UNION, N.J. (10/4/14) – The Kean University football team earned its first win of the season when Stephan Lewis blocked a Southern Virginia University PAT attempt in overtime to preserve a 28-27 NJAC victory for the Cougars. Kean is now 1-3 on the season and 1-0 in the NJAC conference, while the Knights fell to 0-4 and lost in their first-ever NJAC game.
The Knights' only score of the first half came on a blocked punt. Matthew Gregory came free on the outside and blocked the punt back into the Cougar endzone. The ball stayed just off the endline and Tristan Burnett fell on it for the game's first touchdown.
On the ensuing possession, Cougar running back Damian Corredor turned what looked like a standard inside draw into magic, getting loose for a 64-yard touchdown rumble – his first of the season – as Kean tied it at seven.
The entire first half was played in heavy rain, and the first two quarters featured five punts, 15 penalties and no more points scored as both teams had trouble moving the ball through the storm.
Southern Virginia scored the only points of the third quarter on a 22-yard swing pass from quarterback Mitch Stevenson to running back Jerry Washington. David Coleman Jr. did have an interception in the third quarter for the Cougars to help keep them within one score.
In the fourth, with Kean still trailing by a score, Coleman (pictured left) picked off another pass to start a game-tying drive for the Cougars. Kean got possession at the Knights' 25, picked up 19 yards on a screen pass to Corredor and picked up the final two yards on a goalline plunge by the Weehawken native to tie the game.
With 8:06 remaining in the game and the score still tied, the Cougars unleashed a 14-play drive that took 6:32 off the clock and ended with a power rush up the middle by Will Ingram to give Kean a 21-14 lead with only 1:34 left. Of the 14 plays, 13 were rushes as the Cougar offense steamrolled its way down the field in impressive fashion.
SVU got the ball back needing to score, and Stevenson completed six passes down the stretch to lead the Knights back to tie it with only 11 seconds left on a pass to Michael Kilstro. Kean knelt on the ball to kill the clock and force overtime.
In the extra session, Kean continued to pound the ball on the ground, chewing up the 25 yards in eight plays. The OT drive was capped by a six-yard keeper by Meade on second-and-goal to put the pressure on SVU. Troy Kettler would kick what turned out to be a pivotal extra point.
The Knights scored on their possession as well, bringing the game a PAT away from a second overtime. But on the play Lewis – who had been close to getting the Knights' PAT on the game-tying touchdown late in the fourth – got a hand on the ball to knock it away and start the celebration on the Kean sideline.
James Leavy (pictured right) led Kean with eight tackles.
Kean will hit the road next weekend for an NJAC matchup with Morrisville State College at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
