DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University football scored a season-high in points, but N.C. Wesleyan College inched out a 56-51 victory to spoil the Cougars' Senior Day Saturday at Daly Field.
 
N.C. Wesleyan (3-5, 3-2 USA South) and Averett (1-6, 1-3 USA South) exchanged the lead several times in the fourth quarter, but the Bishops outscored the Cougars 28-18 in the final quarter, which proved to be the difference.
 
Averett senior receiver Terrance Owens II caught two of his three touchdowns in the third quarter to give the Cougars a 33-28 lead entering the final frame. N.C. Wesleyan quickly went back 35-33 in front with one of Adrian Minondo's four rushing touchdowns early in the fourth quarter. It was the start of a scoring frenzy that saw the teams combine for four touchdowns in less than three minutes. Averett went 75 yards in three plays, finishing it off with a 22-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Kelly Hall to sophomore running back Travis Jones that gave the Cougars a 39-35 lead. Four plays later, N.C. Wesleyan Dustin Midgett found Malik Adams for a 42-yard touchdown, one of three on the day between the two.
 
Down 42-39 after that score, Jones electrified the stadium with an 83-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to push Averett back in front 45-42 with 10:36 to play. For Jones, it was his second kickoff return for a touchdown this season and the third of his career, which is a program record.
 
N.C. Wesleyan, however, answered the challenge. Midgett found Adams for a 34-yard touchdown on its next drive, and Minondo added his final touchdown of the day with 4:42 to play to help the Battling Bishops surge to a 56-45 lead.
 
Averett responded with a another Hall touchdown pass to Owens, this time for 65 yards to get the Cougars within five points, but they couldn't get any closer as N.C. Wesleyan drove for three first downs to eat up the final 4:07 on the clock and escape with the victory.
 
Much like the fourth quarter, the first quarter saw a flurry of scoring. Averett opened the game with a scoring drive that was capped off by Hall finding sophomore receiver Myles Bennett across the middle of the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown. N.C. Wesleyan answered almost immediately and the Bishops drove down the field and Midgett found Elgin Counts for an 8-yard score to tie the game at 7-7 with 10:43 still left in the quarter.
 
The Cougars regained a 14-7 lead when Hall and Bennett connected once more, this time from 4 yards out. Averett scored again less than two minutes later when senior cornerback Dontae Gilbert picked off Midgett and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was blocked, leaving the Cougars' lead at 20-7. The momentum was short-lived as Midgett found Malik Adams for a 65-yard touchdown on N.C. Wesleyan's second play of its ensuing drive.
 
N.C. Wesleyan took a 21-20 lead, its first of the game, in the opening minutes of the second quarter on Minondo's 14 scamper up the middle. Minondo added a second rushing touchdown in the final minutes of the half to give the Bishops a 28-20 advantage at the break.
 
Despite the loss, a number of Averett players had individual highlights. In addition to setting the record for kickoff returns for a touchdown in a career, Jones also became the first Cougar in the 16 years of the program to finish with more than 300 all-purpose yards in a single game. He had 325 all-purpose yards, with 246 coming on kickoff returns.
 
Owens, meanwhile, finished with several records of his own on Senior Day. His three-touchdown game tied the single-game mark for touchdowns by a receiver and was the fourth such occurrence. Personally, Owens matched his career-high in yardage, set last week, by catching three passes for 137 yards against the Bishops. Hall also finished with a career-high 340 passing yards for a program-record six touchdowns on 19-of-26 passing, and Bennett had a career-high 114 yards receiving and two scores. Hall's 340 yards through the air is the third highest single-game total in program history, and his six passing touchdowns surpassed the old record of four set by Todd Parsons against Methodist University in 2005.
 
Gilbert and fellow senior Michael Reives led Averett with 12 tackles, while senior Jamal Forney added nine tackles.
 
Prior to the game, Averett honored its 19 senior football players and two senior cheerleaders.
 
Averett finishes the season with a pair of road games, first with a matchup against rival Ferrum College next Saturday. That game is tentatively scheduled to be played at Franklin County High School as Ferrum's football field is still under construction.