Phoenix passes for 412 yards and 3 TD as SC State beats Tennessee Tech 22-20

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COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) —

Eric Phoenix passed for 412 yards and three touchdowns, Justin Smith-Brown had four receptions for 129 yards and two TDs and South Carolina State escaped Saturday with 22-20 win over Tennessee Tech.

Caden High had 150 yards receiving on seven catches and Nicholas Brown added two receptions for 89 yards for South Carolina State (3-2).

Freshman Dom LeBlanc — who made field goals of 30 and 35 yards in the second quarter — missed a potential winning 42-yard field-goal attempt wide right for Tennessee Tech (2-3) as time expired.

The Golden Eagles took the opening kickoff and moved to near midfield before Ashaad Hall’s strip-sack of Jordyn Potts was recovered by Jadin Jones and, on the next play from scrimmage, Phoenix threw a screen pass to Smith Brown, who raced down the left sideline for a 47-yard touchdown. After a Tennessee Tech punt back the Bulldogs up to their own 1, Phoenix connected with Brown for a 67-yard touchdown to cap a 99-yard drive and make it 13-0 midway through the first quarter.

A 63-yard touchdown pass from Phoenix to Smith-Brown gave South Carolina State a 19-10 lead after Kevin Gallegos misses his second PAT attempt of the day late in the second quarter.

Potts threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Ashton Maples that gave Tennessee Tech its first lead at 20-10 with 4:12 left in the third quarter but Gallegos — who also missed two field-goal attempts — kicked a 40-yard field goal about 3 1/2 minutes later to cap the scoring.

Potts was 22-of-42 passing for 300 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.

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