CONWAY, S.C. – In a game that saw three interceptions, four fumbles, and nine punts, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers held off the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs for a 31-27 non-conference home win on Saturday night at Brooks Stadium.
 
The Chanticleers are off to a 2-0 start to the season for the third consecutive year, while the loss drops GWU to 1-1 on the year.
 
Despite GWU totaling 495 yards of offense, including 448 yards through the air, the Chanticleers' defense came up big with two interceptions and three fumble recoveries, non-bigger than a Lance Boykin interception to seal the game with 55 seconds left in the contest.
 
Leading the defensive charge for the Chants was Boykin with six tackles and two interceptions, while Shane Bruce had a team-high nine tackles, including 0.5 tackles-for-loss. Linebacker JT Killen added seven tackles, while safeties Charles Arnold Jr. and Tobias Fletcher each had a career-high six stops.
 
Offensively, the Chants totaled 354 yards of total offense, 46 on the ground and 308 through the air, as quarterback Grayson McCall was 22-for-30 for 308 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception.
 
On the night, McCall hit eight different receivers headlined by a team-high seven catches and 87 yards by Sam Pinckney and three receptions for 50 yards and two touchdowns from Tyson Mobley. Transfer Jacob Jenkins added a touchdown catch late in the game, his first as a Chanticleer.
 
For the Runnin' Bulldogs defensively, Raquan Ousley led the way with nine tackles and a pass breakup, while William McRainey and Charlie Jackson had eight stops apiece. McRainey added 1.0 sack and 2.0 tackles-for-loss, while Jackson had 0.5 sacks along with Ty French who added seven tackles on the night.

GWU's offensive charge was led by quarterback Bailey Fisher's career game, as he was 27-for-37 for 403 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions on the night.
 
T.J. Luther led the way with five catches for 188 yards, while Cutrell Haywood had a game-high 11 receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown.
 
Special teams played a huge role in the win for the Chants, as freshman Matthew McDoom returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, the first of his young career, while placekicker Kade Hensley hit a 48-yard field goal and recovered a fumble on a kickoff.
 
True freshman Evan Crenshaw kept pushing the Dawgs back all night long, as he had six punts for 204 yards, including putting three punts inside the 20-yard line.
 
It was a defensive battle over the first half of play, as the two teams combined for five punts, three fumbles, and just one field goal over the first nine possessions with the Chanticleers holding on to a slight 3-0 lead on a 48-yard field goal by Hensley with 4:36 to go in the first quarter.
 
The "Black Swarm" defense looked to help the Chants add to their lead on GWU's next offensive possession, as Fletcher forced a Runnin' Bulldog fumble that was recovered by spur linebacker Jairan Parker on the Coastal 35-yard line.
 
The "Teal Team 6" offense would use a 22-yard pass and catch with McCall and Jared Brown to cross the 50-yard line and into GWU territory but saw three straight runs come up short of another first down and force another punt.
 
The two teams would swap punts to start the second quarter before another Runnin' Bulldog fumble, this time on a mishandled handoff by Janiero Crankfield, which was recovered by Braylon Ryan on the Coastal 41-yard line with 8:30 to go in the opening half.
 
However, two plays later, CCU's Reese White put the ball on the "Surf Turf" on a pitch which was recovered by GWU and returned down to the Coastal 30-yard line.
 
With the help of a GWU false start on a third-and-five, the Chants' defense forced the Runnin' Bulldogs to settle for a 47-yard field goal to tie the game up at 3-3 with 6:16 to go in the second quarter.
 
The tie did not last long, as McDoom took the ensuing GWU kickoff 95-yards to pay dirt to put the home team back in front by seven at 10-3 with 5:56 to go before the halftime break.
 
CCU's special team's unit made another big play on the ensuing kickoff, as Parker ran down the field and put his helmet right on the right arm of GWU's returner Crankfield to knock the ball loose and send it sliding along the turf where Hensley fell on the ball to give it back to the offense.
 
Two plays later, McCall threw a screen pass to Mobley who took it 21 yards to the end zone for his first of two receiving touchdowns in the game. The two-play, 33-yard drive, took just 31 seconds off the game clock to put the Chants on top 17-3 with 5:16 to go in the first half.
 
Refusing to roll over and play dead, the Runnin' Bulldogs answered with their best offensive drive of the game, as Fisher drove the visitors in white 75 yards on nine plays and just over 2:35 to cut the Coastal lead to seven at 17-10 with 2:39 to go on the game clock.
 
