BUENA VISTA, Va. – The TCNJ football team scored the game-winning touchdown with just 26 seconds remaining as the Lions defeated Southern Virginia, 33-30, on Saturday afternoon at Knight Stadium. The Lions finished the 2018 season with three wins in their final four games.

Trailing, 30-26, the Lions got the ball after a Southern Virginia punt at their own 49 with 3:17 to play. After quarterback Dave Jachera ran for five yards on first down, he completed four consecutive passes to move the Lions to the SVU 8. He found Connor Owen and Jack Clevenger twice each in that sequence. After an incompletion through the back of the end zone intended for Clevenger, Jachera found Vinny Guckin on the right side of the end zone to give the Lions the lead with just 26 seconds on the clock. Guckin made five catches for 40 yards and two scores.

Southern Virginia moved the ball to midfield in its last-gasp attempt to tie or win the game, and a Hail Mary on the second-to-last play of the game was nearly completed inside the TCNJ 5. On the last play of the game, though, Nick Celli sacked Tyler Callens as time expired, sparking a celebration from the TCNJ sideline.

The stage for a wild fourth quarter was set in the third period when Jachera capped a 13-play, 55-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run to put TCNJ ahead, 19-16, with 6:58 left in the third.

In the fourth quarter, the teams combined to score four touchdowns. Each trip to the end zone flipped the lead to that team's side. SVU running back Akiva Wedge went for 73 yards to make it 23-19 SVU.

That lead wouldn't last long.

On the first play of TCNJ's next drive from its own 10, Jachera hit Clevenger for a 90-yard catch-and-run touchdown that immediately vaulted the Lions back into the lead. Alex DeLeo's PAT made it 26-23 TCNJ with 9:18 remaining in the fourth. Clevenger finished with six catches for 140 yards and the touchdown.

Southern Virginia wasn't finished, though. Wedge scored again on a 41-yard touchdown run that pushed the Knights back ahead, 30-26. Wedge entered the game as the NJAC leading rusher, and he showed it by running for 173 yards on 20 carries with the two touchdowns.

The teams traded punts on their next possessions, setting the table for TCNJ to get the game-winning touchdown in the final minute of play.

Southern Virginia held a 16-12 lead at halftime after TCNJ scored the first nine points of the game. The Lions scored the first two points on a safety late in the first quarter, and Andrew Donoghue threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Guckin early in the second. Southern Virginia responded with 16 unanswered points before DeLeo kicked a 26-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

Jachera went 12-for-28 for 196 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown. Mark Pacini rushed for 68 yards on 16 carries.

Bryant Sanchez finished with a team-high 10 tackles and two tackles for loss. Chris Ortiz had seven tackles, and Celli had six tackles and the game-ending sack. Ibn Bailey forced a fumble that James Marcheski recovered.