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DANVILLE, Va. — Averett's narrow fourth-quarter lead didn't hold up as Randolph-Macon College rallied for a 15-7 victory in the Cougars' home-opener Saturday at the Cougar Den.
Averett (0-2) had limited Randolph-Macon's offense to just a pair of field goals as the Cougars took a 7-6 lead into the final quarter. The Yellow Jackets took the lead on Josh Storm's 38-yard field goal with 12:04 to play, and they later added six more points on Thaddeus Scruggs' 13-yard touchdown with 7:55 remaining.
The Cougars had three more possessions the rest of the way to try to put points on the board, but all three were unsuccessful. Averett's ensuing drive following Scruggs' touchdown stalled near midfield. Averett sophomore cornerback
Roderick Doggett intercepted Randolph-Macon quarterback Zac Naccarato deep in Yellow Jackets territory, but Averett three three consecutive incomplete passes, and sophomroe quarterback
Kirkland Brown's pass on fourth down was tipped and intercepted by Andrew Leonard. Averett's final drive, spurred by a 26-yard pass by senior quarterback
Philip Kwiatkowski to junior receiver
Anthony Bowles, got Averett into Yellow Jackets territory with under a minute to play. However, Kwiatkowski was intercepted two plays later and Randolph-Macon kneeled to run the final seconds off the clock and preserve the win.
Storm's 23-yard field goal, the first of his three field goals, gave Randolph-Macon a 3-0 lead that stood until early in the second quarter. Averett's offense finally broke through with a seven-play, 55-yard drive that culminated with
Kirkland Brown's 26-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver
Joe McCaul.
Averett took its 7-3 advantage into halftime and opened the second half by forcing Randolph-Macon to punt in its first possession. The Cougars had first down and 10 on the Yellow Jackets' 12-yard line, but couldn't convert. Junior
Brad Scott's 33-yard field goal attempt missed wide as the Cougars came up empty-handed.
Randolph-Macon answered with a 35-yard field goal from Story to pull within one going into the fourth quarter.
The Yellow Jackets' success in the fourth quarter was keyed by Scruggs, who rushed for 87 of his 173 net yards in the final period.
Averett's offense was led by McCaul, who caught five passes for 61 yards and a score — all career-bests. Freshman running back
Jeff Redd led the Cougars with 63 yards rushing, and
Kirkland Brown finished with 129 yards while completing 17 of 29 passes.
Cougars sophomore safety
Stefan Varner led all tacklers with 12 total takedowns.