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CU football takes down NAIA No. 3 Faulkner - at Montgomery

Campbellsville takes a bit out of NAIA Top 5 with win over 3rd-ranked Faulkner before Hilyer Stadium of 1200
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By Jordan Alves, CU Sports Information Director

Montgomery, AL (Sat 3 Oct 2013) - It was a record-setting day for Campbellsville Fighting Tiger football as they knocked off a Top 5 Faulkner Eagle team for the second straight season. Campbellsville broke or tied nine records and outgunned the No. 3 Eagles, 59-50.

Campbellsville (3-2, 1-0 MSC West) and Faulkner (3-1, 0-1 MSC West) both ran over 90 plays and racked up a combined 1,059 yards. The Eagles outgained Campbellsville, 589-480, but the Tigers were able to come up with five turnovers in their third victory over a Top 5 team in the previous 10 games.




"This was a huge win for our guys," said coach Perry Thomas. "I love this team. I told them sometimes you win 10-7 and sometimes you come out alive 59-50. There was two very good teams competing today. Both came up with stops when needed on defense but what changed the game for us is that we were able to get off the field on third downs in the second half.

Jacob Russell broke his own single-game passing record with six touchdown tosses, finishing the day hitting 30-of-53 for 379 yards. Jarrod Harrington caught 12 of those passes for 131 yards to tie the single-game record for receptions. Harrington finished with 375 all-purpose yards which broke Greg Fountain's record at 314. Tyus Alcorn also tied a single-game record, hauling in three of the six Russell TDs.

Also, Campbellsville had three fumble recoveries and four fumbles forced to break single-game records.

"It was one of those days," said Thomas. "As a defensive coach, you never want to give up 50 points. But at the same time we had a solid defensive day in my opinion. As much as they were going to throw the ball and the athletes they have on offense, I felt like we had a solid day because the officials were calling a lot in the secondary. To defend a team like that you have to be physical and get your hands on them down the field. Late in the game it paid off."

Faulkner came out of the gates like seasoned thoroughbreds and went up 14-0 in the first four minutes of the game. Quarterback Clayton Nicholas, a transfer from Texas Tech and Bowling Green University, led Faulkner with 381 yards through the air on 28-of-59 passing. But Campbellsville was better today. The Tigers came back with a Russell strike to freshman Keanu Young for a 36-yard TD pass - the second of Young's career.

"I was really proud of our guys for fighting back after getting down 14-0," said Thomas. "It would have been easy to drop down after not getting a few calls, being in a hostile environment, and playing No. 3 in the nation, but they didn't and continued to battle with guts and fundamentals."

On the ensuing kickoff, Reagan Amos set the tone with how the afternoon would go on special teams. Amos returned an 87-yard kickoff to the house pushing the Eagles up 21-7 in the first seven minutes. Campbellsville struggled with kick coverage and allowed Faulkner to finish with 225 return yards. But the Tigers served Faulkner a little of its own medicine and recorded 281 themselves.

The turnover battle was won by Campbellsville as they took advantage in a big way scoring 21 unanswered points. After a 3-and-out, Erik Krivitsky's punt was fumbled by Jonathan McNair and Beau Biller was in the right place at the right time for the first turnover.

That lit a spark under the Tigers, as Russell hit Alcorn for their first TD hookup of the afternoon to cut the lead to seven, 21-14.

On Faulkner's next possession, Marquis Cain picked off Clayton Nicholas and returned it 67 yards for a touchdown to knot the game at 21.

After stopping the Faulkner offense for the third straight drive, Russell found Alcorn for a 2-yard jump ball in the end zone for their second touchdown hookup, pushing CU ahead 28-21.

Faulkner retook the lead, 31-28, with a touchdown and field goal early in the second quarter, but special teams sparked CU's next score. Harrington set the Tigers up inside the red zone after a 78-yard kick return. Russell hit Trent Holbrook on a post-pattern and Holbrook broke three tackles to fight his way into the end zone for his first score of the year.

After another Faulkner touchdown, Alcorn caught his third TD pass on a 45-yard strike. Will Ward pushed Campbellsville ahead, 45-37, with 2:32 in the second quarter on a 25-yard field goal but Faulkner cut the Tigers lead to two, 45-43, just before halftime.

The second half was a different story for both teams as they both proved they were human. The rain started to settle in on Hilyer Stadium and made an impact on the throwing game. Nicholas hit Shante Rogers across the middle but James Gardner popped the wide receiver to force a fumble. Fontez Hill recovered and set Campbellsville up once again with great field possession. Six plays later, Russell hit Chantz Goodman on a five-yard swing pass out of the backfield for his first TD reception -- and the record-setting sixth TD pass to push CU ahead by its biggest margin thus far, 52-43.

The Eagles did not let that stand for long and went deep into their bag of tricks in their next possession. Joe Jones received a backwards pass from Nicholas and hit a streaking McNair for 33 yards down the sideline. Jones then cut Campbellsville's lead to two, 52-50, on a one-yard rush late in the third quarter.

The Tigers scored their last touchdown, 59-50, on a two-yard rush by AJ Strong to cap an eight-play, 61 yard drive. Campbellsville then held Faulkner scoreless in the fourth quarter for the first time all season to seal the win. "At points late in the game we have to come up with a few stops in a row in games like this," said Thomas. "In the fourth quarter we came up with a big shutout to secure the game for us."

Campbellsville could have put the game out of reach and break the all-time scoring record with 9:05 on the clock. Dekwain Terrance recovered a Nicholas fumble but ran out of gas en route to the end zone. With the rain coming down, Terrance fumbled and Faulkner was able to recover, ending up as a 48-yard loss.

The negative that came out of the play was Faulkner was able to restart the drive first and 10 but the positive was that Campbellsville flipped the field possession game setting the Eagles up on their own 27.

With time running out for Faulkner, another individual effort allowed Campbellsville to pin the Eagles deep inside their five yard line - which ultimately ended the Eagles' hopes. Krivitsky booted a high spiral punt which was downed at the Faulkner three - setting the Eagles up with having to travel 97 yards with 1:53 remaining on the clock and down by nine. Campbellsville's defense held strong and turned Faulkner over on downs to seal the victory.

"When it got down to it, in the fourth quarter you saw the defense come up with big stops," said Thomas. "Our kicking game came through late and when we needed to run the ball because of the weather and the situation in the game, we were able to do so and we moved the chains."



This story was posted on 2015-10-03 22:25:29
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Harrington breaks CU single season all purpose yard record



2015-10-03 - Halyer Stadium, Montgomery, AL - Photo by Jordan Alves, CU photo.
Jarrod Harrington broke the Campbellsville University school single-season all-purpose yard record with 375 yards against NAIA No. 3 Faulkner University today, Saturday, October 3, 2015. – Photo by Jordan Alves

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