HIGHLIGHTS/POST GAME
BOX SCORE
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn.—East Tennessee State's J.J. Jerman kicked a 28-yard field goal on the last play of the game to lift the Bucs' football team to a 15-14 win over 18
th-ranked Samford Saturday afternoon at Kermit Tipton Stadium.
"It was a combination of a lot of things," Samford head coach
Chris Hatcher said. "There were just a lot of missed opportunities for us."
Samford falls to 7-4 overall and 5-3 in the Southern Conference with the loss. ETSU improves to 5-6 overall and 2-6 in SoCon play.
"Offensively, we had a hard time moving the football," Hatcher said. "When we did move it, we had a turnover and we missed some points at the end of the half. In the second half, we just couldn't get anything going. Defensively, I thought we played really well up until the very end. We gave up a couple of passes over the middle on some key downs. This one hurts really bad."
Samford led, 14-9 entering the fourth quarter. Jerman kicked a 39-yard field goal with 5:38 left to bring the Bucs to within two points at 14-12. After Samford was unable to score on its next possession, ETSU got the ball back with 3:36 left. The Bucs marched 66 yards in 10 plays, culminating with the game-winning field goal as time expired for the 15-14 win.
For Samford in the game, quarterback
Devlin Hodges completed 14-of-23 passes for 122 yards. Hodges now has a school-record 3,716 passing yards this season, breaking the previous record of 3,640, set by Andy Summerlin in 2013. His 342 completions are also a new school single-season record.
Karel Hamilton had four catches for 38 yards in the game. For his career, Hamilton has a school-record 268 receptions for a school-record 3,656 yards.
Andrew Harris caught five passes for 37 yards.
K'rondis Larry rushed 12 times for 74 yards and a touchdown.
Roland Adams also scored a rushing touchdown for the Bulldogs.
Defensively,
Deion Pierre had eight tackled, including 2.0 tackles for loss.
Shaheed Salmon and
Omari Williams had an interception each for Samford.
For ETSU, Austin Herink completed 18-of-26 passes for 238 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Dylan Weigel led the Bucs' defense with nine tackles and one forced fumble.
Samford struck for a touchdown on its second offensive possession of the game. Adams scored on a four-yard run to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead with 4:28 to go in the first quarter.
ETSU put its first points on the scoreboard when Jerman kicked a 38-yard field goal to cut the Samford lead to 7-3 with 8:57 left in the second quarter. Samford had a chance to add to its lead at the end of the second quarter, but a 27-yard field goal was missed and the teams went to the locker room with Samford holding a 7-3 advantage.
On ETSU's first possession of the third quarter, Samford's Salmon picked off a pass, giving Samford the ball at the ETSU 14-yard line. On the very next play, Larry scored on a 14-yard run to give Samford a 14-3 lead with 13:17 left in the third quarter.
On the final play of the third quarter, ETSU's Herink hit Dalton Ponchillia on a 24-yard touchdown, but the two-point conversion attempt failed, keeping Samford's lead at 14-9. The only scoring in the fourth quarter came on Jerman's two field goals, giving ETSU the one-point win.
