JACKSON, Tenn. – Lane College kicked a 35-yard field goal with 1:23 left in the game to take a 19-18 victory over the Benedict College Tigers in an SIAC football game at Lane Field on Saturday.

George Myers Jr. rushed for 222 yards, the third-highest single-game total in modern school history, along with one touchdown to lead the Tigers, who fall to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the SIAC. Lane improves to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the SIAC.

Benedict kicker Tory Mimbs kicked a pair of 27-yard field goals, but had a 38-yard attempt blocked. He also had an extra point attempt blocked and missed on the extra point try following a Myers 45-yard touchdown run that gave Benedict an 18-16 lead with 8:09 left in the game.

"It was just a huge blow to us," Benedict head football coach Mike White said. "We had too many opportunities early to put some points on the board and we didn't. I thought they did a good job of pushing the ball on us and running the ball. They made a play or two more than we did, and I'm just disappointed. I thought we let our emotions get to us sometimes with some penalties, and all that kind of cost us at the end."

Benedict finished with 229 yards rushing and 305 yards of total offense, compared to Lane's 191 yards rushing and 246 yards of total offense. Benedict also had a commanding lead in time of possession – 35:08 to Lane's 24:52. But the Dragons had the advantage in the kicking game, connecting on all four field goal attempts and averaging 40.8 yards per punt. Mimbs averaged 29.7 yards on three punts, that average hurt by a 14-yard punt in the fourth quarter. The Dragons only managed to move forward two yards on their drive, but Raul Martinez kicked a 33-yard field goal for a 16-12 Lane advantage with 10:52 left.

"We didn't have a good day punting or kicking the ball," White said. "We couldn't protect him, and one thing led to another. That's kind of why the score is the way it is. Those points count heavily at the end and we weren't able to execute that."

Benedict had a first down at the Lane 15-yard line but couldn't punch the ball into the end zone and took a 27-yard field goal from Mimbs to cut the Lane lead to 7-3. Early in the second quarter, Benedict had a first down at the 11-yard line, but again the drive stalled and Mimbs added another 27-yard field goal to make it 7-6. With slightly more than three minutes left in the first half, the Tigers missed another scoring opportunity when quarterback Phillip Brown and tight end Darius Nelson failed to connect on a likely touchdown on a fourth down pass. The Dragons drove 61 yards on 11 plays on the ensuing possession and kicked a 32-yard field goal with nine seconds left in the half to take a 10-6 lead into the locker room.

The Tigers recovered a Lane fumble on the second play of the second half. The Tigers got as close as the Lane 12-yard line, but a loss of 13 yards on a pass to Myers forced the Tigers to attempt a 38-yard field goal by Mimbs. Lane's Anthony Blackmon blocked the kick and the Dragons drove 61 yards on 10 plays to score on a 25-yard field goal for a 13-6 lead.

A 32-yard pass from Brown to Okechi Ntiasagwe set the Tigers up at the Lane 1-yard line. Jeremy Johnson plowed his way across the goal line to cut the lead to 13-12, but Mimbs' extra point attempt was blocked.

A 33-yard field goal by Martinez gave Lane a 16-12 lead with 10:52 left in the game. The Tigers took the ensuing kickoff and drove 80 yards on six plays to take the lead for the first time. Myers scored the touchdown on a 45-yard run. Myers carried the ball 28 times for 222 yards, an average of 7.9 yards per carry.

"Stats are one thing, but we couldn't put any numbers on the board. We ran good from 20 to 20, but when we got down in the red zone, nothing again. I'm just disappointed right now. I thought we fought back and hung in there, but a play or two there where we could have got a PAT or could have finished some of those drives could have changed things. It's a disappointing loss."

The Tigers remain on the road next week, traveling to face Clark Atlanta University in a key SIAC East Division showdown.