BUIES CREEK – No.-11 Kennesaw State scored 21 unanswered points around halftime and held on for a 38-35 win over Campbell Saturday at Barker-Lane Stadium.



Campbell (6-3, 3-1 Big South) twice cut the Owls (8-2, 3-1) advantage to three in the final period, but could not regain the lead.



Kennesaw backup quarterback Tommy Bryant came off the bench to run for 105 yards on 27 carries and add 91 more in the air on 5-of-7 completions in the Owls’ option attack.  Shaquil Terry had all five receptions for Kennesaw, good for 91 yards and two scores, while gaining 28 on the round on six attempts.



Campbell finished with a 386-343 advantage in total offense, and ran 71 plays to 61 for the visitors, but Kennesaw converted a pair of interceptions into 14 points in the second half.



Hajj-Malik Williams ran for 110 yards and threw for 233 more for the Camels, who have lost consecutive games for the first time this year.  Caleb Snead had 99 receiving yards on six catches.

Campbell WR Caleb Snead had 99 receiving yards on six catches Photo Credit: Bennett Scarborough

Justice Galloway-Velazquez had 18 tackles and Dorian Jones 10 stops for Campbell.  Le’Vonte Larry led Kennesaw with eighth tackles.



The Camels led 21-10 with 1:57 led in the second quarter after Williams scored on a five-yard run.  However KSU drew with seven on Bryant’s 20-yard pass to Terry with just 30 seconds left in the second period.



Markeith Montgomery’s interception gave Kennesaw the ball at its own 20 with 10:53 left in the third, and the Owls drove 80 yards on 12 played to grab the lead on Bryant’s two-yard run.



On the next possession, Bryson Armstrong intercepted a tipped pass and returned it to the Camel 26.  Bryant then hit Terry on a 26-yard scoring pass to extend the margin to 31-21 with 2:33 left in the third.



Chris Cromartie recovered Bryant’s fumble on a hand off to set up the Camels at the KSU 34.  Williams connected with Snead on a 21-yard pass to set up Cameron Davis’ 3-yard run and trim the margin to 31-28 with 12:38 remaining.



Antavius Grier returned the ensuing kickoff 58 yards to the Campbell 37 and the Owls ran 5:38 off the clock before Bryant dove across from one yards out to again stretch the margin to 10 (38-28) with 6:51 remaining.



The Camels drove 74 yards to cut the gap to 38-35 on Williams’ 7-yard scoring pass to Snead with 3:01 to play.  However, Kennesaw was able to run out the clock to seal the win.



The Camels jumped in front with 5:04 left in the opening quarter on a two-yard run by Johnathan Hawkins.  Williams’ 20-yard run and a 33-yard completion to Jalen Kelsey set up Campbell with a first down on the two.



Nathan Robertson’s 43-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter cut the Campbell lead to 7-3.



Campbell answered with a 7-play, 79-yard drive capped by Williams’ nine-yard run to push the margin to 14-3.



However, the Owls responded with an 11-play drive to trim the margin to 14-10 on Bryant’s 8-yard rush with 6:27 to play in the half.



The Camels close out their home schedule next Saturday against Monmouth at 1:00 p.m. Kennesaw State travels to Hampton.

CHARLOTTE – The 2017 season has not been good to the Charlotte 49ers. In 2016, the 49ers went 3-5 in Conference USA play and hopes were high that this was the year that Charlotte would turn the corner and possibly secure the program's first-ever bowl bid. One of the teams that Charlotte defeated in 2016 was Florida Atlantic. The Owls, looking for a new direction, hired former Tennessee and USC coach Lane Kiffin and the results were exactly what the FAU fans were hoping for. So, when the 1-10 Forty-Niners and 8-3 Owls met up Saturday at Charlotte's Jerry Richardson Stadium, it was a tale of two teams heading in polar opposite directions and the scoreboard indicated so throughout the afternoon. By the final whistle, Florida Atlantic completed its undefeated conference slate with a 31-12 win over Charlotte and the 49ers were packing up equipment and looking towards the offseason.

Photo Credit: Ed Conway

Florida Atlantic opened the scoring with a first quarter, 6-yard run by Devin Singletary, the first of his two scores of the day. A Greg Joseph field goal and 20-yard pass from Jason Driskel to Kamrin Solomon saw the visitors with a 17-0 lead midway through the second quarter.



Charlotte tried to respond with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Hasaan Klugh to Benny LeMay, but a quick 41-yard strike from Driskel to Willie Wright shut down any chance at Charlotte keeping the momentum before the half. After Singletary's second touchdown of the day, Hasaan Klugh led Charlotte on the final scoring drive of the season and scored with a 6-yard run.

Notable North Carolinians

Benny LeMay (So., Butler) – scored the 49ers' first touchdown of the day, finished the season with 732 yards rushing

Hasaan Klugh (RS-Jr., Central Cabarrus) – ran for the 49ers' last touchdown of the 2017 season, finished the season with nine rushing TDs, ten passing TDs, and 1529 passing yards

Jeff Gemmell (RS-So., Heritage) – had thirteen tackles on the day, making it six straight games with double-digit tackles.

What the Coaches are Saying

Charlotte coach Brad Lambert

I told the seniors thank you, they believed when no else did. I really appreciate all they have done, how hard they've worked. This week in practice was a good a week as we've had, getting ready for a good football team that just won our division. We had some opportunities to win some games. We've got to look at what we're doing in the offseason because the one that that really hurt was untimely penalties. Those are drive killers for us. I like where we are. I don't like our record, though. There's 25 guys in the junior class who are coming back. I challenged them this week. This game means a lot for 2018. Every game is meaningful and all wins count.

Worth Noting

Charlotte celebrated senior day at today's game. The 2017 class include the program's all-time leading punter, all-time leading kick returner, a pair of all-time games played record holders and a 1500-yard receiver

Next Week

Florida Atlantic will host North Texas in the Conference USA championship game while Charlotte has completed its 2017 season.