Another strong defensive effort leads KSU past Campbell

Oct. 24—For the second straight week, the Kennesaw State defense did not allow a point and the No. 11 Owls earned a 30-7 victory over Campbell in Big South play Saturday.

KSU held the Camels to 188 yards of total offense, including holding quarterback Wiley Hartley in check. The sophomore came into the game averaging 305 yards passing in his four starts, but the Owls defense held him to 13 of 23 for 104 yards, two interceptions and sacked him three times.

All-Big South receiver Caleb Snead was never able to get on track either, as he was held to seven receptions for 55 yards.

Kennesaw State coach Brian Bohannon credited the team's zone defense which forced Hartley into throwing the ball underneath most of the day.

"They like to throw a lot of deep balls," Bohannon said. "We're more of a keep everything in front of us kind of defense."

The victory moves the Owls to 6-1 on the season and 3-0 in Big South play. It was KSU's fifth straight win and leaves it and Monmouth as the only two undefeated teams remaining in conference play.

While the 23-point margin of victory might present the idea that Saturday's victory came easy, it did not. There was no score after the first quarter, and it appeared that the Owls were finally going to break through and get on the scoreboard when disaster struck.

Coming into the game, Campbell had already forced 18 turnovers on the season, and on third-and-goal from the 3 KSU quarterback Xavier Shepherd turned upfield with the goal line just steps away, but he never got there.

Shepherd was tackled hard and lost the ball. It squirted behind him and Campbell's Levi Wiggins picked it up and returned it 94 yards for a touchdown. With the Camels up 7-0, the Owls dusted themselves off and began pounding on the Camels' defense again.

Shepherd directed a nine-play, 75-yard drive, highlighted by a 14-yard pass to Kyle Glover and a 15-yard run by Adeolu Adeleke, who finished with 63 yards rushing, put the Owls right back on the Campbell 3 again. This time Shepherd scored to tie the game at 7-7.

"That was the most important thing that happened," Bohannon said. "We got off the mat and drove right back down the field."

Shepherd finished the day completing 8 of 14 passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 52 of the Owls' 258 yards on the ground.

KSU opened the third quarter with the ball and moved down field for a Nathan Robertson 46-yard field goal for its first lead of the game. After forcing a quick three-and-out, the Owls made quick work on their next drive. A 14-yard run by Glover, who had 66 yards on the day, got KSU near midfield and two plays later Shepherd connected with Nykeem Farrow down the right sideline for a 52-yard touchdown to make it 17-7.

Campbell moved the in the fourth quarter. It drove to the KSU 15 early in the quarter, but kicker Isaac Riffle missed his second field goal attempt of the day, this one from 32 yards. His third miss proved to be much more costly.

Following a 14-play, 65-yard drive, the Camels hoped to finally get back within one score, but had to settle for another Riffle field goal attempt.

"The snapper flinched," Bohannon said. "Then he snapped it and were able to get off the ball really quick."

Defensive lineman Desmond Scott knifed through the line, blocked the 28-yard attempt and Je'Cory Burks picked it up and returned it 89 yards for a touchdown.

"It was a huge play," Bohannon said. "It pretty much put the game away."

But it didn't end the scoring. On the second play of the ensuing Campbell drive, Xavier Reddick came down with a tipped ball for an interception on the Camels' 34 with 5:37 to play.

KSU used nine straight runs to eat up the clock and push the ball inside the Campbell 5, but with 3 seconds left, instead of taking a knee, Shepherd threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Gabriel Benyard.

The move was out of character for Bohannon and his staff. When asked if there was a message being sent for something that happened earlier in the game, he declined to comment. However, he did say if the team could get the ball back at the 30 or 40 yard line, it would try to score.