Conway, S.C. – Coastal Carolina totaled 138 yards of offense to the Georgia Southern Eagles’ 136 yards in the first half of play, but was outgained 233-16 in total yards in the third quarter as Georgia Southern pulled away in the second half for a 41-17 win over the Chanticleers in the home finale at Brooks Stadium on Saturday night.

The Coastal Carolina football team recognized its seniors as part of Senior Day prior to the start of the game.

The loss drops CCU to 5-6 overall and 2-5 in Sun Belt play. With the win, the Eagles improve to 8-3 and 5-2 in league action.

The Chants, who totaled 10 points on 132 yards on their first two offensive drives of the game, totaled just 46 yards over their next nine offensive possessions with one fumble and eight-straight punts before scoring a touchdown in the closing minutes of the game on a three-yard pass following an Eagles’ fumble on the CCU 11-yard line.

For the game, CCU was outgained 442-189 in total yards with 409 of Georgia Southern’s yards coming on the ground.

The two teams played a clean game for the most part, as there were just two penalties called for the entire game, both on the Eagles.

Offensively, the Chants’ run game was led by sophomores CJ Marable who had 48 yards on 12 carries and Alex James who had 10 carries for 37 yards. Freshman quarterback Fred Payton threw for 89 yards on 8-of-14 passing before getting injured on a quarterback keeper in the third quarter. Freshman tight end Isaiah Likely pulled in four catches for 13 yards and a career-high two scores, while wideout Ky’Jon Tyler hauled in two receptions for 38 yards with a long of 25 yards for the game.

Senior wide receiver Malcolm Williams was held without a catch, snapping his streak of games with at least one reception at 14-straight.

Linebackers James Heft and Silas Kelly led the way for the Coastal defense with nine tackles (five solo and four assists), with Heft adding 1.0 tackle for loss. Sophomore defensive end Jeffrey Gunter (three solo and four assists) and sophomore linebackerTeddy Gallagher (two solo and five assists) each had seven tackles apiece. Gallagher also picked up the lone turnover of the game for the Chants’ defensive with a fumble recovery late in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles’ rushing attack was led by running back Wesley Fields with 149 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns. Fellow back Monteo Garrett totaled six carries for 75 yards, while Logan Wright tallied 72 yards on four attempts each with 54 and 59 yard long runs, respectively.

Quarterback Shai Werts was 4-of-6 for 33 yards through the air and rushed six times for 38 yards and a touchdown on the ground in the win.

Chris Harris Jr. led the GSU defense with nine tackles, six of those being solo stops, as the Eagles totaled 5.0 tackles for loss (-20 yards), including 3.0 sacks (-17 yards) on the day.

Winning the coin toss and electing to receive to start the game, the Chanticleers’ offense got on the scoreboard first, driving 75 yards on 15 plays to score on a Payton to Likely one-yard touchdown pass on a third-and-goal from the one-yard line.

The drive was highlighted by a successful fourth-down conversion, as James ran up the middle for three yards on a fourth-and-two on the Georgia Southern nine-yard line for the first down.

Freshman place-kicker Massimo Biscardi’s extra point was good to extend his scoring streak to 11-straight games with the point.

The 15-play opening-scoring drive for the Chants was tied for the longest of the season, matching a 15-play scoring drive at South Carolina (Biscardi – 39-yard FG) and at UMass (Marcus Outlow – one-yard run).

With 7:30 off the clock, the Eagles got the ball and almost matched the Chants in terms of time of possession, as the visitors in white held the ball for the next 7:22 of the game, driving 31 yards on 12 plays, before kicking a 44-yard field goal to cut the Coastal lead to four at 7-3 with only 0:34 to go in the opening quarter.

The back-and-forth contest continued, as the home team in Teal answered the GSU field goal with one of its own on the ensuing drive. The Chants used a 16-yard leaping catch byJeremiah Miller and a 25-yard catch and run by Tyler to move the ball down to the Eagles’ 12-yard line.

However, a fumble on a dropped snap halted the Chants’ drive, forcing the home team to settle for a 35-yard field goal from Biscardi to take a 10-3 lead with 11:05 to play in the first half.

GSU was able to tie the game up on its next offensive series, as the Eagles drove 75 yards on nine plays over 4:30, capping the drive off on a Werts 12-yard touchdown scramble to put the score at 10-10 with 6:35 left in the second quarter.

After a Chant fumble gave the ball back to the Eagles on the CCU 17-yard line, the defense was able to come up big and hold the visitors to a 20-yard field goal. However, the make pushed the Eagles in front for the first time in the game at 13-10 with just under four minutes in the opening half, where the score would stand at the halftime break.

While the defenses closed out the first half forcing three combined punts – two for Coastal and one for Georgia Southern – the offense retook center stage to start the second half, as the Eagles used just five plays to go 71 yards and score on a Fields six-yard touchdown run to double up the Chants at 20-10 just 2:34 into the second half.

Following CCU’s second punt of the half, the Eagles added to its lead with a grinding 67-yard drive on five rushes to increase its lead to 27-10 on a Fields two-yard plunge up the middle and into the end zone with 4:32 to go in the third quarter.

The Eagles added two more rushing scores over the rest of the contest to extend its lead before a late touchdown pass from Kilton Anderson to Likely on a fourth-and-two from the three-yard line put the final score at 41-17.

Coastal concludes the season at South Alabama (2-9, 1-6 Sun Belt) on Friday, Nov. 23, at 3 p.m. ET/ 2 p.m. CT in Mobile, Ala.