WEST POINT, N.Y. — Freshman quarterback Kendall Hinton scored two touchdowns in the second half, Mike Weaver kicked a 47-yard field goal as time expired, and Wake Forest rallied past Army 17-14 on Saturday.

Wake Forest (2-1) overcame three interceptions to win its ninth straight in the series with Army (0-3). Last year, Wake Forest rallied for a late touchdown and then forced an Army fumble in a 24-21 victory at home.

Pressed into action when starter John Wolford went down with an ankle injury in the first quarter, Hinton overcame two interceptions, scoring on runs of 15 and seven yards after the Army defense pitched a shutout in the opening half.

Hinton, who finished 15 of 27 for 159 yards, also torched the Black Knights with a pair of clutch long throws. His 51-yard completion to KJ Brent set up Hinton's tying touchdown late in the third quarter, and his 28-yarder to Cortez Lewis on a third-and-7 play early in the fourth set up Hinton's second score.

Hinton's heroics were quickly undone by a costly interception by Army freshman Brandon Jackson, who picked off an errant pass near midfield and returned it 43 yards down the right sideline. Christian Drake scored on a 9-yard run on the next play to knot the score at 14-14 midway through the fourth period.

Jackson made his second pick after the Deacons drove to midfield later in the quarter, but the Black Knights couldn't capitalize.

Hinton drove the Deacons into range for the decisive kick with a key 13-yard scramble on a third-and-9 play.

Wake Forest led the nation in third-down conversion defense, allowing 9.1 percent, or two conversions in 22 attempts over its first two games — against Elon and Syracuse. Army converted 3 of 7 in the first half, two coming on the only scoring drive of the game before intermission. The conversions came after a Wake Forest turnover and they were key.

Bradshaw, who rushed for 61 yards, completed a pretty 31-yard pass to DeAndre Bell amid a trio of defenders on a third-and-5 play after rolling away from the rush, then made a perfect last-second pitch right to Joe Walker for 11 yards on another third-and-5 play. Two plays later, Bradshaw scored on a 4-yard keeper over right tackle for a 7-0 lead at 10:07 of the second quarter as Army boosted its perfect record in the red zone to 5 for 5, all touchdowns.

Linebacker Jeremy Timpf set up the score when he intercepted Wolford's pass over the middle and returned it 17 yards to near midfield after the Deacons had stopped Army on a fourth-and-1 play from the Black Knights 35.

Wolford had a terrific first half in a loss last week at Syracuse and threw for a career-high 373 yards. In two games, he was 50 of 72 passing for 696 yards with four TDs and three interceptions and had run for two scores.

Against the fired-up Army defense, Wolford injured his left ankle on the fourth play from scrimmage and limped off the field. Although he missed only one offensive series, he was not the same quarterback and was replaced for good by Hinton after the pick. Wolford was 3 of 5 for 16 yards.

Wake Forest finally awoke late in the third behind Hinton. After nearly connecting on a long pass down the right side, he made a nifty conversion on a third-and-5 play, rolling right and hitting tight end Cam Serigne for 7 yards. On the next play, Hinton completed a long pass down the left sideline to Brent and scored on a 15-yard run on the next play to tie it at 7-7 with 4:52 left in the third.

Army's Daniel Grochowski missed a 39-yard field goal attempt with 9:44 left in the fourth quarter.

Army's option finished with only 186 yards on rushing 54 attempts, well below its 5.8-yards per carry average.

Share:
In Other News
Load More