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JACKSON - For the second time in as many weeks, Millsaps fell just short of its first victory of the season, losing a heartbreaker to the visiting Huntingdon Hawks 35-34 on a blocked point after attempt in the final seconds of regulation.
Millsaps (0-3) trailed the entire game, but managed to battle back from a 21-7 deficit and tie the game at 21-21 two minutes into the fourth quarter on Tyson Roy’s second of three rushing touchdowns on the afternoon.
Huntingdon (2-1) jumped on the scoreboard early, capping off a 9-play, 80-yard drive on a Brandon Smith 1-yard touchdown run that spanned over 4:20.
The Majors, however would respond with a solid scoring drive of their own, knotting the game at 7-7 six minutes later when Burt Pereira found the end zone on a quarterback keeper.
After the Millsaps touchdown, the Hawks put together a short drive
that left kicker, Cody Lange with a 43-yard field goal attempt
to put Huntingdon on top. That wouldn’t
be the case, as Marcus Harris picked up his first blocked kick
of the season, diving in from the right to deny the try.
The remainder of the half was a defensive front as both teams held their ground.
The Hawks pushed for one last score before the half and they were successful, putting together another 80-yard drive that ended with Smith’s second rushing touchdown of the afternoon with 0:32 left on the clock before halftime.
The lead grew to 21-7 less than four minutes into the second half, after Zach Golson connected with Mark Colson for a 52-yard touchdown strike.
The Majors once again clawed back, using back-to-back touchdown runs from Roy to knot the game at 21-21 with 13:23 left in regulation.
Through the first three quarters, the two teams combined for 35 total points. The fourth quarter was a totally different story, as the teams exploded for 34 points and almost 300 yards of offense.
After Roy’s touchdown tied the game, the Hawks responded with a Golson 1-yard run that put them on top briefly 28-21.
It took the Majors 0:52 to respond. After a nice kickoff return by Josh Hanna brought the ball out to the Majors 35, Pereira connected with Eric McCarty for a 24-yard completion down to the Huntingdon 37-yard line. Roy did the dirty work from there, carrying the ball on back-to-back plays for 37 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown run.
Huntingdon struck right back, using 5:38 off the clock to drive 13 plays, 70 yards after Golson connected with Broderick Smith for a 37-yard touchdown strike.
It looked as if it was all but over for Millsaps, as they trailed 35-28 with only 0:52 remaining in the game.
The Majors refused to go out like that at home, putting together a 7-play, 80-yard drive that found Pereira across the goal line with 0:01 left on the game clock.
Millsaps put it all on the line, refusing to kick the extra point and going for the 2-point conversion for the outright win.
As the Majors lined up for the try, a penalty flag came flying in from the head referee. Millsaps was hit with a delay of game penalty as they tried to call timeout with none remaining, thus forcing the Majors to bring on the kicking unit to attempt the extra point and send the game to overtime.
The snap looked to be fine and the kick was away, but a diving attempt by Hawk defensive lineman Rishard Davis denied the Majors the tying point and ended Millsaps’ hope for an overtime decision.
Despite the loss, Pereira had a solid game for the injured Juan Joseph, completing 19-of-26 passes for 287 yards. Roy had an outstanding game as well, accounting for 264 yards of total offense, including 14 carries for 119 yards - three TDs - and eight catches for 147 yards.
Harris and Shawn Gillenwater continued their dominance on the defensive
side of the ball, combining for 17 tackles (four tackles for loss),
two pass break ups and one blocked kick. Gillenwater
runs his season total up to 28 tackles which is good enough for
third in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
The Majors will have an off week Sept. 23 before returning home to host Lincoln University (Mo.) at 1 p.m. on Sept. 30 at Harper Davis Field.
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