In a wild affair that came down to the closing minutes Saturday night, Faulkner found a way to outpace host Bluefield 52-42 to move to 4-0 for the first time since 2014. The Eagles slogged through a first half marred by turnovers and penalties only find themselves trailing 21-10 with 2:47 left before intermission. 

With Bluefield set to receive the second half kickoff, Kade Young engineered the Eagles' two-minute offense to perfection. Faulkner notched first downs on the opening four plays of the possession and punched the ball into the end zone on a Charles Blackmon touchdown run with 29 seconds left in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 21-17. 

The drive, which covered 62 yards in six plays, ignited a 21-0 Faulkner run that flipped the game in favor of the Eagles. Isaiah Scott scored from eight yards out on a touchdown pass from Young at the 11:46 mark of the third quarter. Young later hit T.J. Hall for a score from five out to put Faulkner up 31-21 with 5:44 left in the third.

Undaunted, Bluefield landed a shot for the first time in nearly a quarter of play when Thomas Lee snagged a 47-yard strike from Nathan Herstich to make it a one-possession game with 1:49 left in the third quarter. 

The score stayed there until Faulkner put together a 10-play drive that traversed 68 yards and milked more than four minutes off the fourth quarter clock before Blackmon punched it in from a yard out. A little more than a minute later, Herstich struck again when he connected with Jaquan Ebron for a 39-yard strike that narrowed it to 38-35. 

Jalen Browder appeared to have returned the ensuing kick 93 yards for a touchdown but a penalty nullified the play, leaving Faulkner at its own 13 with a three-point lead and 7:10 left in the game. 

Young responded again for the Eagles, working all areas of the field while also mixing in option runs to take his team 87 yards. He capped the march with a 12-yard touchdown strike to Scott, his third scoring toss of the contest. 

Bluefield looked to get up off the deck once more with only 3:36 left as Herstich and company covered 47 yards in four plays to push the ball into Faulkner territory. One snap later, Antonio Gurley made his third impact play of the contest when sacked the Bluefield signal-caller for a 12-yard loss. The Rams then resorted to trickery as an attempted hook-and-lateral left the ball on the ground at midfield. Ovurton Gates scooped the fumble and took it the distance for the score, putting Faulkner up 52-35 with 1:32 left. Still, Bluefield refused to go away. Herstich hit Ebron for a 75-yard scoring strike to narrow the gap one final time. Faulkner then dove on the Rams' onside kick attempt with 1:10 to go to ice the game.  

The Eagles appeared to have control of the contest at the outset as Malik Meadows took the opening kickoff 84 yards to the Bluefield 10. Faulkner then handed the ball to Scott, who darted into the end zone and celebrated just seconds into the game. However, a penalty call against the Eagles negated the play. The drive stalled and Faulkner settled for a 23-yard field goal from Alvin Renteria. 

With 1:57 left in the first quarter, Bluefield took over the lead on a scoring strike form Herstich to Ebron. Herstich threw his second of six touchdown passes on the final play of the opening quarter when he hit Antonio Strickland for a 59-yard score to put his team up 14-3. 

Young led the drive to answer for the Eagles, taking his team 72 yards in five plays to narrow the gap when he called his own number on a 36-yard touchdown sprint.

The Faulkner quarterback ended his night 24 of 41 passing for 328 yards and three touchdowns to go along with 106 yards rushing and a score on 16 carries. Scott paced the receviers with 115 yards on nine catches. Browder added 104 yards on eight receptions. 

Alex Dawson led the tackle category with eight stops including one for loss in addition to an interception. Gurley added five tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery and an interception. 

The Eagles tallied 29 first downs in the contest as well as 567 yards of total offense. Faulkner drew 11 penalties for 118 yards and turned the ball over three times in the contest. 

Faulkner (4-0, 1-0 MSC Appalachian Division) continues conference play next Saturday when it hosts Point University for a 5:30 p.m. kickoff at Billy D. Hilyer Stadium.