Chanticleers claim first bowl victory
Coastal Carolina makes history with comeback to beat Northern Illinois
It was a historic night for Coastal Carolina as the program claimed its first bowl victory with a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Northern Illinois 47-41 in the Cure Bowl Friday at Exploria Stadium.
It was redemption for Coastal, which lost its first bowl appearance to Liberty in last year’s Cure Bowl.
Tailback Braydon Bennett scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 34-yard pass from quarterback Grayson McCall with 6:49 left and the Chanticleers (11-2, 6-2
Sun Belt) needed a set of defensive stops to hold off the Huskies (9-5, 6-2 Mid-American Conference), including one at their own 8-yard line with 7 seconds left.
The game turned into a backand-forth affair with eight lead changes as the teams scored on 12 of their first 13 offensive possessions. It was a record-setting night with 88 combined points and 1,030 combined yards of offense, the most in bowl history.
McCall finished with a gamehigh 315 yards passing and 4 touchdowns while Bennett had 108 yards and 2 scores.
Things started quickly when NIU quarterback Rocky Lombardi tried to get the yard himself on a 4th-and-1 near midfield before breaking away from a crowd of Coastal Carolina defenders and racing 28 yards to the Chanticleers’ 21.
Five plays later, Lombardi found tight end Cole Tucker in the back of the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown to give the Huskies the early 7-0 lead.
Coastal didn’t waste much time responding as the Chanticleers drove 62 yards before Bennett took a pitch from McCall, raced around the right side and into the end zone for a 13-yard score. But the Huskies blocked the extra point to keep a 7-6 lead.
NIU took advantage of a 40-yard kickoff return to begin its second drive near midfield, but after moving the ball to the Coastal 23, the Huskies settled for a 41-yard
field goal by John Richardson.
Coastal took advantage of a broken coverage on a 4th-and-5 to take their first lead of the game when McCall found receiver Aaron Bedgood open in the flat for a 40-yard touchdown to give the Chanticleers a 13-10 advantage with 13:46 left in the first half.
NIU continued its punishing ground attack as tailback Antario Brown had a 34-yard scramble to put the Huskies inside the red zone on their next possession. Four plays later, fullback Clint Ratkovich powered his way through the left side for a 2-yard touchdown and a 17-13 lead midway through the second quarter.
After a 27-yard Massimo Biscardi field goal cut the lead to 17-16, Coastal Carolina’s defense forced
the game’s first punt. Still, the Chanticleers received a roughing-thekicker penalty on NIU punter Matt Ference, giving the Huskies a new set of downs.
An unsportsmanlike penalty moved NIU deep into Coastal territory before Lombardi found Miles Joiner open in the middle of the field. The 6-foot-4, 259-pound tight end lumbered into the end zone to push the Huskies’ advantage to 24-16.
The Chanticleers settled for a 43-yard field goal by Biscardi to cut the lead to 24-19 at the half.
Both teams continued their backand-forth battle in the second half with five lead changes, but it was NIU’s decision to go for it on a 4th-and-1 at its own 34 that backfired as Coastal came away with the stop that would lead to the go-ahead score.
Lombardi finished with 181 yards passing with 3 total touchdowns while Jay Ducker and Brown combined for 251 yards rushing.