FERRUM, Va. - Gus Seyler's 36-yard field goal proved to be the difference here Saturday as Ferrum defeated Chowan Colelge, 12-9, in an overtime thriller between these two old football rivals.

The loss was the fifth straight setback for the Braves who fell to 1-6 overall.

Ferrum, meanwhile, avoided what could have been a historic seicth consecutive loss to open a season as the Panthers improved their overall mark to 1-5.

Seyler opened the scoring as he staked Ferrum to a 3-0 lead at the 5:33 mark of the 1st quarter whith his 31-yard field goal.

Chowan answered in the 2nd period with the game's only offensive touchdown - a monster 12 play, 87-yard drive capped by JOhnny Nowell's one-yard run.  Sonny Ostman added the PAT as the Braves grabbed a 7-3 halftime lead.

Ferrum used its defense to reclaim the lead when, early in the 3rd quarter, Jon Hannah picked off a Chris Dent pass and returned his theft 29 yards to paydirt.

However, on the PAT effort, Choqan freshman linebacker Chris Coleman blocked Seyler's effort and returned it for a two-point conversion which deadlocked the game at 9-9.

Despite being sacked six times for minus 60 yards, Dent was Chowan's offensive leader as he completed 10-of-19 passes for 170 yards.

Sophomore wide receiver Jeremy Forbes was Dent's favorite target with six catches covering a career-high 124 yards.

Emmanuel Baker led Ferrum with 168 yards on a school record 42 attempts.