Kennesaw State achieved consecutive wins for the first time this season as the Owls defeated Charleston Southern 30-20 on Saturday at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
The Owls (4-4) took a 20-7 lead early in the third quarter on a two-play, 5-yard drive. Both plays were runs by quarterback Xavier Shepherd. The second produced a 1-yard touchdown run.
The drive was set up by defensive back Markeith Montgomery, who intercepted a pass on the fifth play of the second half and returned it 35 yards to the Charleston Southern (1-7). A personal-foul penalty gave the Owls the ball on the 5.
Montgomery’s interception was the ninth of his career, which made him Kennesaw State’s career leader in that category.
“I gave him the game ball,” Kennesaw State coach Brian Bohannon said. “I don’t know if I’ve given a game ball out since I’ve been here; that’s pretty special. His preparation and the way he shows up for us has been special.”
Montgomery’s game ball was the ball from the pass he intercepted.
“I’ve come a long way,” he said. “It feels great to make history here and know that I have more games to extend the record.”
Following the interception, both offenses found life. After Kennesaw State scored off the turnover, Charleston Southern pulled its starting QB, Tony Bartolo, for freshman Deymon Fleming. Fleming led the Buccaneers’ best drives of the day, scoring on two of his four drives, to keep the game from getting out of reach.
Kennesaw State’s Gabriel Benyard caught a 37-yard yard touchdown pass from Shepherd in the second quarter, and he returned four punts for 117 yards as the special teams performed well all game. Special teams helped win the field-position battle, as the offense had trouble finding a rhythm throughout the game.
After throwing 24 passes in the first half and struggling to move the ball, Kennesaw State attempted one pass in the second half and ran the ball 31 times. Shepherd completed 11 of his 24 attempts in the first half. He threw one touchdown pass, but also had an interception returned for a touchdown with 1:50 left in the second quarter that made the score 13-7 at halftime.
The Owls finished with 167 yards rushing on 51 carries. Shepherd led the team in rushing with 62 yards, including two touchdowns.
“When you become one-dimensional, it becomes problematic.” Bohannon said about the inconsistency on offense. “We have to find a way to do both. You give up a pick-six that gives you some pause. I didn’t think they were going to score on the defense, then we gave them that. We can’t survive just throwing the ball. We have to be better.”
Kennesaw State goes on the road for Saturday’s game against Tennessee-Martin. The Owls need to win at least two of their remaining three games to avoid the first losing record in program history.
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