The Lowcountry Boil Bowl needed little extra time on the stove on Friday night at Johnson Hagood Stadium — two overtimes, to be exact.
Charleston Southern’s Hakeem Watters ran for a 9-yard touchdown in the second extra period to lift the Bucs to a 26-20 victory over Lowcountry rival The Citadel before 9,875 fans at Johnson Hagood Stadium.
The victory, CSU’s first of the season, lifted the Bucs to 1-2 overall and to 7-8 in their series against The Citadel. The Bulldogs fell to 1-2 this season, 1-1 in overtime games.
CSU quarterback Lek Powell opened the first overtime with a 21-yard pass to TJ Smith, who made a great catch on the sideline at the Bulldogs’ 4-yard line. Dwayne Wright bulled over for the 2 and the Bucs led by 20-13.
The Citadel answered as receiver Braylon Knauth went 14 yards on a fourth-and-1 pitchout, setting up Gavin Garcia’s 2-yard TD and a 20-20 tie.
But in the second OT, the Bulldogs were forced to try a 43-yard field goal, which was wide right. Powell found KD Dorsey for 15 yards to set up Watters’ clinching TD, setting off a celebration by CSU players right in front of the Corps of Cadets.
The Citadel opened well, forcing a punt on CSU’s first possession and scoring on its own first series.
Coach Maurice Drayton chose to go for it on fourth and 2 at the Bucs’ 33. Quarterback Quentin Hayes came off his first option — it was covered — and chucked the ball high in the air off his back foot toward the end zone. Michael Lorino, a running back transfer from Alabama, came down with the ball in the end zone for his first catch and first TD at The Citadel, and the Bulldogs led 7-0 at 9:01 of the first quarter.
CSU answered when defensive lineman Josiah Wyatt stormed in to block a punt by The Citadel’s Jack Weil. Anthony Paulk picked up the ball and raced 22 yards to the end zone, but the TD was called back on a blocking below the waist penalty, the Bucs taking over at The Citadel 25.
Charleston Southern scored anyway, Harry Smalls running five times for 25 yards, including a 1-yard TD plunge good for a 7-7 tie with 1:38 left in the first quarter.
