CHICAGO, Ill.  – Campbellsville University had two late opportunities Saturday but was unable to reclaim its lead late in a 38-35 loss at No. 3 Saint Xavier University in the NAIA Football Championship Series First Round.

The loss ends Campbellsville's season at 7-4 after a historic turnaround from a 3-7 last season to win the Mid-South Conference West Division and earn its first NAIA postseason bid in 13 years.

"We came into the No. 3 ranked team in the nation's home stands and took them to the wire. You have to be proud of that. I'm proud of the way our guys took the fight to them. They took a giant bite of that wanting to be national champions," CU head coach Perry Thomas said. "They're hurting right now, because they feel like they let one go and let it get away from us, and they're hurting because they feel they're the best team in the country, or one of the best teams, and they are. They are deserving of that recognition. On any given day, there's no one out there this team cannot beat. If we play this team today on a neutral field or at home, we probably win."

CU jumped on top early, and Saint Xavier quickly responded – setting the tone for one of the most competitive NAIA battles of the day.

The Fighting Tigers easily marched down field on the opening possession, moving 75 yards in three minutes. A 35-yard reception by A.J. Strong from Jacob Russell helped set up an 8-yard touchdown connection from Russell to Demytreus Gipson. It was the first of five passing touchdowns in the game for CU.

However, Saint Xavier eased its way downfield in the alternate possession to even the score, 7-7. The drive was kept alive by a fourth and 1 run up the middle by Mike Ivlow, who later capped the drive on a similar play for a 9-yard TD.
 

The Cougars took a 14-7 lead after Stephen Simms beat the CU defense on pass coverage and raced 97 yards for the go-ahead touchdown pass from John Rhode. However, the Tigers responded with their own big play.

After mixing in Tajh Milliken at quarterback for the first time in three weeks, the redshirt sophomore hit Trevon Chatman for a 72-yard touchdown to even the score with 5:55 to play in the first half. It was the first of three touchdowns in a record-setting performance by Chatman, and Milliken finished the day with 107 yards on 3-of-4 passing and 52 yards on the ground.

The Fighting Tigers held SXU to a field goal late in the first half, but CU responded in hurry-up mode, traveling 64 yards in less than 1:20. Gipson went up for a one-handed grab in the end zone, but could not grip the ball, eventually using his legs to help trap it in his lap for a go-ahead, 14-yard touchdown just 30 seconds before halftime.

Leading 21-17 after halftime, Campbellsville worked to quickly keep momentum.

CU held Saint Xavier on four quick plays and turned it over on downs at the SXU 26. Three plays later, Russell found Chatman for an insurance score, 28-17.

Saint Xavier did not fade away. The Cougars scored the next 21 points of the game, including a 25-yard touchdown reception by Nick DeBenedetti and a 47-yard TD catch by Simms, both by Rhodes. The SXU quarterback finished the game with 416 yards on 30-of-50 passing and was later edged by Simms for Offensive Player of the Game. Simms finished with 210 yards receiving.

The last SXU score was aided by a fumble by Strong at the SXU 21. It was CU's only turnover of the day.

"The biggest play of the game was that fumble, because at that point, we kind of lost our edge. We lost our cushion and that gave them an edge, but that's the ebbs and flows of football," Thomas said.

CU answered immediately, driving 72 yards in six players using less than three minutes of clock. Jarrod Harrington and Milliken rushed for 21 and 24 yards, respectively, on consecutive plays to start the drive, and then Russell later hit Chatman for his third score, pulling Campbellsville within three, 38-35, with 7:56 to play.

SXU appeared to be striking back, but Percy Minor picked off Rhodes at the CU 5. Russell was sacked three times on the following drive, giving SXU the ball once more. After the Cougars' fake field goal failed with 57 seconds to play, CU had one last shot but Russell could not connect with his receivers, as the season fell to a close.

"These guys are resilient. They battled back and have battled back all year and beat some really good teams. We got beat by a good team today. It hurts right now, but there's nothing to be ashamed about today's defeat," Thomas said. "At the end, you kind of saw the difference of where Saint Xavier is at right now and where we're trying to get to. They're used to being in this situation."

Chatman's and Gipson's touchdowns in the game gave them both 12 touchdown catches for the season, which breaks a 12-year old record first set by Shane Riley in 2002 of 11 TD catches. Gipson also broke Riley's single-season receiving yards record (1,009) and finishes the year with 1,083 yards. Gipson had 999.

"I'm a defensive coordinator, and I'm glad I don't have to defense them," Thomas said of the receiving duo. "These guys are not only good hands guys but they're big play guys. You can throw a 5 yard pass and they can go score with it. They've been a tremendous addition to our program and flipping the switch here."

CU's defense was led by senior linebackers Blake Young and Daniel DeLeon with 13 and 12 tackles, respectively. Minor and Steven Delgado each had six.

Greg Hayward, the 2014 Mid-States Football Association MidWest Defensive Player of the Year, was named the Defensive Player of the Game after leading Saint Xavier with seven tackles, including four sacks for a total loss of 23 yards. He also had two quarterback hurries. Mark Williams, Alex Walters and Dan Fitzgerald also had seven tackles for SXU.

The third-ranked Cougars (9-2) will await their NAIA Quarterfinal pairing, which will be announced Sunday, Nov. 23 at 1 p.m. EST.

Campbellsville is currently scheduled to open the 2015 season on Sept. 12 at No. 23 Webber International University in Babson Park, Fla.