Buccaneers handle Chants for fourth straight victory

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CSU vs Coastal Carolina

Charleston Southern battled Coastal Carolina at CSU on Saturday.

Charleston Southern capped off the season Saturday with a 30-23 win over Coastal Carolina, securing a winning season with its sixth win of the year and closing out the campaign with its fourth straight win after a 2-5 start.

Sophomore running back Antwan Ivey rushed for a career-high 145 yards on 19 carries, and junior quarterback A.J. Toscano passed for 198 as the Buccaneers gashed the Chanticleers for 437 yards in total offense.

For the second straight season, CSU ends with a four-game winning streak and the senior

class leaves as the most successful group in school history with three winning seasons in the last four years.

"I can't enough about our seniors for the character they have showed, and their leadership down the stretch has been tremendous," said CSU head coach Jay Mills. "This football team and this coaching staff deserve so much credit for not looking at our record but instead focusing on getting better and winning one game at a time."

CSU's defense, last in the Big South against the run, limited Coastal Carolina to 146 yards on 41 carries. The defense recorded three sacks and intercepted two passes, including Matt Bach's fourth quarter interception that was returned for a 25-yard touchdown to put CSU up 30-16.

Linebacker Chris Patrick had 13 tackles, including 3 1/2 for loss and a sack.

"You know we have bent a lot this season but we always seem to come up and make a play," said Mills. "Coastal did a nice job of establishing some things in the second half, but when our defense needed to make a stop, they did. It's a group that plays tremendously hard in every game."

The teams battled to a 10-10 halftime tie but Charleston Southern opened the third quarter with two quick scores -- a 44-yard field goal from John Paglia, one of three kicks he made on the day, and an 11-yard scoring pass from Toscano to Kwame Krakue.

Coastal's Tommy Fraser, who rushed for 79 yards on 18 carries, scored on a two-yard run with 2:56 left in the third, cutting the lead to 20-16 after the missed extra point.

CSU answered with a 58-yard drive to the Coastal 1-yard line before settling on fourth down for an 18-yard field goal.

CSU threatened to put the game away later in the fourth, using Ivey's 53 yards rushing on three consecutive plays to reach the Coastal 23. Electing to go for the big score, Toscano's pass inside the five was intercepted.

However, CSU's defense answered when Bach picked off Zach MacDowall's pass on the next play, running untouched down the sideline to the end zone and a 30-16 lead.

Former Wando High star Jamie Childers came in at quarterback and led the Chanticleers to a touchdown, tossing a 37-yard scoring pass to Brandon Whitley with 2:37 to play.

Ivey and the offensive line then moved downfield and ran the clock down to :19 before punting to Coastal and closing out the game.

"The offensive line was so consistent and so solid all year long," said Mills. "Our receivers block, our backs block. It's just an unselfish group of players.

"Antwan is a winner and he plays as hard without the ball as he does with the ball. It was good to see him have such a great day today. His running, and the blocking up front, was really a key for us today."

Ivey added 33 yards receiving on six receptions to his productive day. Gerald Stevenson added five receptions for 76 yards and Krakue had 76 yards on four catches.

Charleston Southern finished the season averaging 163 yards rushing per game, the most since 2000.

Paglia, a junior, established single-season records for field goal attempts (21), field goals made (16), longest field goal (51 yards) and points (76).

Second Quarter

CCar-FG Durham 26, 10:43.

ChSo-FG Paglia 25, 4:59.

ChSo-Toscano 13 run (Paglia kick), 1:06.

CCar-MacDowall 2 run (Durham kick), :08.

Third Quarter

ChSo-FG Paglia 44, 11:13.

ChSo-Krakue 11 pass from Toscano (Paglia kick), 8:50.

CCar-Fraser 2 run (kick failed), 2:56.

Fourth Quarter

ChSo-FG Paglia 18, 13:16.

ChSo-Bach 25 interception return (Paglia kick), 4:32.

CCar-Whitley 37 pass from Childers (Durham kick), 2:37.

A-2,914.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Coastal Carolina, Fraser 18-79, MacDowall 11-34, Height 5-28, Whitener 4-6, Childers 3-(minus 1). Charleston Southern, Ivey 19-145, Toscano 8-45, Stevenson 2-25, Moon 3-24, Hackworth 2-0.

PASSING-Coastal, MacDowall 15-30-2-167, Childers 3-4-0-58. Charleston Southern, Toscano 18-26-2-198, Ivey 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING-Coastal, Nicholas 4-45, Whitley 3-55, Duran 3-27, Fraser 2-39, Height 2-17, Willis 2-15, Norman 1-14, Morgan 1-13. CSU, Ivey 6-33, Stevenson 4-66, Krakue 4-63, Chalmers 2-12, T.Jones 1-14, Chin 1-10.