Golden Bears squander late lead at KSU
Box Score
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The goal was simple for Miles' football team. Win games over Kentucky State and Lane, then tune up against Clark Atlanta heading into the battle with Tuskegee for the SIAC Western Division crown. After defeating KSU each of the last six seasons, that did not seem like a far-fetched idea. But the Thorobreds have put a serious wrench in the Golden Bears' plans.
A fumbled handoff exchange in the end zone led to the decisive points in KSU's 28-24 win over Miles Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium. A last-ditch pass by
David Whipple to
Jourdan Walker just fell out of the reach of Walker in the end zone with less than 30 seconds remaining to seal the victory for the Thorobreds (3-4, 2-0 SIAC West). Now, the Golden Bears (3-3, 1-1 SIAC West) must get some help if they are to advance to the SIAC Championship game for the second straight year.
After falling behind early in the third quarter, Miles answered with touchdown runs by
Christian Mays and
Jamarcus Nance to take a 24-14 lead into the fourth quarter. Kentucky State answered with a touchdown run early in the fourth quarter but on its next drive, KSU threw the ball away with
Anthony Hardy intercepting the pass at the Miles 2. Two plays later, in an attempt to get out of the end zone, the handoff between Whipple and Nance was botched and Nick Beckhum fell on the loose ball to give the Thorobreds the lead.
Miles came right back. Whipple hit Walker for 26 yards, then he took off on a 17-yard scamper to put the Golden Bears at the KSU 14 with just less than a minute to play. Three shots at the end zone came up empty and Miles suffered its first loss to the Thorobreds since 2009.
The game got off o a great start.
Ger'Kerry Jackson, who started in place of Nance, took the fourth play from scrimmage and ran it 63 yards to paydirt and a 7-0 lead.
Nick Christiansen would add a 24-yard field goal and Miles would lead 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Kentucky State struggled moving the ball in the early going but running its option game turned into a masterstroke as the Golden Bears had trouble stopping the horses once they got running. But it was a pass to Charles Johnson that got KSU on the board with less than a minute remaining before halftime. Despite controlling the game for most of the first half, Miles only led 10-7.
The Thorobreds ran the ball for the entirety of its opening possession of the second half. Fifty-nine yards later, they had taken the lead when Reginal Harris scored on a 13-yard run, But Miles would get the touchdowns from Mays and Nance to take the lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Jackson ran for 117 yards on 10 carries while Whipple (136 passing, 96 rushing) had more than 200 yards of total offense but lost two fumbles that turned into the winning points for KSU. Hardy had a huge game defensively with 13 tackles (eight solo), a forced fumble and an interception.
Nicc Dance had 12 tackles and
Cedric Poole added 11 tackles for the Golden Bears, who will travel to Lane next week.
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