CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Fighting Tiger football rallied from being down by 33 points late in the third quarter but No. 18 Bethel University mustered enough offense with 1:30 left on the clock and grabbed enough first downs late to defeat Campbellsville on Homecoming, 59-53.
 
Campbellsville (1-5, 0-2 MSC West) jumped out to a 19-3 lead but Bethel (7-0, 1-0 MSC West) answered in the second quarter with a program record 42 points and out-scoring CU 35-7 in the that frame.
 
Tyus Alcorn and Wade Holtsclaw had big days for CU, as the duo grabbed a combined five touchdown catches and 256 receiving yards. With a pair of TD catches today, Alcorn broke the program career-record and pushed his mark to 30 scores.

The big difference today, though, was the time of possession 35:12 to 24:48 in Bethel's favor and three CU turnovers – two in which Bethel took advantage of and scored points.
 
The momentum turned after the Wildcats picked up a pair of third down conversions midway through the second quarter leading to a one-yard rushing touchdown by Devan Raymer. Raymer finished with a game-high 135 yards rushing.

After cutting the lead to nine points, 19-10, the Wildcats turned the the tides with their special teams. The ensuing kickoff was a short pooch kick and Bethel recovered, which led to a one-play 24-yard TD catch from Kerry Sellers to Raymer cutting into the lead, 19-17. The Wildcats then scored on seven-straight possessions.

After Hunter Brown hit Wade Holtsclaw for a TD catch and pushing CU's lead back to nine, 26-17, the Wildcats answered with a 26-yard TD catch by Quincy Walden. Bethel once again used its special teams to set them up for great field position. The ensuing kickoff was another pooch kick that led to the second-straight drive that scored in just one play – a Sellers to Walden 35-yard hookup – giving the Wildcats their first lead, 31-26.

Bethel then pushed its lead to 45-26 at halftime.

Coming out of halftime the Wildcats scored on their first drive as Sellers hit Breon Melvin for a 24-yard TD. The Wildcats then pushed their lead to 33 points on a Bobby Wright 1-yard rush up the middle.

But with 2:08 left in the third quarter, Campbellsville decided enough was enough and it wouldn't be embarrassed on Homecoming. CU's defense came alive and on the next five possessions stopped the Wildcats by forcing a punt or picking up a turnover. On the flip side, the Tigers scored four of its next five possessions.

Holtsclaw started the rally with a bobbling catch for a 14-yard TD to spark the Fighting Tigers with the first of 27 unanswered points. In addition to his team-leading 51 yards on the ground on seven rushes, Holtsclaw grabbed three touchdown receptions to lead CU as well.
 
The two Mid-South Conference foes traded turnovers but it was Campbellsville who took advantage this time as Alcorn grabbed his second TD – a 35-yarder from Brown - cutting Bethel's lead to 19 points, 59-40. That grab by Alcorn enshrined him into the record books with 30 career TDs – breaking Demytreus Gipson's mark of 29 set from 2011-2014.

But CU wasn't finished. Just 2:55 later, Brown rushed for a 1-yard TD with 10:20 left, cutting the score to 13, 59-46. He finished the day throwing for 556 yards and six touchdowns.

After CU stopped the Wildcats and forced a punt, the life started to come back in the packed Finley Stadium. A pair of targeting and unsportsmanlike penalties led to two ejections for Bethel and CU took advantage.

After the first ejection, Brown hit Alcorn for a 60-yard bomb, which set up Holtsclaw's second touchdown reception – a four-yarder — cutting the Bethel lead to six, 59-53.

Campbellsville then gave it a valiant effort but came up just a tad short. The Tigers forced another punt that ended up going into the end zone for a touchback. After a sack by Bethel setting up a 4^th and 15, Brown hit Zerric Willis for a 20-yard reception across the middle to keep CU's hopes alive – it was the second fourth-down conversion hookup for Brown and Willis in the final quarter.

CU once again picked up a huge play – a 15-yard reception by Jordan Duff – moving the ball to the 50-yard line. Then a pass interference call set CU up on the Bethel 37 but that was as far as CU would get. On fourth down, Brown looked for an open Duff streaking down the right sideline, but overthrew his teammate, turning the ball over on downs. After two first downs, the Wildcats forced CU to use their timeouts but ended up running out of time.

Campbellsville will now swap road-home games the rest of the season. CU will travel to Lebanon, Tenn. to play Cumberland University on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. ET. The Fighting Tigers will be back at Finley Stadium on Oct. 29 against Lindsey Wilson College.

For a complete recap of the Homecoming activities - click HERE