Lukas Gonzalez certainly isn’t the biggest player on the Shorter football team, but he will be a big man on campus this week.
Gonzalez, the former Model High star, drilled a 45-yard field goal with nine seconds left in the game to lift the No. 22-ranked Hawks to a critical 27-24 road victory over Cumberland (Tenn.) on Saturday.
The Mid-South Conference Western Division victory kept the Hawks (7-2, 2-1) alive in the NAIA playoff picture, and saddled the host Bulldogs (4-5, 3-1) with their first division loss.
“It was a real tough football game,” said Shorter head football coach Phil Jones after seeing the Hawks extend their winning streak to three games. “Our players kept playing and every time (Cumberland) did something, we were able to bounce back.”
With the game tied at 24, Shorter took possession on its on 35-yard line with 2:44 left in the fourth quarter. The Hawks then pieced together the game-winning drive, which ended with Gonzalez’s kick.
Shorter, which hosts Belhaven College next Saturday, has now won four consecutive road games. The team’s only road loss of the season came in the season opener against Western Carolina.
Gonzalez — listed at 5-foot-11, 190-pounds — played a key role in Saturday’s victory.
In addition to his game-winning field goal, he also connected on a 47-yarder midway through the fourth quarter that tied the game at 17. In the first quarter, he scored on a two-point conversion run.
A.J. Cooley led the Hawks on the ground attack with 115 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Quarterback Ben Williams followed with 60 yards as Shorter totaled 272 rushing yards in the game.
The Hawks finished with just seven passing yards.
Cumberland’s J.T. Majors led the way for the Bulldogs (4-5, 3-1) with 116 yards on the ground. Cumberland had 238 passing yards.
Shorter surrendered an early touchdown to fall behind 7-0 early, but the Hawks answered with a TD with 5:04 left in the first quarter to pull within 7-6. Gonzalez then added his two-point conversion run to put Shorter ahead, 8-7.
After Cumberland retook the lead, 10-7, on a field goal late in the first quarter, Shorter produced the lone score of the second quarter on a two-yard run by Cooley that gave the Hawks a 14-10 edge at the half.
In the fourth quarter, with score tied at 17-17, the teams combined for two touchdowns in the span of 27 seconds.
Cumberland’s TD came on a 97-yard kickoff return from DaJaun Manning.
That play was answered by Shorter’s Chris Chapman, who returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to set up another Cooley touchdown.
With 8:34 left in the game, the game was tied at 24-24, setting the stage for Gonzalez’s let heroics.
Logan Lollis led the Hawks’ defense with seven tackles (three solo and four assists). Shorter had two interceptions in the game, one coming from Daniel Hazard and the other from Budd Keith.
“Our defense played well, particularly in the first half and the fourth quarter when the game was on the line,” said Jones. “It wasn’t one thing that carried us through this game - offense, defense, and special teams really made this a team effort.”
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