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GLENVILLE, W. Va. -- After trailing 28-0, Urbana football scored three times in under three minutes to climb back into Saturday's road contest at Glenville State. However, the Blue Knights' comeback fell short in a 28-21 defeat.
UU dropped its fourth straight and now sits at 4-5 (3-5 MEC) following the setback. The host GSC Pioneers leaped UU in the conference standings by improving to 4-5 (4-4 MEC) for fifth place.
Freshman WR
Craig Burt hauled a 65-yard touchdown pass from freshman QB
Cee Jay Hale to get UU on the board with 5:30 left in the third quarter. It was the second career touchdown for each player.
Then, the Blue Knight defense recorded back-to-back 30-yard return touchdowns.
Jamari Collins scooped up a fumble, which was forced by
Onajai Davenport's sack, and the junior from Ypsilanti, Michigan returned his second touchdown this season to make it 28-14 Pioneers with 4:03 in the third. Collins also had an 84-yard fumble return in a Week 4 victory over Wesleyan.
Three Pioneer plays later, redshirt-freshman
Tobias Hailey Jr. took his first career interception to the house and sent the Blue Knight sideline into a frenzy, slicing the deficit to seven with 2:50 remaining in the third quarter. It was the first pick-six by a UU player since former Blue Knight Wes Edwards' 25-yard return on Nov. 14, 2009 at Central State.
With 3:12 left in the game, UU's final drive began at its own 1-yard line and a 41-yard reception by
Rafael Floyd got the Blue Knights marching down field. However, the drive stalled in GSC territory and after seven plays the Pioneers regained the ball on downs and were able to run out the clock.
Hale finished 11-of-29 passing for 199 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Seven different Blue Knights caught a pass including two grabs each from Floyd (52 yards),
Chad Swanson (34 yards) and
J.T. Dozier (19 yards). Junior running back
Isaiah Young led the rushing attack with 63 yards on 26 carries.
Defensively, junior defensive end
Mikal Toliver led the way with three tackles for loss and his eighth sack of the season. Davenport finished with a pair of TFLs and now has 6.5 sacks (career-high). Junior linebacker
Duray Hall posted a team-high 11 tackles while sophomore linebacker
L.A. Kelly had seven stops and 1.5 TFLs.
Florida State transfer Mario Pender led the Pioneers with 195 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown. The senior made the start at running back after missing last week's game and not appearing on this week's two-deep depth chart. J'Quan Anderson also scored on the ground while totaling 64 yards. Wideout Javon Butler hauled eight catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns, which put the Pioneers ahead 14-0 at halftime.
GSC outgained UU 414-294 in total yards but the Blue Knights held the Pioneers to just 2 of 14 on third downs. UU went 6 of 18 on third down but only reached the red zone once which came with under a minute left before halftime. Hale scrambled for a career-long 18-yard rush down to the GSC 5, but tossed an interception on the next play.
GSC leads the all-time series between the two schools 5-1 with four consecutive wins over the Blue Knights.
// UP NEXT
With still a chance to clinch the program's first winning season since 2013, UU returns to action next Saturday (1 p.m.) at home against West Virginia State. The Yellow Jackets (4-5, 3-5 MEC) are coming off a 41-12 loss to Fairmont State.
