Late FG pushes Tigers past Reinhardt

On a rain-soaked afternoon at Toyota Stadium, Georgetown and Reinhardt put on a thrilling show for the fans who braved the elements. Nate Craft kicked a 20-yard field goal with 3 seconds left as Georgetown held off Reinhardt for a 34-31 win. The result marked the first win for the Tigers in 6 tries against the Eagles. 

After a short Reinhardt kickoff out-of-bounds to start the game, Georgetown's opening drive started on its own 49. On the 2nd play of the drive, Gehrig Slunaker found Matt Miller down the right side for a gain of 31 to the Eagles' 12. The drive ended on the next play as Reinhardt forced a Darius Neal fumble at the 2-yard line. Georgetown's defense held and got the offense ball back on the Reinhardt 47. On the 2nd play, a returning Jahmir Ackerson broke free for a gain of 23 to put the Tigers in the red zone. On a 3rd & 7 from the Eagles' 17, Slunaker and Miller connected again down the right side. This time, Miller grabbed the ball with one hand and beautifully toe-tapped the sideline in the end zone for a touchdown. Drew Rader's extra point put the Tigers up 7-0. Reinhardt nearly had an immediate answer, which would prove a theme throughout the day. Tyshun Jordan took the kickoff on his goal line and took it 100 yards for an apparent touchdown. The score came off the board as another Eagle was called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the return. The penalty forced Reinhardt to start the drive on its own 40. Georgetown's defense forced another punt with the Tigers taking over on their own 15. Slunaker hit Dillon Warren for 12 yards on a 3rd & 8 to extend the drive. 2 plays later, Slunaker took off with no options open and sprinted left for a pickup of 27 yards to the Reinhardt 40. On 2nd down from the 40, Slunaker hit Trey Schoen in stride over the middle. Schoen did the rest and took the ball 40 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead after an 85-yard drive that needed just 7 plays. 

Reinhardt turned to its ground attack and found success on its next possession. The big play came from the RU 49 when Jamarion Walker busted up the gut for a pickup of 34 yards to the GC 17. The drive reached the Georgetown 8, where the Eagles went for a 4th & 1. Walker's number was called again, but Romarion Warner blew the play up at the line for a loss of a yard and the turnover on downs. Georgetown's next drive showed promise once more, moving to the RU 20 yard line. On a 4th & 6, the Tigers chose to be aggressive, but Chandler Godby could not bring in a pass from Gehrig Slunaker to give the ball back to the Eagles with just under 12 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. Reinhardt's drive lasted just 32 seconds as the Eagles passed 3 straight times and punted. The teams traded punts once more before Georgetown got going again. With 7:41 left in the 2nd, the Tigers took over on their own 48. Darius Neal broke off runs of 24 and 12 to move the ball inside the RU 40. He carried twice more for 23 more yards to get the ball to the 10. After the 2-minute timeout and the ball on the RU 1, Neal and Guy Bailey cleared the way for Jahmir Ackerson to walk into the end zone to give Georgetown a commanding 21-0 lead late in the half. Reinhardt put its 2-minute offense to work and it ultimately paid off with an 11-yard TD pass from Taylor Jackson to Gentry Sherman with 1 second left in the half. The PAT was blocked to give the Tigers a 21-6 lead at halftime. 

Having deferred the coin toss, Reinhardt got the ball to start the 2nd half and wasted no time. Tyress McKey took the kick and raced 92 yards for a touchdown. A 2-point try was good and Reinhardt had cut the Georgetown lead to 21-14 just seconds into the 3rd quarter. Special teams nearly burned the Tigers again moments later. On a Georgetown punt, Reinhardt's Jah Colbert fielded the ball and returned it 82 yards for the would-be tying TD, but the Eagles were nabbed for a block in the back to wipe the score off the board. Starting on their own 13, Jackson found David Friedberg over the top for a 57-yard gain to the Georgetown 30. The Eagles worked their way inside the 10 before settling for a 24-yard field goal to get within 21-17 early in the 3rd.

