Oct. 20, 2007

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford's Chris Evans rushed for a career-high 212 yards on 26 carries, but it was not enough as the Bulldog football team dropped a 28-25 Homecoming contest to Austin Peay Saturday afternoon at Seibert Stadium.

With the loss, Samford drops to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Austin Peay is now 5-3 overall and 3-2 in league play.

"You have to take your hat off to (Austin Peay head coach) Rick (Christophel) and his staff," Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said. "They did a great job. We kept hanging in there and we took it down there and had a chance to win at the end, but we're just not making the plays we need to make right now."

Evans scored two touchdowns for the Bulldogs, including a career-long 81-yarder in the third quarter. Jefferson Adcock completed 35-of-52 passes for 314 yards and a touchdown. Jeff Moore caught nine passes for 88 yards.

Austin Peay's Chris Fletcher rushed 24 times for 196 yards and three touchdowns. As a team, Samford had 517 yards of offense to Austin Peay's 239 yards.

Samford jumped on top first when Mark Prevost connected on a 22-yard field goal with 8:56 to go in the first quarter to give Samford a 3-0 lead. Prevost's field goal provided the only points for either team in the first half.

Austin Peay took the lead early in the third quarter when Nick Clark recovered a Samford fumble in the end zone. Isaac Ziolkowksi's PAT was blocked by Jamael Lett to keep APSU's lead at 6-3 with 11:54 to go in the third quarter.

Samford came back on the next drive when Evans scored from 81-yards out run with 8:45 to go in the third quarter. Prevost's PAT gave Samford a 10-6 lead. Austin Peay answered when Fletcher scored on a 50-yard run with 6:36 to go in the third quarter. Gary Orr hit Donald David for the two-point conversion to give the Governors a 14-10 lead.

Fletcher scored again on a two-yard run with 12:58 to go in the fourth quarter. Ziolkowski's PAT made the score 21-10. Evans scored on a five-yard run with 9:38 to go in the fourth quarter. Adcock hit Jonathan Lowery for the two-point conversion to cut the APSU lead to 21-18.

Fletcher scored his third touchdown on a 20-yard run with 7:09 to play in the game and Ziolkowski's PAT made the score 28-18. Adcock later hit Brock Johnson for a 13-yard touchdown with 5:29 to play, and Prevost's PAT cut the lead with 28-25. Samford drove inside the 10-yard line late in the game, but Prevost's 21-yard field goal with 1:50 to go was no good, making the final score 28-25.

Samford will return to action on Oct. 27, when the Bulldogs play at Tennessee Tech. The game is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff from Cookeville, Tenn.