ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. - The NC Wesleyan College Football team's comeback attempt fell just short as they lost 26-20 to Brevard College in conference action at Rocky Mount Stadium on Saturday.
Wesleyan scored 20 straight points in the fourth quarter to get within six points but their onside kick attempt fell a half yard short of going the required 10 yards before the kicking team could recover. The Bishops did indeed recover the kick, but since it was touched a yard short, Brevard was given possession and ran out the clock.
Brevard (4-2, 2-2) got on the board first in the opening quarter on a 7-yard TD scamper from their QB before adding another QB rushing TD in the second quarter to take a 13-0 lead over the Bishops.
Senior QB Donielle Totten then led the Bishops on a late second quarter drive before throwing a costly interception that was returned 82 yards for a Brevard touchdown as they would take a 19-0 lead at halftime.
After another Brevard touchdown in the third quarter increased their lead to 26-0 with a quarter to play, the Bishops would finally find their offensive rhythm and go on to score 3 consecutive touchdowns.
It first began with a Totten 8-yard TD run to complete a 10-play 90-yard drive. That was followed by a fourth down 38-yard TD pass from Totten to sophomore WR Tyler Roberts to complete an 80-yard drive and cut Brevard's lead down to 13 with 4:27 to play. Totten's 20-yard TD scamper then made it 26-20 with a minute to play leading to a Wesleyan onside kick that just barely went Brevard's way as the Bishops' rally ran out of time.
Wesleyan finished with 367 yards of total offense, 130 more than Brevard while Totten threw for 232 yards on 17 of 32 passing. Junior RB Jeff Black then ran for a season-high of 112 yards on nearly 6 yards/carry. Roberts then caught 5 balls for 127 yards and a TD while Black also had 43 yards receiving.
Reigning conference Player of the Week, Senior middle linebacker Antonio Johnson, led the Bishops defensively with 13 tackles and a sack while defensive backs Eddie Graham and Marcus Leggett combined for 12 tackles. Sophomore linebacker Dylan Cason and senior nose guard Jeff Person also each had 5 tackles and one tackle-for-loss apiece.
Wesleyan falls to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the conference and will next go on the road to face rival Methodist University next Saturday at 1:00 PM