DAVIDSON, NC – When the chips were down the most on Saturday afternoon at Davidson's Richardson Stadium, the Stetson Hatters looked to their fifth year seniors to bring the team back for a 31-27 victory.
 
The Hatters trailed 21-10 going into the fourth quarter, came back to take the lead, only to give it right back. Undaunted, Stetson rallied again, scoring with just 67 seconds left to play to take the win.
 
Senior Kegan Moore was the star of the comeback for Stetson. He finished with a career-high nine receptions, piling up 150 yards and all three fourth quarter touchdowns, covering 42, 38 and six yards.
 
"The offensive line did a great job of stepping up late in the game and giving us time to get plays off," Moore said. "We always talk about dealing with adversity, so we just shook it all off and kept playing. The game is 60 minutes and we knew it would be a long game."
 
After storming back from a 21-10 deficit early in the fourth quarter, the Stetson Hatters were unable to hold on to the lead when the Wildcats excited the homecoming crowd with an eight play drive, covering 80 yards, in the final minutes of the game. Their PAT kick failed, leading Stetson a chance to tie with a field goal.
 
That turned out to be unnecessary.
 
Sophomore quarterback Gaven DeFilippo, who was dinged up in the loss to Jacksonville last week, was lifted in the second quarter after throwing an interception. True freshman Cole Martin came in and ignited the offense for a handful of plays before suffering a hamstring injury on a run. That brought DeFilippo back into the game.
 
In the fourth quarter, he completed 10-of-16 passes for 166 yards and three scores.
 
"It was a gut-check win for us," DeFilippo said. "It speaks to the culture we are trying to build. For me, regardless of the two picks it was a huge win for me. I am out here doing it for those redshirt seniors, the guys who won't get to play Davidson again next year. It was huge for our team going into the rest of the season."
 
The win for the Hatters (2-2, 1-1) snapped a four-game losing skid in Pioneer Football League play that included a season-ending loss to Davidson (2-3, 0-2) last year.
 
After jumping out to an early lead on a five-play drive that culminated in a 38-yard touchdown run by Mike Yonker in the opening quarter, the Hatters found tough sledding against the Davidson defense. Much of the damage for the Hatters was self-inflicted.
 
The Hatters turned the ball over five times over the next quarter and a half, but the Wildcats were only able to take advantage for points once.
 
That came early in the third quarter. Stetson's Conrad Fonseca, who was retreating to block for Donald Payne on a punt return, had the ball hit him in the back. Davidson recovered at the Stetson one. Two plays later, freshman quarterback Stockton McGuire hit Nick Nolting for a 5-yard score.
 
McGuire was the standout for Davidson, passing for 130 yards and two scores while also rushing for 102 yards, including a 72-yard TD run to start the second half and put the Wildcats on top for the first time.
 
Despite the production for the Davidson QB, the Hatters forced the Wildcats to punt eight time, recorded a pair of interceptions and forced Davidson to miss a pair of field goals. After taking the lead at the end of the game, the defense turned the ball over on downs to secure the victory.
 
"In my five years, that is the toughest we have had to fight," defensive back Chris Atkins, who had his 14^th career interception in the game, said. "To come back and win like we did was beautiful. The defense made some mistakes, but the offense had us. They made mistakes and we had their back. It was a great team performance.
 
"I did my part with the interception, but my teammates picked me up when I made mistakes. It was truly a team effort."
 
The Hatters will continue a stretch of four road games in five weeks next week when they travel to face Brown out of the Ivy League for the final non-conference game of the year. That game will kickoff at 12:30 p.m. from Providence, RI.

About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.