Walk-Off Touchdown Gives Samford Football Third-Straight Win, 37-35, At No. 19 ETSU

Saturday, November 7

Johnson City, Tenn.

12 PM

Samford University

4-6 , 4-3

#19 ETSU

6-4 , 4-2

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Samford	3	10	10	14	37
ETSU	7	14	7	7	35

Game Notes Final Game Book (PDF)

11.7.26 | Football

Box Score Final Game Book (PDF)

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Samford quarterback Gabarri Johnson connected with Domonique Thomas for a seven-yard touchdown pass as time expired to lift the Bulldogs to a 37-35 walk-off win at 19^th-ranked ETSU Saturday afternoon at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium.

With the win, Samford improved to 4-6 overall and 4-3 in Southern Conference play, while ETSU fell to 6-4 overall and 4-2 in league play. The win was the second-straight walk-off win for Samford as the Bulldogs defeated Wofford, 10-9, on a last-second field goal last week.

"You can coach and play this game a long time and never play in two like that," Samford head coach John Grass said. "Today's game was just a classic. We played the best we've played all year, I think, in all three phases. We just played really well and made enough plays. We talk about playing the play, we played every play of this game, and we left everything out there and it's great to watch that."

With Samford leading, 31-28, ETSU quarterback Mason Mims hit Brandon Winton for a 10-yard touchdown to give the Bucs a 35-31 lead with 57 seconds left. After the ensuing kickoff, Samford took over at its own 25-yard line. The Bulldogs drove to the ETSU seven-yard line with three seconds left, setting up the game-winning pass from Johnson to Thomas.

For the game, Johnson completed 19-of-32 passes for 168 yards and one touchdown. Backup quarterback Will Shields also led a scoring drive for the Bulldogs, tossing a touchdown pass of his own. Kevonte Corbin had two catches for 45 yards and a touchdown, and he returned a kickoff for a touchdown as well. For the game, Corbin had 214 all-purpose yards.

Place-kicker Ty Ippolito was 3-for-3 on field goals and 2-for-2 on extra-point attempts. Keion Dunlap led the Samford defense with eight tackles and a fumble recovery late in the third quarter that set up a fourth-quarter touchdown for the Bulldogs. Dunlap also had a sack in the game. Dylon Henderson also had eight tackles for Samford.

For ETSU, Mims completed 16-of-27 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. T.J. Peyton rushed 21 times for 89 yards and a touchdown for the Bucs. Devin Hunter and Dre Delinois had eight tackles each to lead the ETSU defense.

Samford struck first when Ippolito kicked a 42-yard field goal to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead with 2:43 to go in the first quarter. On the ensuing drive, ETSU's Peyton scored on an eight-yard rush to give the Bucs a 7-3 lead with eight seconds left in the first period.

On the first drive of the second quarter, Samford's Shields connected with Corbin for a 27-yard touchdown pass to give Samford a 10-7 lead with 13:52 left in the second period. Just two plays later, ETSU took the lead back when Jaiden Daniels scored on a 57-yard run for a 14-10 ETSU lead with 13:25 to go in the quarter.

Ippolito added another field goal, this one from 34-yards out to cut the ETSU lead to 14-13 with 6:50 left in the second period. Jason Albritton added a one-yard touchdown run for ETSU to push the lead to 21-13 at the 2:37 mark before halftime.

On Samford's first drive of the third quarter, Ippolito kicked his third field goal of the day, this one from 25-yards out to cut the lead to 21-16 with 8:02 to go in the third period. ETSU's Mims hit Charlie Browder for an eight-yard touchdown pass to make the score 28-16 with 1:33 left in the third period.

On the ensuing kickoff, Corbin returned the kick 100 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 28-23 with 1:19 left in the third period. On ETSU's next drive, Samford's Noah Holton forced ETSU's Peyton to fumble, and Dunlap recovered for Samford at the ETSU eight-yard line with 42 seconds left in the third quarter.

Two plays later, Johnson scored on a four-yard run. The Bulldogs went for the two-point conversion and Johnson hit Marques Henderson for the conversion to give Samford a 31-28 lead with 14:53 left in the game.

Samford will play its final home game of the season when the Bulldogs host Western Carolina next Saturday, Nov. 14. The game is set for a 2:30 p.m. start from Pete Hanna Stadium.

FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS:
For the latest news and information on Samford football, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordFootball (Facebook), @SamfordFootball (Instagram) and @SamfordFootball (Twitter).