CHARLESTON – Gardner-Webb took the inaugural North/South Barbecue Bowl in thrilling fashion, needing a last-second field goal miss by the Buccaneers following an onside kick recovery to avoid the game from getting tied and cling to a 17-14 scoreline to win the matchup.
Gardner-Webb got the lead off a 25-yard field goal by Jay Billingsley with 5:24 left in the second quarter for the first points scored by either team in the game in a defensive slugfest. The Runnin' Bulldogs never gave the lead up for the rest of the afternoon. This was the score that carried into the half with this GWU 18 play, 62-yard scoring drive being the difference.
Gardner-Webb reached the endzone early in the second half, taking their second play of the half to the endzone off a 44-yard run by Edward Saydee to bump their lead to 10-0.
Charleston Southern got their first points of the day following the Buccaneer defensive forcing a turnover and putting them already inside their red zone. They needed three plays to reach the endzone and had
Tyson Greenwade punch it in from a yard out to cut their deficit to 10-7.
Gardner-Webb reached the endzone again with 5:56 left on a 14-yard pass from Tyler Ridell to Taylor Shields off a 12 play, 90-yard drive.
The Bucs were able to engineer another scoring drive when they got the ball back with less than two minutes left and from their own 12. To get the touchdown on the board,
Kaleb Jackson faked a spike from the three to carry it in himself, cutting their deficit to 17-14 with 26 seconds left on the clock.
Charleston Southern then needed to kick an onside kick and with the sun in the Gardner-Webb hands team, they were unable to locate the ball as it bounced past them leading to
Noah Jennings to recover it. The Buccaneers were able to drive the ball down the field and had a Jackson scramble go for 15 yards to give them a chance to tie the game with 10 seconds now remaining on the clock.
The Bucs lined up for an attempt from 35 yards out and had it moved five yards closer following an offside on the Runnin' Bulldogs. From 30 yards out,
Reid Montgomery lined up for the field goal and missed it wide right.
Jackson finished the day going 13-27 with 128 yards through the air while he added 23 on the ground off seven carries and a touchdown.
Tyson Greenwade ran for 68 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown.
Noah Jennings led the team with four catches and 53 yards while Greenwade was next in the category with three receptions for 31 yards.
Davion Williams led the team in tackles with eight of the day which included four TFLs and a strip sack.
Champ Brantley was next on the team with seven. There were 13 players that recorded a TFL for the Buccaneers with them combining for 14.
Ja'Kobe North finished the game with three pass break-ups.
Gilbert Brown recorded seven punts on the day with them averaging 44.1 yards per. He had 20 go inside the 20 which included a career-long 74 yards for his lone 50+ boot.
Charleston Southern will be back in action next Saturday as they host UT Martin for Senior Day. The kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. as the Bucs continue to seek their first conference win of the year.
