In one of the wildest finishes in all of college football action on Saturday, the Benedict College Tigers stunned the Wingate Bulldogs on a last-second touchdown to take a 25-24 victory in the first round of the NCAA Division II championship, scoring 25 unanswered points for the first post-season victory in school history.
Statistically, the final play goes down as an 86-yard pass
from Jackson Jensen to Malik Mullins. With fourth down and just three seconds left in the game, Jensen, the backup quarterback who engineered Benedict’s second-half comeback, threw a short pass to the left side to Charles “Tre” Simmons, last season’s quarterback turned wide receiver. Simmons advanced the ball until the Wingate defenders
closed in, then threw a backwards lateral pass to Malik Mullins on the opposite side of the field. Mullins then had a clear path to the end zone, knocking a Bulldog player to the ground about 10 yards shy of the goal, and scoring the game-winning touchdown, sending the Benedict sideline into celebration, while the home Wingate sideline was left in complete shock.
Benedict, now 10-2 on the season, advances to face nemesis Albany State, the top seed in Super Region Two, next Saturday at 1 p.m. in Albany, Ga. Both of Benedict’s losses this season have been to Albany State, including a narrow 22-16 setback last week in the SIAC championship game.
