EKU avoids 0-4 start to season with dramatic win over SEMO
Nations FG at :01 gives Colonels first win of the season
RICHMOND, Ky. (WKYT) - Patrick Nations booted a 46-yard field goal as time expired to give Eastern Kentucky a 41-38 win on Saturday over Southeast Missouri.
For EKU, it was the first win of the season.
EKU (1-3) trailed 24-17 at the half, then tied the game at 24, when Braedon Sloan scored on a 1-yard run with 13:06 remaining in the third quarter.
SEMO then scored 14 unanswered points to take a 38-24 lead with less than 6:00 left in regulation.
Sloan scored again with 5:59 left to cut the Redhawks lead to 38-31.
The Colonels got the ball back and drove 93 yards on 13 plays for a score when Parker McKinney hit Jackson Hensley on a crossing route with :30 left to make it 38-38.
SEMO’s Paxton DeLaurent fumbled on the ensuing possession with :19 remaining, setting up Nation’s late-game heroics.
EKU nearly squandered the opportunity, however, when McKinney ran for short yardage and with the clock running down. EKU had no timeouts remaining. The Colonels tried to get their field goal unit onto the field. But SEMO was forced to call a timeout with :02 left because the Redhawks had 12 men on the field.
Nations drilled the game winner with :00 on the clock.
The last time EKU started a season 0-3 was back in 2005. The last time the Colonels started a season without a win in its first four games was back in 1965.
EKU travels to North Alabama next Saturday for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
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