BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. (courtesy auyellowjackets.com) — The Allen University football team registered the largest comeback in school history rallying from 23 points down in the 4th quarter to reel off 27 unanswered points stunning visiting Kentucky State 34-30 on Saturday night at Westwood High Stadium.
Sophomore QB David Wright threw five touchdown passes on the night, including four in the fourth quarter to help lead Allen to the thrilling win. Wright threw for 411 yards, 5 TDs, while completing 30 of 53 passes and two interceptions.
Wright got Allen on the board first as he threw an 18-yard TD pass to senior Deandre Ruffin to finish off an 11-play 80-yard drive and put Allen up 7-0. Later in the first, KSU got on the board as they ran a punt back 55 yards for a score to tie it at seven apiece. KSU then blocked Allen’s punt in the second quarter running it back 30 yards to go up 14-7. KSU then finished the quarter picking off Wright for a “pick six” 20-yard interception return TD as the Thorobreds went into the half up 21-7 and with no offensive touchdowns.
In the third quarter, KSU extended their lead to 23-7 with a safety before closing the quarter on a 54-yard run to complete a long drive and go. up 30-7 on the Jackets heading to the fourth. But Allen apparently had them right where they wanted as they began their fourth quarter comeback.
Allen clawed back in it by going 63 yards in 7 plays and only taking 2 minutes to get within 30-15 on a 24-yard TD pass form Wright to sophomore WR Armone Harris followed by a Beau Herrington two-point conversion. Allen’s D then stuffed KSU’s offense again forcing a fumble and giving the ball right back to the Jackets where they immediately capitalized with a Wright 23-yard catch-and-run TD pass to Herrington to make it 30-21 as he was tripped up on the two-point attempt with 9 minutes to play.
AU then got their third touchdown in the quarter as Wright’s 17-yard pass to junior WR Bobby Moore completed a 12-play 70-yard drive in just 2:39 to get to within 3 points at 30-27 with just over 4 minutes to. play. After another dominating defensive stand, AU got the ball back on their own 28 with 2:52 to play. Wright then threw four consecutive completions to Harris and Freshman WR Kenny Wilson for 11, 12, 35, and 10 yards to get inside the 5 yard line with 1:28 to play. Then, on 2nd and goal Wright completed teh comeback with a 4-yard pass to senior WR Montrell White to get the win. DB Rejai Anderson then intercepted KSU on the final play of the game to clinch it for the Jackets.
The Yellow Jackets also had two wide-outs finish with over 100 yards receiving. Kenny Wilson led with 111 yards on 5 catches while Harris caught 7 passes for 104 yards. WR Montrell White also had a stellar game with 7 receptions for 81 yards while junior WR Bobby Moore had 4 catches for 48 yards including 3 on the game-winning drive. Running backs Herrington and freshman Alan Riggins combined to rush for 83 yards on 23 rushes while Herrington added 38 yards receiving on 4 catches and a touchdown. The AU offense put up 462 total yards on 33 first downs.
Defensively, the fierce Yellow Jacket D held KSU to just 12 first downs, and only 211 yards of offense while only seceding one offensive touchdown. Linebacker Kayleb Pierce led the team with 7 tackles and 5 solo with a sack and tackle-for-loss while junior LB Justin Eaton recorded 6 tackles, a sack, and a TFL. Senior Defensive tackle Marques Sherman also led the team with 2 sacks on the night along with 4 tackles while Allen totaled 7 sacks on the evening. Also recording sacks were D-linemen Artavon Edmond and Jaheim Borden as well as LB Cameron Scott.
With the win over Kentucky State, Allen improves to 3-0 on the season, their best start in school history. Next weekend the Yellow Jackets travel to Ohio to battle Central State at 1:00 PM on Saturday, Sept. 23.
