BUENA VISTA, Va.— Senior linebacker Nicholas Mintz picked off Southern Virginia University's pass in the end zone with six seconds remaining to preserve Averett University football's 28-23 road win over the Knights on Saturday afternoon.

Averett (4-4, 3-3 USA South) needed a big defensive stop late to thwart the Knights' comeback attempt in the fourth quarter. Southern Virginia (2-7, 1-6 USA South) scored a touchdown with 1:23 to play to get within 28-23 of the Cougars. Averett's ensuing possession went 3-and-out as the Cougars tried to run down the clock with three rushing plays. However, Southern Virginia blocked the punt and recovered it on Averett's 36-yard line with 57 seconds remaining — giving the Knights a chance to win the game.

Southern Virginia rushed down to the Averett 2-yard line but a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the ball back to the Averett 17. Several plays later, the Knights threw a pass across the middle looking for a touchdown. Mintz had other plans. He read the route and jumped in front of the receiver to snag it as both players fell to the ground. Averett then ran out the clock for the win

The defense played a huge part in Averett's victory.

After giving up a field goal in the first quarter, Averett used a big defensive play to spark its offense in the second quarter. With Southern Virginia driving, senior cornerback Terrell England picked off a pass at the Averett 41-yard line and returned it 37 yards to the Knights' 22-yard line. On the next play, junior quarterback Bryce Jackson hit senior receiver Isaiah Grice for a 22-yard touchdown to put Averett in front 7-3.

Southern Virginia retook the lead, 9-7, with 35 seconds left in the half. Yet, Averett found a way to add points in a short time to retake the lead before the break. A nice 36-yard kickoff return by senior Chase Nixon got the Cougars near midfield. Three plays later, Jackson hit Nixon for a 36-yard touchdown with two seconds left to put Averett in the lead, 14-9, at halftime.

Freshman running back Bryce Phipps added a 2-yard touchdown on Averett's first drive of the third quarter to push the Cougars' advantage to 21-9. Then, later in the third, another big defensive play aided the Cougars. Senior linebacker Conner Showalter picked off a pass and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown to extend Averett's lead to 28-9 with 4:01 left in the period.

Those proved to be valuable points as Southern Virginia added two more passing touchdowns in the fourth quarter to get within striking distance, leading to the exciting finish.

Showalter turned in his third consecutive double 16-plus tackle performance, finishing with a career-high 20 tackles — the third-highest total ever in program history. Hall of Famer Kelvin Hutcheson, who holds the single-game record with 23, is the only other Cougar with 20-tackle games with four for his career.

Mintz also had a big game in addition to his game-saving pick. He had 12 tackles, while senior safety Diaunte Neufville had 11.

Offensively for Averett, Jackson finished with 231 yards through the air while setting several program single-season records in the process. After breaking the single-season passing yards record last week, he set the mark this week for completions (190), attempts (305) and passing touchdowns (22) in a season with his efforts Saturday.

Grice caught nine passes for 99 yards and a score and Nixon had five receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Shawn Watlington had 75 yards on the ground on 17 carries.
Averett returns home on Nov. 6 for Senior Day against LaGrange College. Averett will also celebrate Military Appreciation Day.