OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Albright College topped Stevenson University 30-26 in a battle of two of three teams atop the Middle Atlantic Conference football standings at Mustang Stadium Saturday afternoon.
With the win, Albright now sits in sole possession of first place in the conference, as Delaware Valley also fell late to Lycoming. Stevenson and Delaware Valley sit tied for second at 6-2 in the league.
The Mustangs trailed 30-21 entering the fourth quarter, but pulled within one possession with 6:18 to play on a 30-yard Tim Sternfeld field goal that ended a 15-play, 75-yard drive that began at the Stevenson 12. Albright went three-and-out on its next possession and the hosts took over at their own 6 with 3:48 left.
Stevenson reached midfield before a pass from freshman Bradley Harmon was intercepted, however, the drive was kept alive by offsetting penalties, and the Mustangs moved to the Albright 34 on a 15-yard personal foul after the play. Harmon picked up six yards on a pass to Preston Addo, but his next throw was intercepted by Albright with 58 seconds to play.
Albright could not run out the clock as Stevenson had two timeouts, and on fourth down, ran around to kill time and took a safety with two seconds left to make it 30-26. On the subsequent kickoff, Stevenson attempted several laterals but was unable to advance past midfield.
Chris Dawson ran for a pair of third-quarter touchdowns to give Albright back the lead after it trailed 21-17 at halftime. A 12-yard scamper on the Lions' opening drive gave the guests a 23-21 lead, as the extra point try was blocked following an Albright penalty. His 19-yard run with 1:46 left in the quarter capped a nine-play, 59-yard drive.
Stevenson found itself down 17-7 with 4:09 left in the first half as Albright capped a nine-play, 55-yard drive with a shovel pass for a touchdown. The Mustangs needed just four plays to counter, as Harmon found Addo wide open in the middle as he ran home for a 59-yard touchdown with 2:13 remaining. The next Albright possession ended in a bad snap on fourth-and-12 from its own 18 and Stevenson recovered on the 2. Kiandre Burrell's run with 37 seconds left gave the Mustangs a 21-17 lead.
After receiving the opening kickoff, Stevenson engineered an 18-play, 88-yard drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown pass to the right corner from Harmon to Seth Jordan with 5:40 left in the first half. The Mustangs faced fourth-and-9 on the Albright 32 when Harmon completed a 22-yard pass to Devin Salisbury to keep the drive alive. Albright got on the board with a 52-yard field goal with 15 seconds left to make it 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Stevenson worked its way to the Albright 1 early in the second quarter, but Harmon was intercepted by JaVaughn Patterson, who returned the pick 95 yards to make it 10-7 with 10:40 left in the second quarter.
Harmon finished 22-35 through the air with two touchdowns and two interceptions, with Cortez Taylor catching eight balls for 104 yards. Jordan hauled in six passes. Burrell rushed 22 times for 72 yards on the afternoon.
Defensively, Brady Kempa finished with 10 tackles for Stevenson, while Austin Meyers and Razonte Dunn each had six.
Stevenson outgained Albright 418-231, including 301-58 through the air, but the Mustangs committed four turnovers to Albright's one. Stevenson also won the time of possession battle, holding the ball for nearly 35 minutes.
Following the game, the Stevenson football program honored 13 seniors playing in their final regular season home contest.
Stevenson closes out the regular season next Saturday when it travels to FDU-Florham for a 1:00 contest.