The APSU Govs traveled to face the Skyhawks of UT-Martin Saturday for the Ohio Valley Conference season finale, where the Govs comeback came up short, falling 48-38 to end the season.
The Skyhawks (5-6 overall, 4-4 OVC) were led by Cade Thompson’s season high 378 yards passing which helped him become the program’s all-time career passing leader with 6,260 yards.
The Govs (4-7 overall, 3-5 OVC) had 277 total yards on offense in the losing effort.
With UT-Martin’s Stephen Shiver 14-yard touchdown catch from Cade Thompson, pushing the lead to 24-0, The Govs’ Terrence Holt burst through the seams for 57 yards gain to put the ball at the Skyhawk 19 yard line. From there, Ryan White dashed 19 yards to cut the Skyhawk lead 24-7.
APSU’s struggles in the first half could be witnessed on the offensive end, as the Govs tallied only 77 total yards and four first downs, and did not convert on third down in the first half.
The Govs scored to get back in the game 27-17, on a 10-yard jolt from Terrence Holt.
But by the next Skyhawk’s possession, APSU defense would force a punt. The Govs were, however, flagged for roughing the kicker, resulting in a first down. Thompson ended the drive with a five-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Jones, making the score 34-17.
The very next drive, Jake Ryan threw an interception, setting up another Thompson pass to Mike Hicks for his second touchdown of the game to push the lead to 41-17.
With the Skyhawks in the lead, Thompson was looking for the UT-Martin all-time leading passer Miguel Barnes, and continued the passing attack. He would get the record in setting up Barnes’ five-yard touchdown run, to push the lead to 48-17.
From there, APSU played for pride and clawed away at the Skyhawk lead to score 21 straight points on a Gary Orr pass to Scott Thomas. Daniel Swenson’s fumble recovery and 25-yard run and Ryan White one yard run pushed the score to 48-38.
Offensively, APSU was led by Terrence Holt’s 312 all-purpose yards, which helped him surpass Jay Bailey’s 2002 record.
Orr converted 9 of 18 passes for 84 yards one touchdown and one interception, while starter Jake Ryan was 9 of 29 for 92 yards and two interceptions. Orr replaced Ryan after a hard hit on a sack in the fourth quarter.
White finished with 13 carries, 58 yards and two touchdowns, while his counterpart Holt had 11 carries for 44 yards and one touchdown.
Defensively, the Govs picked off three of Thompson’s passes, with two coming from LaDarius Davis, and one from Kevis Buckley who moved into third place on the APSU all-time list for interceptions in a career.
