JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — Showing an explosive offense, the Owls (1-0) had three scoring plays of 40 or more yards and added a touchdown on an interception return en route to a 56-16 win in the program’s first-ever game.
Redshirt junior quarterback Trey White, redshirt freshman wide receiver Justin Sumpter, redshirt junior defensive lineman Nick Perrotta and freshman running back Darnell Holland provided big plays on both sides of the ball.
White scored the first touchdown in program history on a 6-yard run late in the first quarter, Perrotta capped the first-half scoring with a 19-yard interception return and White and Sumpter hooked up on a 69-yard scoring play five plays into the second half. Holland increased the lead to 42-13 on an electrifying third-quarter run in which he started to his right, reversed field, picked up a key block from White and raced the distance for the score.
Freshman redshirt running back Jae Bowen scored on touchdown runs of 1 and 2 yards, redshirt freshman Trey Chivers had a 2-yard touchdown run and quarterback Jake McKenzie entered the game early in the fourth quarter and rushed seven yards for a score as seven different Owls scored.
Kennesaw State finished with 512 yards of total offense, including 416 on the ground.