DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University football's defense came up big again, stuffing a potential game-tying touchdown on fourth-and-goal in the final minutes to preserve a 20-13 win over rival Ferrum College Saturday on Daly Field and Frank R. Campbell Stadium.

The victory gave Averett (8-2) its most overall wins in a single season, surpassing the old mark of seven achieved in 2006 and 2009.

The Cougars' defense stepped up big in the second half after Ferrum (5-5) gained momentum thanks to three turnovers. Down 20-6 at halftime, the Panthers took advantage of the second of those Averett mishaps and pulled within a touchdown of the Cougars on Zack Clifford's 27-yard touchdown pass to Johnny White midway through the third quarter.

Ferrum had one last opportunity to tie the contest late in the fourth quarter thanks to a methodical drive that put the Panthers in the Averett red zone. On first-and-goal from the Cougars' 10-yard line, Alonzo Beverly rushed for 2 yards. After an incomplete pass on second down, Clifford appeared to have a wide-open lane for a game-tying touchdown, but sophomore linebacker Nicholas Mintz came out of nowhere for an open-field tackle to stop Clifford at the 2-yard line.

Clifford tried to find the end zone on fourth down, but Mintz and freshman Joseph Ledbetter both stuffed him at the 2-yard line for the huge defensive stop with 1:53 to play.

Although Ferrum had all three timeouts, Averett sealed the game on junior running back Nygle Farmer's 10-yard run for a first down. After one more run by senior quarterback C.J. Filipkowski, Averett was able to kneel twice to run out the clock for its third win over Ferrum in four seasons.

Despite a scoreless second half, Averett's offense opened strong with a touchdown drive on its first possession. Junior quarterback Jacob Wright found senior running back Sean Bowman for a 35-yard pass to get the Cougars into Ferrum territory. A Wright completion to freshman Chase Nixon put Averett in the red zone, and Wright eventually found freshman Jarrod Mosby for a 13-yard touchdown to put the Cougars ahead 6-0 with 9:43 to play in the first quarter.

Ferrum, however, answered immediately. A big kickoff return by Brian Mann put the Panthers into Averett territory, Ferrum knotted the score at 6-6 on Clifford's touchdown run at the 4:34 mark of the first quarter.

 Averett went back in front early in the second quarter on sophomore Denarius Hilton's 7-yard touchdown run up the middle to cap a 10-play, 65-yard scoring drive. The Cougars tacked on another touchdown just before the half when Wright found senior Rayvon Johnson cutting to the left side of the end zone for a 17-yard score, giving Averett a 20-6 lead at halftime.

Ledbetter had a team-high 12 tackles, including three tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble. Senior safety Octavius Ross finished with eight tackles, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery and one pass breakup, while senior linebacker Dejon Brooks tallied seven tackles with three quarterback hurries.

Offensively, Wright threw for 210 yards and two touchdowns and Johnson caught three passes for 53 yards and a score.

The two teams were originally scheduled to play on Sept. 15, but weather forced the teams to postpone the game until the end of the season.

The win capped off a stellar season for Averett, which set program records for overall wins and matched its mark for most conference wins in a season. The Cougars' only two losses came on the road to Randolph-Macon College and Maryville College — both NCAA playoff teams.