DANVILLE, Va. – Shenandoah University earned its second USA South Conference football victory in the past three weeks Saturday afternoon with a 42-22 win at Averett University.

SU (2-6, 2-3 USA South) also equals its 2006 win total with the victory over the Cougars (0-8, 0-5).

Defense and a near record-setting performance from sophomore running back Kevin Roberts keyed the win. The defense, led by senior Jason Crew, ran a pair Shan Fairbanks passes back for touchdowns; sophomore CJ Madison ran one back 73 yards at the 14:23 mark of the second before Crew returned his 52 yards at 6:06 of the third.

Roberts finished the game with 24 carries for 177 yards and one touchdown –this is the fifth best performance in school history.

For Crew, it was his second interception of the afternoon and his first career touchdown.

The Hornets jumped out to a 21-0 lead but had to hold on as their hosts roared back to trail just 21-16 early in the third quarter.

With all of the momentum and the ball back after holding SU to a three-and-out to start the third, Averett saw its chances for victory slip away when Crew returned that Fairbanks pick for the game-clinching score. Fairbanks was also injured on the play, and was replaced by a pair of AU quarterbacks for the remainder of the game.

Shenandoah scored its first touchdown on their initial possession of the contest when junior tight end Maurice Coleman finished off an eight-play, 63-yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown catch. Coleman caught the ball just inside the AU 15 and broke three tackles on his way to paydirt.

Madison made it 14-0 two plays into the second quarter when he picked off a Fairbanks screen pass and went 73 yards for the pick six before Roberts did the heavy lifting on the next drive. After not getting any carries in the first 15 minutes, Roberts had 42 of his 98 second quarter rushing yards in an eight-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard Anthony Cordero TD rush.

Averett scored its initial TD on a fake field goal – holder William Veras threw a shovel pass to upback Dontavious Watson and Watson trotted untouched into the endzone.

AU, aided by 30-yards in SU personal foul calls, made it 21-10 at the half. The Cougars took over on the their own 14 after Shenandoah failed on a 4th and 2 from the Averett 9 and drove all the way to the Hornets 9 before Fairbanks threw a pair of incompletions.

A 12-play, 46-yard drive made it 21-16 Hornets at the 9:19 mark of third, but Crew's pick-six effectively ended the contest.

Paul Diggs made it 35-16 with 12:10 to play on a six-yard TD run before Roberts answered the Cougars last score with a 4-yard run with 3:29 remaining.

Shenandoah finished the game with a season-high 349 yards rushing and also forced five turnovers (four interceptions, one fumble). They also sacked AU QB's four times.