Eastern Kentucky Edges Chattanooga 22-17 with a Late Score
Eastern Kentucky missed both of its two-point tries and the Colonels still won. They beat Chattanooga 22-17 to get to 1-1, while Chattanooga dropped to 1-2.
The Colonels' points came in an odd mix: a 16-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Travers to Braylon Newcomb (with a failed two-point try), a 96-yard run by Brady Hensley, a Buzz Flabiano field goal, and a late Brayden Latham 1-yard run that again failed on the two-point attempt. That adds up to 22, and it was good enough, but only just.
Chattanooga took the lead in the third quarter. Kevin Lalin ran 27 yards for a touchdown to cut it to 16-10, and Battle Alberson scored from 5 yards with 2:41 left in the quarter to make it 17-16. Eastern Kentucky answered with Latham's run with 3:48 to play and Chattanooga never scored again. Eastern Kentucky trailed only for that stretch, and its biggest deficit was a single point.
The yardage explains it. Eastern Kentucky ran for 280 yards on 40 carries and gained 400 in all, even though it threw for just 120 and two interceptions. Chattanooga managed 254 yards, 135 passing, and threw one pick of its own. Neither team lost a fumble and each sacked the other once. Flabiano's 33-yard field goal just before the half made it 16-3.
For fantasy, Lalin was the top scorer on the day with 20.7 points, and he did it with 17 carries and nine yards of catches. Hensley had 20.3 points on seven carries, most of it from one run.