RICHMOND, Ky. – The EKU football team scored 21 consecutive points to erase a second-quarter deficit and held off a late rally to beat Kennesaw State 45-38 on Saturday evening at CG Bank Field at Roy Kidd Stadium.

The Colonels (7-4, 3-2 ASUN) wasted no time scoring as Parker McKinney found Jayden Higgins for an 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game. The Owls (5-6, 1-4 ASUN) responded with a touchdown, but Eastern answered with a Patrick Nations 25-yard field goal, making the score 9-7 EKU with 7:32 left in the first quarter.
 
After KSU took a 14-9 lead entering the second quarter, McKinney tied the single-season EKU touchdown record on a 24-yard pass to Cornelius McCoy, making it 16-14 Colonels with 7:12 to go in the half. McKinney threw his record-breaking 26th touchdown of the season on a  six-yard strike to Jaden Smith at the 3:07 mark of the second quarter as EKU took a 23-14 halftime lead.
 
Matthew Jackson recovered a KSU fumble on the opening drive of the third quarter and Braedon Sloan extended EKU's lead with a 31-yard touchdown run, making it 30-14 Colonels with 12:22 left in the quarter 
 
Kennesaw State pulled back to within a score with a touchdown and a field goal to make the score 30-24 with 3:58 to go in the third quarter, but McKinney hit McCoy for a four-yard touchdown and found Higgins for the ensuing two-point conversion to give EKU a 38-24 lead heading into the fourth quarter. 
 
KSU again closed the gap to one score with a touchdown, but Sloan raced 65 yards to the end zone on a short throw from McKinney to make the score 45-31 with 8:47 remaining. The Owls scored again with 4:57 to play to cut EKU's lead to 45-38 and put together a potential game-tying drive in the final minutes, but Jackson recorded his first sack of the day on 4th-and-10 to give EKU the ball back with 43 seconds left to play, sealing the victory for the Colonels. 

McKinney threw for a career-high 427 yards and tied the school record with five touchdown passes, going 25-of-35 through the air. McCoy led the receiving corps with nine catches for 151 yards, both season highs. Higgins caught five passes for 101 yards. Sloan led the ground attack with nine carries for 70 yards and added 97 yards receiving.

Defensively, Jackson notched a career-high 18 tackles with 3.0 tackles for loss and a sack. Chase Lasater added seven tackles and Darrian Baker tallied his first sack of the season.

EKU will learn its postseason fate on Sunday when the FCS playoff bracket is announced at 12:30 p.m. on ESPNU. 
 

Written by Rixon Lane & Austin Miller, EKUSports Communications