The No. 5 Kennesaw State Owls pulled off a win against the University of North Alabama Lions, extending their winning streak to eight. The Owls from Cobb County traveled to Florence, Alabama for a cool 2:00 pm conference battle.
Coming into the game being undefeated in the Big South Conference, the Owls were concerned that their streak would be broken by the 2-7 Lions.
In the first quarter, Kennesaw was having trouble moving the ball, on all of their drives. The Kennesaw defense gave up points to North Alabama on a long touchdown pass. Junior linebacker Evan Thompson was one of the most notable players throughout the first quarter, and the entire game.
During the first few minutes of the second quarter, UNA recorded another touchdown, and led KSU 14-0. The Owls answered this by finally getting on the board with a 2 yard touchdown run by Xavier Shepherd, sophomore quarterback. Once the Lions got the ball back, their star quarterback was injured. On the next play, their pass was intercepted by Kennesaw’s Markeith Montgomery. This led to, KSU scoring a touchdown on a pass to Caleb O’Neal. This marked Xavier Shepherd’s 14th passing touchdown of the season. Shepherd now holds the school record for most passing touchdowns in a single season. The halftime break began with an equal score of 14-14.
After a virtually uneventful third quarter, Shepherd rushed into the end zone with 2 minutes left in the quarter, pushing the Owls into the lead. On the first drive of the 4th quarter, the Lions were able to score a touchdown, tying the game once again. The Owls were three-and-out, then the Lions held onto the ball for about 6 minutes, ending their drive with a good field goal.
WIth only 3 minutes left in the game, things were not looking too good for Kennesaw State, but with 56 seconds left, Shepherd rushed for a 2-yard touchdown to finalize the game with an Owl win. Now with it being North Alabama’s ball, they were determined to work their way down the field for some last minute points, but Erwin Byrd had other plans. He intercepted the Lion’s ball, and put an end to the game.
Kennesaw State won the game with a score of 28-24, and will compete again next weekend for the Big South Championship in their final game. The Owls will be playing at home against the Monmouth University Hawks on November 20th at 1 pm. Football fans won’t want to miss this finale for the Owls!