GREENSBORO, N.C. — Guilford College missed a game-tying 22-yard field goal with five seconds to play, allowing Averett to escape with a 30-27 non-conference road win on a rainy Saturday night.

Averett (1-2) led 30-14 midway through the third quarter, but the Cougars saw their 16-point lead shrink down the stretch. Guilford (1-2) closed the gap to 30-20 on Josh Schow's 11-yard touchdown run with 3:53 left in the third quarter, but the Quakers' two-point conversion failed. Guilford then took advantage of an Averett fumble on fourth down and drove 73 yards on 10 plays to get within a field goal with 10:04 to play.

Things got quite interesting from there. On Averett's ensuing possession, the Cougars fumbled away the ball on their second play from scrimmage, giving Guilford possession on Averett's own 29-yard line. The Quakers drove all the way down to the 1-yard line, but Averett's defense stuffed quarterback Matt Pawlowski on fourth down.

Although the Cougars got the ball back with less than five minutes remaining, they were backed up against their own goal line. After three short runs, Averett was forced to punt. Guilford fielded the 31-yard punt and returned it to the Averett 24-yard line with 2:20 to play.

Guilford drove down to the Averett 10-yard line and faced a third-and-6, but Averett's defense came up strong once again and stopped Pawlowski, who rushed for a 5-yard gain to set up a fourth-and-1 from the Cougars' 5-yard line. Following a Guilford timeout, the Quakers elected to go for the game-tying field goal attempt with under 10 seconds left. Tyler Hunt's 22-yard attempt missed wide left as the Cougars' sideline danced in the rain while spoiling Guilford's Homecoming game.

Averett ran out the final seconds to improve to 8-2 all-time against Guilford.

"It was great to see us get the victory with our backs against the wall, especially coming into the game with a 0-2 record," Averett coach Mike Dunlevy said. "The kids worked really hard to pull out the win."

On a night where the wet playing conditions were far from ideal, the two teams combined for 14 fumbles (10 by Guilford), with each team losing three. One of those Quakers' turnovers gave Averett momentum early. On Guilford's first drive, a bad snap was recovered by Averett junior cornerback Roderick Doggett for a touchdown less than three minutes into the game.

Guilford, however, answered with a touchdown on its next drive to tie the game at 7-7. The Quakers then went in front 14-7 on Pawlowski's 25-yard touchdown pass to Josh Williams with 8:45 left in the first quarter.

After Averett's next drive went three-and-out, Guilford turned the ball over on its first play from scrimmage. Gilbert, who recovered the fumble for a touchdown earlier, forced a fumble and senior Johan Lorenzo recovered it at the Guilford 11-yard line. Three plays later, junior quarterback Kirkland Brown found freshman Dante' Pinkston for a 6-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14-14.

Averett took a 21-14 lead thanks to an 18-play, 87-yard drive that spanned the first and second quarters. Sophomore Ray Brown found the end zone from 10 yards out for his first touchdown of the season. Averett added a 26-yard field goal from sophomore Hobie Proctor late in the second quarter to build a 24-14 lead by halftime.

Averett took advantage of another Guilford mishap midway through the third quarter. A low snap on a punt attempt led to a Quakers fumble and Averett recovered it on the the Guilford 21-yard line. On the next play, the Cougars increased their lead to 30-14 on Pinkston's second touchdown of the night, a 21-yard run through traffic with 6:57 left in the third quarter. That score proved to be the difference late.

The win for the Cougars broke a two-game losing skid to start the season. With the rough weather conditions, the Cougars relied heavily on their run game. Ray Brown finished with 81 net yards on 26 carries, while sophomore running back Xavier Morgan added a team-high 107 yards on 14 carries.

"I'm just proud of how hard our kids played," Dunlevy said. "Our special teams did a great job of securing the ball with these weather conditions."

Averett will open USA South Conference play next Saturday at home against N.C. Wesleyan College on Homecoming Weekend.