Georgetown's offense went nowhere and after a short punt, Reinhardt got the ball back right at midfield, looking for the lead. The Eagles cost themselves on the drive with 4 penalties, including an unsportsmanlike conduct flag that pushed them into their own territory and led to a punt. With 5:25 left in the 3rd, Georgetown took over on its own 17 and began a methodical, grinding drive down the field. Darius Neal got things going with an 11-yard run. Gehrig Slunaker then found Chandler Godby on back-to-back connections of 18 and 15 yards. On a 4th and 3 from the Reinhardt 33, Georgetown gave the ball to its workhorse, Darius Neal, who powered right side, ran over a defender and hurdled another in picking up 20 yards. Jahmir Ackerson followed with a 10-yard run to the RU 3 to close the 3rd quarter. 3 plays later from the 1, Gehrig Slunaker called his own number on 4th down as the Tigers closed out a 15-play, 83-yard drive to take a 28-17 lead. Reinhardt proved once more its special teams were indeed special and once again featured Tyress McKey. A line drive kick found its way to McKey on his own 8. He found an opening on the right side and housed a 92-yard kickoff return to get Reinhardt back within 4 early in the 4th.

The Eagles seemingly carried the momentum into the next drive as Gehrig Slunaker was picked off over the middle by Julian Stevenson. On the return, Stevenson had the ball punched out and the fumble was ironically recovered by Slunaker. The clear return and recovery gave Georgetown a fresh possession starting on its own 20. On 3rd & 9, the Tigers went deep into the playbook as Gehrig Slunaker hit Chase Benner over the middle. Benner broke free of an initial tackled and rumbled to the Reinhardt 24 on a 55-yard gain. The drive stalled at the 22, but Nate Craft drilled a 39-yard field goal to put the Tigers up 31-24 with just under 8 minutes left. As was the case for the entire half, Reinhardt would not relent. The Eagles marched 80 yards in just 6 plays. The final 30 came on a perfect fade pass from Taylor Jackson to David Friedberg in the end zone. The PAT tied the game at 31 with just over 4 minutes left.

Georgetown went nowhere on its next possession and punted back to Reinhardt with 2:45 to go. 2 illegal snap penalties pushed Reinhardt back to its own 33. On 2nd & 17, Taylor Jackson's pass went through the hands of his intended target and was picked off by Georgetown's Brayden Pack at the Eagles' 42 with 1:43 to go. The Tigers once again turned to a ground game that finished the day with a dominating 278 yards. Darius Neal toted the rock 4 straight times for 25 yards to move the ball to the RU 17. Jahmir Ackerson carried for 5 more as Georgetown called a timeout with 14 seconds left on the RU 12. Darius Neal got the ball out of the timeout and broke free right side down to the 2. Georgetown called its final timeout and called on the right foot of Nate Craft once more. Reinhardt tried to ice the junior transfer, but Craft showed ice in the veins as he nailed a 20-yard field goal to put Georgetown ahead 34-31 with 3 seconds left. A final Reinhardt pass was picked off by Jack Bradley to seal the thrilling win.

Despite terrible weather conditions, Georgetown's offense turned in its best performance on the season, racking up 545 yards against the Eagles. Darius Neal led a dominating ground attack with 184 yards on 29 carries. In doing so, he passed Greg Menetrey ('98) for 5th place on the all-time career rushing yards list. Neal now stands at 2,457 career yards. Jahmir Ackerson ran for 57 yards and a score. In the air, Gehrig Slunaker was 16-31 for 267 yards, 2 TDs and a pick, along with his rushing score. Slunaker spread the ball around as 8 Tigers recorded a catch with 3 receivers going over 50 yards.

The Tigers will now take a bye week and prepare for Homecoming on Saturday, October 12th against Faulkner. Kickoff time from Toyota Stadium is set for 1:30pm.