‘That can never happen ever again’: Hawks can’t hang on to 20-point lead in fourth quarter

QUINCY — The numbers achieved by the Quincy University football team on Saturday were impressive.

The Hawks rolled up 450 total yards and scored 48 points. The defense recovered three fumbles and intercepted three passes. QU had a 31-7 lead over McKendree early in the third quarter and led 41-21 with 13:31 remaining in the game.

But when the Hawks needed to milk the clock in the second half, they failed — and a worn-out defense couldn’t stop the Bearcats in the fourth quarter.

McKendree scored 30 points in the fourth quarter, including a 39-yard game-winning field goal by Ryan Kastl with 25 seconds left to play, to deliver a soul-crushing 51-48 loss to the Hawks in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game at QU Stadium.

A victory would have put Quincy in a three-way tie for second place in the GLVC. Instead, the Hawks (3-4, 1-2 GLVC) are now in a three-way tie for fifth, one game ahead of last place William Jewell.

“Nothing can replace this feeling right here,” Hawks safety Sa’hron Cunningham said. “No dub. Nothing. This is a must game for us, and we just didn’t come out on top.”

Hawks led 31-7 early in third quarter

The Hawks led 24-7 at halftime, and on the third play of the third quarter, quarterback Tionne Harris lofted a 75-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Hardin. McKendree answered back with a 13-play, 59-yard drive that took more than six minutes and ended with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by quarterback Turner Pullen, cutting QU’s lead to 31-14.

The inability to take time off the clock started to become a problem for the Hawks, whose next drive lasted just three plays and 91 seconds. Turner then hit Tyler Siever with a 10-yard touchdown pass to get McKendree within 31-21.

QU’s best series of the second half, a 12-play, 64-yard drive, culminated with a 29-yard field goal by Michael Klotz. The Hawks appeared to have regained control of the game when Brendon Buckner forced a fumble by McKendree’s Narkel Leflore on the ensuing kickoff, and Cunningham recovered at the Bearcats’ 34-yard line.

Six plays later, Jalen Griffin scored from 2 yards out, and QU appeared to be comfortably ahead 41-21.

The Hawks forced another fumble on McKendree’s next offensive play, and Peyton Chappel’s recovery gave the hosts the ball at the Bearcats’ 31-yard line with 13:31 remaining. However, Harris threw an interception in the end zone two plays later, and only 27 seconds had ticked off the game clock.

Harris TD put QU ahead 48-35 with 5:22 remaining

After McKendree scored on a 40-yard TD catch by Steven Towns, the Hawks went three-and-out on their next series that lasted just 1:51. The Bearcats responded quickly, going 77 yards in less than two minutes to score again. Pullen hit Jace Kennedy with a 14-yard scoring strike. 

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a pass interference penalty helped the Hawks score their final touchdown, a 2-yard run by Harris, and take a 48-35 lead with 5:22 remaining.

The Bearcats needed just 82 seconds to score again on a 21-yard touchdown catch by Kennedy. QU took possession with four minutes to play, but a running play for no yards, a short pass and a quarterback sack forced the Hawks to punt the ball away with 2:16 left.

McKendree needed just 32 seconds to score again. Pullen hit Jacob Bachman for 28 yards, then scored from 25 yards out as the Bearcats tied the score at 48. However, Kastl, who was injured on a kickoff earlier in the quarter, pushed the go-ahead conversion kick wide.

“We didn’t get a stop,” Cunningham said. “We needed a stop. We didn’t get a stop. We just needed one. Their offense was not special at all.”

The Hawks gave the ball back on their next play when McKendree’s Ethan Young picked off Harris. The Bearcats moved the ball to the QU 22, and Kastl hobbled on to the field. He punched the game-winning kick that barely made it over the crossbar.

Six second-half drives by Hawks lasted less than two minutes each

QU used only 21 seconds to move from its own 33 yard line to the McKendree 31 yard line, but a game-tying 48-yard field goal attempt by Michael Klotz was blocked as time expired.

“That can’t happen. That can never happen ever again,” Hawks coach Gary Bass said. “That is absolutely unacceptable. That falls on my shoulders and nobody else’s. I won’t blame anybody else for that. We’ve got to move forward. We got to play better than that. We can’t allow anything like that to ever take place at the end. Period.”

QU called 17 running plays in the second half. One carry by Taylor Temple picked up 24 yards. The other 16 carries gained just 20 yards.

Several plays by the Hawks in the second half were snapped with 20 or more seconds remaining on the play clock. Not counting the final drive, the Hawks had six second-half drives that lasted less than two minutes each.

“I thought our offense did some good really, really good things for the most part. We’ve got to get the run game better,” Bass said. “We threw the ball pretty well, but we didn’t run the ball very well at all.

“You score 48 points, you should win. Period. There’s no other way around it.”

The Hawks were outgained 559-450. Harris completed 31 of 48 passes for 364 yards and touchdowns to four different receivers. Pullen threw for 358 yards and four touchdowns, and he rushed for 82 yards and two more scores.