SEWANEE, Tenn. –
Sean Johnson caught nine passes for 209 yards and
Barton Mixon scored a pair of rushing touchdowns, but Millsaps College posted 24 of the final 31 points, holding off Sewanee, 34-20, in the football season finale for both teams Saturday in Jackson, Miss.
Mixon recorded a pair of two-yard TD runs in the second quarter, the second one giving the Tigers (3-7, 1-6 SAA) a 13-10 lead with 5:27 remaining in the half. Connor Babin booted a 28-yard field goal late in the period, evening the contest at 13 at the half.
The Majors (6-4, 4-3) took the lead for good with a three-yard scoring run by Tameron Patterson with five minutes remaining in the third quarter. Derrick Tasby, Jr., caught a nine-yard TD pass midway through the fourth period, but Sewanee answered with an eight-yard touchdown pass from
Toryn Wilkins to
Trevon Garden with 4:09 remaining.
Patterson put the game away with a 33-yard scoring run after the Tigers failed to recover an onside kick.
Cam Beasley rushed 12 times for 32 yards and Mixon gained 31 yards on 13 carries. Beasley completed 10-of-18 passes for 165 yards with one interception and Wilkins passed for 100 yards and a TD on 6-of-12, also with one INT, in the second half.
The Tigers missed a chance to score in the first quarter, putting together an 11-play, 83-yard drive, picking up five first downs along the way. Beasley found Johnson for 20 yards to near the goal line, but Johnson fumbled at the goal line while fighting for the final two yards.
The Sewanee defense got a turnover on downs at the Tigers' 34-yard line on the ensuing possession and the teams then traded interceptions on consecutive plays. Beasley was picked off by Jimetrius Akins, who returned the ball to the Sewanee five-yard line, but
Jaylen Mack picked off Millsaps' Grant Bizjack in the end zone on the next play.
After the Majors kicked a 26-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter, Johnson caught a 55-yard pass and
Brett Dobbs rushed three times before Mixon got the final two yards. The pass failed on the extra point and Sewanee led, 6-3.
Bizjack rushed 69 yards on the first play of the next Majors possession and two plays later, Braxton Garmon gained three yards for the touchdown.
The Tigers answered with a seven-play, 74-yard scoring drive that included a 56-yard completion to Johnson and then four straight rushes for Mixon, the last one giving Sewanee a 13-10 edge.
Millsaps opened the second half with an 18-play, 80-yard possession that took nearly 10 minutes off the clock, with 12 of those plays on the ground. Patterson's three-yard run capped the drive and the Majors led, 20-13.
The Tigers moved to the Millsaps 33-yard line thanks to 17 and 15-yard rushes by Beasley, but a sack and a holding penalty pushed the ball back and Beasley's third-down pass to Johnson fell incomplete.
The Majors put together a 13-play, 92-yard drive, including 25 and 20-yard carries by Bisjack, who fouind Tasby, Jr., for the nine-yard TD, pushing the Millsaps lead to 27-13.
Sewanee answered with a 10-play, 74-yard possession, with Wilkins entering and hitting Johnson for 26 and 27-yard gains. Garden gained 15 yards on a pass and Johnson picked up 14 yards on another completion. The Tigers had three straight incompletions but Wilkins found Garden for an eight-yard TD on fourth down, cutting the deficit to seven.
Millsaps muffed the onside kick but the ball went out of bounds at the Sewanee 43. Two plays later Patterson rushed 33 yards for the final score.
