GRAYSON — One of the first things Kentucky Christian University head coach Mike Furrey did after Saturday's game against Lindsey Wilson College was jump into the arms of school president Jeff Metcalf.

With good reason.

Furrey and the Knights celebrated a 27-20 overtime win over Lindsey Wilson College in the first game of the school's on-campus stadium. To Furrey, Saturday was as nice as anything he ever did in the NFL.

“This one's special,” Furrey said. “You get a brand new field, these guys come out here and work their tails off for the last three weeks … We've got a lot to execute. We had a little bit of rust, but it's good to pull it out.”

Two of  Furrey's players had maybe more reason to celebrate. Sophomore quarterback Graham Johnston found senior tight end Rance Hughes in the far right corner of the end zone with a six-yard clinching touchdown.

“I saw Graham get open,” Hughes said. “He started rolling right, so I ran with him. He made it happen.”

Johnston said Caleb Cox was the first option, but he was on the left side and double-covered.

“I had pressure from the left,” Johnston said. “I took off, broke the pocket, and then it was find a receiver. And Rance, he read my eyes and found an opening.”

When Lindsey Wilson got the ball, the Blue Raiders mostly floundered.

After Tyrome Lott ran for seven yards to the 18, his subsequent illegal procedure penalty moved the ball back to the 23. From there, disaster: incomplete pass; quarterback Branden Cresap's fumble for a five-yard loss; and an incompletion in the end zone when KCU's Joshua Cobb knocked down a pass intended for Chaz Barnes.

Which meant Cobb and friends can finally forget about last year's loss to the Blue Raiders in Columbia.

“I didn't play my best last season, but I think we made up for it (Saturday),” said Cobb, who had two interceptions.

Lindsey Wilson coach Chris Oliver said Barnes was not the first option – Cresap first looked to junior Matt Powers on the right side before throwing to Barnes, who was covered by Cobb and Jabriel Siler, on the left.

KCU's debut play, a kickoff return by freshman Jalen Simmons-Wilson was, in a word – inauspicious. He took the ball 19 yards to the Knights 23, but lost the subsequent fumble.

Credit the Knights' defense for holding the Blue Raiders to just Mark Corbett's 42-yard field goal — Isaiah Keyes and Andre Davis sacked Cresap for a five-yard loss.

KCU's Stanley Peterson needed just 16 seconds to give his team its first lead. It was as if the Ohio River parted for him — he took the kick untouched up the middle of the field, cut left and breezed 100 yards for the score with 12:42 to go in the first quarter.

Cresap, who finished the half with 106 yards passing, capped Lindsey Wilson's next drive with a 7-yard touchdown strike to tight end Colin Keen five minutes later. KCU kicker Andrew Slikker's 27-yard field goal midway through the second quarter  tied the game

KCU's mistakes were at times costly; a defensive holding call nullified an interception late in the second quarter.

But not that much that time.

Thank Johnston. He was 10-of-12 for 118 yards in the first half, but it was his 45-yard run late in the second that set up his 3-yard TD toss to senior Rashad Earls with 3:33 to go before intermission.

As nice as that was, the Knights' defense was maybe more impressive. Lindsey Wilson took the ball to the KCU 4 but ultimately settled for Corbett's 23-yard field goal with 22 seconds left.

Lindsey Wilson (0-1) converted another KCU miscue, punter Keith Pulley's fumble less than three minutes into the third quarter, into a touchdown. Five plays later, De Wallace plunged in from two yards out, giving the Blue Raiders a 20-17 lead.

Slikker tied the game at 20-all with a 30-yard field goal with 2:47 to go in the game.

When Lindsey Wilson called a time out with 1:41 left in regulation, head coach Chris Oliver had a choice – go for a first down on fourth and inches on the Blue Raider 20 or punt. Oliver chose to kick, which turned out to be a good decision because Pulley later fumbled a punt snap.

“We were in a situation where Kentucky Christian was out of timeouts,” Oliver said. “... Obviously getting a first down there would be great, but turning it over on the 20 yard line would be sort of a death wish for us. We got the stop on defense, so I think it was the right decision. We got to overtime like we wanted to.”

The Blue Raiders did nothing with the gift – three incomplete passes.

Besides the KCU players and coaches and players, the happiest person could have been Jackie Cobb, Joshua's mother. She drove to Grayson from Lawrenceville, Ga.

“I made an eight-hour trip for this,” Jackie Cobb said. “No. 43 (Joshua), that's my blood!”

Notes: Saturday was the second overtime game in KCU history; Lindsey Wilson beat the Knights, 40-37, in double overtime, Oct. 23, 2010 ... Mickey and Beth Cooley, of Lebanon, Ky. and the parents of KCU long snapper Jeremy Mattingly, were the first fans to enter the new stadium, extending a streak that began when Mattingly was seven years old. “I've never missed a game,” Mickey Cooley said. … KCU starting running back Deonte Merricks left the game with an undisclosed injury ... One of the officials, umpire Rodney Armstrong of London, Ky., left the game in the second half because of heat exhaustion; after treatment, he recovered and watched the rest of the game on the sidelines ... KCU's next game is Sept. 8 at home against Bluefield (Va.) College.