Owls quarterback Chandler Burks rushed for a 1-yard touchdown with 16 seconds left to lift the Kennesaw State Owls over the North Greenville Crusaders at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
Division II rising power North Greenville took a 34-31 lead over Kennesaw State with five minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Red-shirt quarterback Will Hunter threw for 283 yards and 3 touchdowns including the go-ahead score to Robbie Brown.
The Crusaders scored the first touchdown of the game on a 15-yard run by Ashton Heard. Hunter completed four passes for 59 yards on the 70-yard drive.
Owls fans only had to wait two minutes for a response. Shaquil Terry erased first-and-24 with a 61-yard run to the Crusaders 3. Burks called his own number twice before getting into the end zone from 1 yard out.
Kennesaw charged out to a 21-7 lead by the top of the second but the Crusaders came charging back to close within five at the horn. Matt Gravely split the uprights from 39 yards out as time expired in the half.
Scoring in the third didn’t change the gap on the scoreboard. The Owls dominated the time of possession with a seven-and-a-half minute 69-yard scoring drive. North Greenville answered the score with their last possession. Again it was Hunter through the air. Christian Bruce found a soft spot in the Owls’ defense in front of the upright and Hunter found him.
Gravely and Justin Thompson traded field goals to set up the dramatic finish. The Owls made sure the clock was nearly gone when they scored the go-ahead touchdown. Burks passed the ball twice on the drive to keep the Crusaders’ defense honest. The Owls rushed seven consecutive times taking the clock from two-and-a-half minutes down to less than 30 seconds.
North Greenville had 12 seconds to move the ball 75 yards. Keon Roman ended all hopes the Crusaders may have had by intercepting Hunter on the first play.
The Owls improved their record to 3-1 overall.
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All photos by Jason McDonald, CORE360 Sports