The GWU touchdown drive saw the Dawgs pick up four plays of 10-yards or more highlighted by a 24-yard pass from Fisher to Deland Thomas and a 10-yard rush by Fisher on a third-and-10 aided by a CCU penalty.
 
Looking to answer the score, the Coastal offense used a 22-yard pass across the middle from McCall to Pinckney to move into the GWU side of the field only to see an interception on the next play give the ball back to the Runnin' Bulldogs who returned the interception for a touchdown.
 
However, a holding penalty by GWU on the return negated the touchdown and brought the ball back out to the Coastal 23-yard line.
 
The penalty proved to be huge, as the Chants kept GWU out of the end zone making a tackle at the four-yard line as time expired to take a 17-10 lead into the halftime break.
 
The scoring picked up in the second half as the two teams combined for 31 points, each team scoring one touchdown in both the third and fourth quarters.
 
After GWU opened the second half with a punt, the Coastal offense struck first as McCall led the Chants down the field on an eight-play, 71-yard touchdown drive highlighted by a 16-yard pass to Pinckney, a 28-yard throw to Tyler Roberts, and a seven-yard touchdown pass to Mobley, his second score of the game, to put the home team in front 24-10 with 8:33 to go in the third quarter.
 
Gardner-Webb responded with a 53-yard pass from Fisher to Luther to start its next offensive series and drove 75 yards in just five plays to score on a Fisher touchdown run to stay within one score of the Chants at 24-17 with 5:58 left in the quarter.
 
Following a three-and-out by the Chants' offense, the defense kept the Runnin' Bulldogs out of the end zone and held them to a 29-yard field goal off the foot of Jay Billingsley to hold on to a 24-20 edge heading into the fourth quarter.
 
However, the GWU defense again came up with a stop, as the Chants were unable to convert on a third-and-18 near midfield to give the ball back to the Runnin' Bulldogs after a 35-yard punt from Crenshaw.
 
GWU took the ball and ran with it, using six plays highlighted by another 53-yard pass and catch from Fisher to Luther to find the end zone on another Fisher designed run to take its first lead of the game at 27-24 with just over 10 minutes to go in the game.
 
The Chants did not fret, however, as McCall led the home team on a 10-play, 84-yard drive, that took 4:03 off the clock to pick up the go-ahead score on a seven-yard touchdown pass to Jenkins.
 
On the drive, McCall connected with three different receivers, including Pinkney for 14 yards, Deon Fountain for 32 yards, and Pinkney again for 18 yards, with the latter play coming on a third-and-16 on the GWU 34-yard line.
 
With the 31-27 lead, the defense stepped up, as Boykin picked off a Fisher pass along the CCU sideline on a third-and-13 to give the ball back to the Chants with 5:28 to go in regulation.
 
However, an errant snap on a third-and-one forced CCU to punt for the sixth time on the night, giving the ball back to GWU at its own 11-yard line with 1:26 to go in the game.
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs went to the air, as Fisher hit a wide-open Haywood for 35 yards to start the drive and put the ball near midfield.
 
Boykin struck again on the very next play, as the senior co-captain hauled in his second interception of the game, this time leaping up in the air to snatch an under thrown ball from Fisher to seal the win for the Chants.
 
The Chanticleers (2-0) will wrap up their three-game homestand to start the season next Saturday, Sept. 17, versus the Buffalo Bulls (0-2). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET.
 
Notes

• The win marks the 13th victory for the Chanticleers over Gardner-Webb in the all-time series (13-2).
• The win over the Runnin' Bulldogs is the sixth straight for the Chants.
• With the non-conference win, CCU has now won 12-straight non-conference regular-season games dating back to 2019.
• Coastal is off to a 2-0 start for the third straight year and the 11th time in the program's history.
• With his three touchdown passes on the night, Grayson McCall now has thrown 60 career touchdown passes.
• Matthew McDoom's 95-yard kick return in the second quarter was the first kickoff return for a touchdown for the Chanticleers since Ky'Jon Tyler returned one for a touchdown versus Hampton in 2016.
• Matthew McDoom's 95-yard kick return was the longest for the Chanticleers since Ky'Jon Tyler had a 50-yard kickoff return versus Troy in 2017.
• Tyson Mobley's two receiving touchdowns were a career-high for the junior wideout.
• Kade Hensley's 48-yard field goal was the longest of his career.
• Shane Bruce had a career-high nine total tackles in the win.
• Lance Boykin had a career-high two interceptions and was the first Chant to pick off two passes in the same game since Alex Spillum had two INTs versus South Alabama last season.

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