SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS

CHARLESTON, S.C.—The 18^th-ranked Samford football team dropped a 37-34 overtime heart-breaker to seventh-ranked The Citadel in Southern Conference action Saturday afternoon at Johnson Hagood Stadium.
 
"I thought our guys played extremely hard," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "We had a chance to win late in the ballgame. Defensively, I thought we got enough stops to win the game. Offensively, we're playing The Citadel that has a top-ranked defense and it was very difficult getting in rhythm."
 
With Samford leading, 34-31 later in the fourth quarter, The Citadel's Cody Clark kicked a 34-yard field goal to tie the game at 34-34 and force overtime.
 
The Citadel had possession to open the overtime period. The Samford defense was able to get a stop and force a 36-yard Clark field goal to give the home team a 37-34 lead. Samford had to settle for a 44-yard field goal attempt by Reece Everett, but the attempt hit the right upright, ending the game in a three-point loss for Samford.
 
"I'm very disappointed for our players," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "I felt like I did a poor job in overtime of putting us in position to win the ballgame. That sequence of events on the calls at the end just didn't work out."
 
For Samford offensively, Devlin Hodges completed 35-of-46 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns. Hodges also rushed 13 times for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Kelvin McKnight caught nine passes for 118 yards, while Karel Hamilton had 13 catches for 85 yards and a touchdown. Emmanuel Obajimi caught eight passes for 54 yards and a score.
 
Ahmad Gooden had 15 tackles to lead the Samford defense. Jamerson Blount had 12 tackles, Deion Pierre had 11 tackles and Omari Williams finished with 10 stops. On special teams, Everett made field goals from 51 and 44 yards out. The 51-yarder is a career-long for Everett.
 
The Citadel's Tyler Renew rushed 45 times for 285 yards and three touchdowns. Cam Jackson had 12 rushes for 100 yards and a touchdown. Tevin Floyd led The Citadel's defense with 11 tackles, while Kailik Williams added 10 tackles for The Citadel.
 
The Citadel scored on its first possession to take an early lead. Jackson scored on an eight-yard run to give The Citadel a 7-0 lead with 4:23 left in the first quarter. Samford answered on the ensuing drive. Hodges capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to knot the score at 7-7 with 1:53 to go in the first quarter.
 
Samford took the lead early in the second quarter. Hodges scored on a 57-yard run to give the visiting Bulldogs a 14-7 lead with 10:11 remaining in the second quarter. The Citadel tied the score when Renew scored on a 55-yard run to make the score 14-14 with 8:18 to go in the second quarter.
 
Samford took the lead again when Everett kicked a career-long 51-yard field goal to give the visiting Bulldogs a 17-14 lead with 5:23 left in the second quarter. Everett followed that kick up with a 44-yard field goal to push the Samford lead to 20-14 with 46 seconds left before halftime.
 
The Citadel took the lead back when Renew scored on a 58-yard run to give the home team a 21-20 lead with 6:26 left in the third quarter. The Citadel's Clark kicked a 48-yard field goal to make the score 24-20 with 13:02 left in the fourth quarter.
 
Samford came back to take the lead again when Hodges connected with Obajimi for an 18-yard touchdown pass to give Samford a 27-24 lead with 10:36 remaining in the fourth quarter. Hodges later hit Hamilton for a nine-yard touchdown pass with 6:17 left in the final period to push Samford's lead to 34-24.
 
Renew started The Citadel's comeback with a four-yard touchdown run with 4:24 left to cut the Samford lead to 34-31.
 
As a team, Samford finished with 373 yards of total offense, while The Citadel totaled 542 yards.
 
With the loss, Samford falls to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in Southern Conference play. The Citadel improves to 9-0 overall and 7-0 in SoCon play. The Citadel's win wraps up at least a share of the SoCon title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I-FCS Playoffs.
 
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 12, when the Bulldogs host Mercer at 2:30 p.m. at Seibert Stadium. To purchase tickets for the 2016 homecoming game, click here: MERCER GAME TICKETS.