MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner found itself in an eerily familiar situation Saturday as its defense stepped onto the field with a one-possession lead and less than 30 seconds left on the clock. Just two weeks after watching Reinhardt drive the distance for a game-winning field goal, Faulkner held a 35-28 advantage over Pikeville as the Bears got the ball to the Eagle 29 with 6.1 seconds remaining. On the final play of the game, Lee Kirkland dropped back to pass and found himself flushed from the pocket by
Myles Boyd before slinging the ball toward the end zone.
Avian Morgan, who had an interception wiped off the board due to a penalty earlier in the fourth quarter, stepped in front of the intended target and picked off the pass to seal the victory.
The sequence followed an eight-play, 73-yard scoring drive that saw
Duece Marshall go over the top to
Cam Bulluck for the go-ahead touchdown on a 12-yard strike. The score, which came with 32.7 seconds left on the clock, represented the only points of the second half for an Eagle offense that managed 300 yards and four touchdowns over the first 30 minutes of play.
Faulkner opened the scoring with 5:49 left in the first quarter when Marshall connected with
Drea Shumaker on a 25-yard touchdown pass to put the Eagles up 7-0.
Evan Eschbach, who entered the game for two plays in the second quarter as Marshall visited the training tent, made the most of his cameo with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Eschbach.
Kirkland got his team on the board with 8:25 left in the second with a 27-yard pass to
Jordan Williams. Faulkner answered at the 5:04 mark of the second quarter when Marshall connected with
La'Derrick Bell for a 25-yard touchdown pass to push the advantage to 21-7, culminating a two-play, 73-yard drive.
Pikeville cut into the deficit four minutes later with a 10-play, 89-yard drive that finished with Kirkland finding Diego Soto for a 5-yard touchdown pass. The Eagles responded in short order when Marshall hit Bulluck on a 14-yard throw for the 28-14 lead.
The Bears evened the score with a pair of second-half touchdowns. The first came with 3:02 left in the third on a Kirkland 5-yard rush while the second saw the signal-caller hit Soto on an 8-yard pass with 11:18 to play.
Faulkner amassed 520 yards of total offense in the game, marking the first time it has eclipsed the 500-yard mark in a contest since Oct. 29, 2022. The final tally also surpassed the Eagles' combined yardage total over the course of the first two ball games.
Marshall connected on 19 of his 30 pass attempts for 329 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing 16 times for 89 yards. Bulluck hauled in six passes for 131 yards while Bell had five catches for 106 yards. Shumaker finished with four catches for 98 yards.
Jerrell Williamson topped the defense with nine total tackles, a forced fumble and a sack. Morgan ended the day with eight tackles, three pass break-ups and the game-sealing interception.
Faulkner (1-2) travels to Point University Saturday, Sept. 28 for a 6 p.m. kickoff.
