed punt after appearing to be bumped by a Georgetown player. Georgetown recovered and went on to find the end zone on two of its next three drives for the eventual final score.

"In the beginning of the second half, we had a little momentum, but the fumbled punt kind of shifted things back a little bit to them," said CU head coach Perry Thomas. "Our guys didn't quit in the second half. Defensively, we played much better on the back end. They continued to attack. It's not like they called the dogs off early. Offensively, we were able to move the ball and had some positive stuff.

"We gave up too many plays early. We've played well in the secondary. There's no explanation why we didn't today. Obviously, we were playing the No. 2 team in the country, but I don't think it was anything they did. We've seen more complicated schemes. We just didn't play well back there."

Some of those early big plays were touchdown passes of 55 and 80 yards in the second quarter from GC sophomore quarterback Neal Pawsat to Randy Doss and Melvin Posey.  

Georgetown opened the game by marching 79 yards in eight plays to take a 7-0 lead on a 7-yard touchdown run by Zach Sowder. Casey Clarke and the maroon Tigers responded with a 30-yard field goal on the ensuing drive.

However, Georgetown did not allow another CU score until the final play of the half.

After Campbellsville's 49-yard drive to reach field-goal range, Pawsat found Doss and Posey on the two big TD catches. Posey also scored on a 2-yard run to stretch Georgetown's lead to 28-3. Pawsat had a career-high 477 yards passing and four TDs.

Clarke closed the first half with a 31-yard field goal for his 22^nd consecutive point, dating back to CU's final extra point at Belhaven on Sept. 22.

Campbellsville (1-5, 0-2 MSC West) will return home Saturday, Oct. 13 to host Lindsey Wilson College for Homecoming. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:06 p.m. The game will be televised nation-wide on FOX College Sports.

For a complete schedule of Homecoming events, visit www.campbellsville.edu/homecoming.