BUENA VISTA, VA - Home standing Southern Virginia University scored 21 second half points to help propel them to victory over the visiting Hawks this afternoon 28-25. Chowan entered the game with 14 turnovers on the season but today played four quarters of football without an interception or a lost fumble.
On the first possession of the game the Hawks drove down field 75 yards on 9 plays, capping off the 4:11 possession with a 22 yard touchdown pass from Randy Gilbert to James Fox. Cory Cline nailed the extra point to get ahead of the Knight 7-0. The game remained scoreless until the 10:23 mark of the second quarter when the Knights' Jared King completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Tye Hiatt. King stayed on to kick the extra point and tie the game at 7-7.
Jack Ross got Chowan back on top when he scored from one yard out with 1:12 remaining in the half. The score was the culmination of a 6:11 possession that went 65 yards. Cline came on to score the extra point to give Chowan a 14-7 lead heading into halftime.
SVU picked up back-to-back scores to open the second half of play and take a 21-14 lead over the Hawks. Chowan's only score of the 3rd quarter came when Cline made good on a 22-yard field goal to bring Chowan within 4 points of the Knights at 21-17.
SVU opened the fourth quarter with another touchdown after Hayes Page punched one in from 10 yards out. King split the uprights to pull ahead of the visiting Hawks 28-17 with just over 13 minutes to play.
Under Gilbert's direction, Chowan's offense charged down field and with just over 6 minutes to go in the game the freshman quarterback hit Jeremy Lee for a 10 yard strike. The Hawks opted for a two-point conversion to pull them within a field goal of the Knights. Gilbert turned the corner and ran the ball into the endzone to complete the conversion play and cut SVU's lead to 28-25.
Chowan's defense forced the Knights to punt on their ensuing possession giving Chowan's offense a chance to even the score or go for the win with just over four minutes to play. With the ball on their own 30 yard line, the Hawks moved the ball six yards and were faced with a 4th down and 3 yards situation. Gilbert hit Sam Williams for a 10 yard completion and new set of downs to keep Chowan alive. After two incomplete passes and a penalty the Hawks couldn't convert the third or fourth downs and turned the ball back over to the Knights with 2:06 left in the game. The Knights ran the clock down on the Hawks to hold on for the 28-25 win.
Chowan tallied 355 yards of offense on 79 plays without turning the ball over. SVU's offense had 341 yards and held the ball just 21 minutes in the game. Chowan had possession of the ball for over 36 minutes in the game but had 13 penalties totaling 80 yards.
Gilbert ended the day with 192 yards on 19 of 32 completions. The freshman, who started in just his second game of the season, threw two touchdowns and rushed in a two point conversion. Sam Williams caught 8 passes for 86 yards while Jake Thorne led the ground attack with 78 yards on 9 carries. Defensively Ronnie Fields had 7 tackles while Derrick Beasley, Shatae McEachin, and Matt Virgil each collected 6 tackles in the loss.
Chowan falls to 0-5 on the year while Southern Virginia moves to 1-4. The Hawks will take off until October 14th when they host Brevard College at Garrison Stadium for a 1:00pm kick off.
