CLINTON, SC - For the second consecutive season, the Charleston Southern Buccaneers saw a late fourth quarter rally come up just a little short as Presbyterian College held off a furious CSU rally for a 19-14 victory, Saturday afternoon at Bailey Memorial Stadium.

Presbyterian improved to 1-2 on the season while the Buccaneers fall to 0-1. CSU travels to Jacksonville University next Saturday.

CSU trailed 19-7 midway through the fourth quarter before a three-yard touchdown pass from Collin Drafts to Kenny Harper with 2:38 remaining pulled the Bucs to within five at 19-14. After PC recovered an onside kick, the Buccaneers' defense held the Blue Hose on a fourth-and-one, giving the offense the ball at their own 37-yard line with 1:06 to play.

Drafts completed passes to Harry Seabrook for 27 and 12 yards, adding an eight-yard scamper on the ground, to put the Bucs at the PC 16-yard line with :16 remaining in the game. However, two pass attempts into the endzone were batted away by the PC secondary, preserving the win.

"I was really proud of the way our football team stayed together and fought to the very end for a win, but of course we're very disappointed that we lost the football game," said CSU head coach Jay Mills. "I think this football team showed a lot of character. We continue to go through a maturation process that started last season. We understand now what it takes to win but we just haven't developed the winning habits. We made some mistakes today with penalties and turnovers and it showed that this was our first football game at times."

A look at the final stat sheet would show that CSU might have won the football game. CSU out-gained PC, 299 to 209 in total yards and held more than a 16-minute edge in time of possession. PC mounted one long scoring drive, a 77-yard drive on 11 plays in the second quarter that tied the contest at 7-7 just before halftime.

Drafts finished the game with 232 yards passing, completed 28-of-43 passes. The sophomore completed his first 14 pass attempts, all in the first half, and added 48 yards rushing, including a seven-yard scoring run on CSU's first possession of the game. Sophomore receiver Eddie Gadson snared a school-record 13 passes for 113 yards while Seabrook caught a career-high six passes for 67 yards.

The story for CSU, however, was the play of the defense, a unit that allowed more than 390 yards per game last season. Led by freshman linebacker Josh Mitchell and junior safety Tavares Shorter (seven tackles each), the defense kept the Bucs in the game with several big stops in the third quarter. PC managed only 98 yards in the second half and CSU intercepted two passes.

"Our defensive effort was tremendous, without a doubt," said Mills. "Field position really hurt us in the third quarter but the defense really kept us in the game. They (PC) had a 20-yard drive for one touchdown and we held them to a field goal when they had the ball first-and-goal at our three. I was very impressed with the way they played together for the entire day."

Of the field position in the second-half, CSU's offense did not cross their own 30 until midway through the fourth quarter and began two drives in the third quarter inside the three-yard line.

"We're a better football team than we were a year ago, no question about it," said Mills. "Now we have to find a way to get some wins."