GRAYSON, Ky. — Kentucky Christian University held Campbellsville football without a touchdown for the second time in three years at Knight Stadium and defeated the Fighting Tigers, 12-6, on Saturday afternoon.

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"Coming into the game we felt like it wouldn't be a high scoring game," said CU head coach Perry Thomas. "Two of the better defenses in the country went head-to-head today and we knew it would come down to the final possessions. We missed opportunities in the first half to jump on them early and could not capitalize late in the fourth quarter."

CU's only points came from the right leg of junior kicker Will Ward. Ward made a career-long 36-yard field goal to put CU on the board in the second quarter and also tied the game at six just before halftime with a 19-yard field goal.

Campbellsville (3-2, 2-0 MSC West) had a chance in its final possession with just above five minutes left but could not convert with a new set of downs from just outside the 10-yard line.

The second longest drive of the day started at the CU 17 with 5:31 on the clock. Senior quarterback Jacob Russell found senor receiver Trevon Chatman for 12-yards to start the drive and found him twice more later in the drive for a total of 27 yards.

But the duo was unable to connect on fourth down and 14 to go from the 15-yard line, and Campbellsville turned the ball over on downs trailing, 12-6.

Russell went 18-for-33 passing for a total of 192 yards. Chatman finished with 143 yards on eight catches.

Kentucky Christian (4-2, 1-1 MSC East) took over deep in its own territory and was able to run one minute and 30 seconds off the clock before Blake Young recorded his record-breaking seventh solo tackle of the game and 176 of his career. That mark was previously held by Tim Rogers,  former CU defensive standout and Young's former position coach. The record stood for 19 years. 

"Blake is a special player," said Thomas. "He has been a great asset since he has been here. When he gets going and we are able to get him moving around on stunts, he will make plays all over the field."

Campbellsville called timeout and forced KCU into punting formation but a roughing the kicker penalty gave the Knights an automatic first down and the game with 19 seconds remaining.

"I felt confident all along that the breaks would eventually turn our way," said Thomas. "The final drive, we started to turn the tides and march down the field but were unable to punch the ball into the end zone. We have to be able to score in those situations against Top 30 teams in the nation."

The Tigers were unable to muster much offense against the Knights. It all started on the very first possession, as a snap sailed over Russell's head for a 31-yard loss. Campbellsville was unable to get back into positive numbers and ended the day with -11 yards total on the ground. It was the first time CU ended the game with negative rushing yards since the 2004 Georgetown game.

"They are a strong defensive football team," said Thomas. "We still have a young offensive line that is growing and learning each week. Having Andrew Vaughn out hurt us coming in. We knew we would struggle running the ball consistently on them but we ran enough to open up the pass. Going back to the first half, we had three dropped touchdown passes, there was a penalty that took away a touchdown and Chatman caught the ball out of bounds in the end zone. We did what we wanted to do offensively but were unable to capitalize."

Despite the offensive woes, the defense held strong.  Reigning NCCAA Student-Athlete of the Week Dekwain Tarrance recorded three sacks and 10 tackles. Tarrance has now recorded six and a half sacks in his last two games.

Daniel DeLeon regained the leading tackler spot for the Tigers. The senior from Knob Lick, Ky., recorded a career-high 16 tackles and now has 51 through five games.

CU held the Knights to 1-of-15 on third down conversions but KCU was 2-of-3 in fourth down conversions. The two fourth down conversions came on the eventual game-winning drive by the Knights.

Backup quarterback Robert Powell made his second-straight start in place Graham Johnston, who was sitting out with an ankle injury. Powell scrambled for 8 yards on fourth down and 4 to give his team another chance. But on fourth and 17, Powell found teammate Trey Strunk for the go-ahead score with 12:51 left in the fourth quarter.

Strunk went into the air against CU's Steven Delgado. Both came down with the ball in the end zone but tie-possession goes to the offense.

Campbellsville did not help its cause by giving up three turnovers, being called for crucial penalties, and were unable to come up with the big catch when needed.

KCU's Mike Ritter picked off Russell in the first quarter on a deep pass to Chatman, and the Tigers also fumbled four times, losing two.

Chatman fumbled with CU driving late in the third quarter and Jarrod Harrington fumbled on a punt return to set up KCU's first score.

The Fighting Tigers were looking for its first touchdown at KCU's Knight stadium and picked it up late in the first quarter on a pass from Russell to Harrington but the score was negated on an illegal man down field penalty. Also, a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty aided the Knights with an automatic first down on their game-winning drive.

"The turnovers were the difference in the game I thought," said Thomas. "They picked up three against us, and we didn't get any on their four fumbles. They were able to recover every one of them. That's how the ball rolled today."

Campbellsville will now return to Finley Stadium and Citizens Bank Field on Saturday, Oct. 11 to host the Mid-South Conference East leader, No. 6 Georgetown College (4-0, 1-0 MSC East). The game will be amongst the Homecoming activities for Campbellsville University and kickoff is set for 2 p.m. ET. The game will also be a SIDS Awareness Game.

For a complete schedule of Homecoming events, Oct. 9-11, click HERE.

Quick Notes:
*Campbellsville drops to 4-1 against KCU all-time and 1-1 at KCU's Knight Stadium.
*Campbellsville is now 13-11-1 when playing on the first Saturday in October.
*Will Ward made two field goals, one was a 36-yard career-high.
*Blake Young broke the CU record for most solo tackles in a career with seven today. He now has 176 in his career.
*Daniel DeLeon recorded a career-high 16 tackles
*Dekwain Tarrance recorded three sacks today, giving his 6.5 sacks in the last two games.
*Trevon Chatman came into the game with an average of 6.0 receptions per game this season and 5.2 per game in his career. CU offensive coordinator, Ricky Gehres, holds the season record and the career mark is held by Stan Warrenhuffman at 4.3 receptions.
*Campbellsville did not score a touchdown for the second-straight game at Knight Stadium.