SEWANEE, Tenn. –
Jacorin Thomas tossed three touchdown passes but Millsaps' Cole Canatella threw three TD passes as well and the Majors scored 17 straight points in the second half in a 31-21 victory over the Tigers in football action here Saturday at McGee Field-Harris Stadium.
The Tigers (1-3, 0-1 SAA) tied the contest at 14 on the opening drive of the third quarter, but the Majors (3-1, 1-0) posted the next 17 points of the game, including TD passes of 14 and 28 passes by Canatella, both in the fourth quarter.
Thomas tossed a two-yard scoring pass to
Paxton Haywood with 2:13 remaining and the Tigers'
Keegan Glaze recovered an onside kick. Sewanee drove inside the Millsaps 14 before two incompletions and a sack. On fourth down Christian McCoy intercepted a pass for the Majors at the four, ending the comeback.
AJ McLemore and
Jeremiah Young each caught touchdown passes for Sewanee, with Thomas completing 15-of-28 passes for 237 yards. He also rushed 18 times for a combined 44 yards. McLemore made five receptions for 113 yards.
Canatella completed 31-of-38 passes for 381 yards and three TDs but was sacked six times. Willie Elliott made 10 catches for 118 yards and Connor Ladner caught five balls for 91 yards and two scores.
Millsaps drove 76 yards on seven plays to open the game, with Canatella completing all five passes for 75 yards before sneaking into the end zone from the one for a 7-0 Majors advantage.
The Tigers answered quickly, with Thomas hitting McLemore for a 76-yard catch-and-run to the Millsaps 10 on the second play of the drive. Two plays later McLemore caught a seven-yard TD pass, evening the game at seven less than five minutes into the contest.
Millsaps came right back with a nine-play, 76-yard drive, overcoming a sack with a third-down completion from Canatella to Kaiden Reese. Four plays later Elliott was on the receiving end of a 36-yard touchdown pass for a 14-7 Majors lead.
Canatella's pass was tipped by
Harris Cravens and
TJ Fields gathered the ball for an interception, ending the next Millsaps possession, but
Dawson White was hit and fumbled in Majors territory, giving the ball back to the visitors in the final minute of the first period.
Millsaps' Chase Jacobs rumbled 32 yards to the Sewanee three-yard line, but the defense stopped three tries and then Fields blocked a field goal by Ty Miller.
Ryan Nichol rushed three times for 22 yards on the ensuing Tigers drive and Sewanee drove to the Millsaps 31 before a holding call stalled the possession. Thomas' pass to
Dyer Barnes near the end zone on fourth down was knocked away.
Millsaps converted a 3
rd-and-13 with a screen pass to Jacobs and a 12-yard run by Hudson Byers gave the Majors another first down. The Tigers forced 4
th-and-7 from the Sewanee 16 but then jumped offsides before Canatella gained two yards for a first down.
A false start penalty backed up the Majors to the 14 and
Jaylen Mack intercepted a Canatella pass at the two, ending another drive for the visitors with a turnover and sending the teams to the locker room with Millsaps leading, 14-7.
The Tigers started the second half with a five-play, 75-yard drive, including a 35-yard completion over the middle to
Cooper Alford on third down. Two plays later Young caught a 26-yard scoring pass, knotting the game at 14.
Millsaps drove into the red zone yet again on the ensuing possession, with Connor Ladner's 40-yard catch moving the Majors into Sewanee territory. Elliott made a 13-yard catch but Jacobs was stuffed at the line, Mack knocked away a pass in the end zone and Canatella scrambled back to the line of scrimmage, setting up Miller's 27-yard field goal for a 17-14 Millsaps edge.
An exchange of punts gave the Majors the ball at their own 47 and Elliott's 18-yard catch-and-run got the ball to the Sewanee 14. Canatella scrambled and found Ladner, who broke a tackle and was pushed into the end zone from behind, extending the Millsaps advantage to 24-14 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Millsaps put together a 10-play, 80-yard drive later in the period, including a nine-yard completion to Jaylen Mathis and a 10-yard catch by Anthony James, Jr. Ladner caught a 28-yard TD pass with 4:19 remaining in the game.
Barnes caught a 25-yard pass for a first down on the ensuing Sewanee possession and after a defensive holding and face mask penalty moved the ball to the Millsaps 14, Thomas scrambled inside the five. He found Haywood on a jump pass from the two, closing the gap to 31-21 with 2:13 to play.
Millsaps fumbled the onside kick and Glaze recovered for the Tigers. McLemore made a 15-yard catch and a personal foul gave Sewanee a first down. Thomas scrambled for 13 yards to the Millsaps 16 but that was as far as the drive got before the interception by McCoy sealed the victory for the Majors.
Sewanee travels to Trinity University in two weeks after a off-week for the Tigers.
