Heffner's heroic effort not enough at Murray StateMURRAY, Ky. — Antonio Heffner came to Murray State on Saturday with no intention of playing. By the fourth quarter, Heffner was on the field with no intention of letting Tennessee State lose. After playing sparingly in the first half, the senior quarterback, who was nursing a shoulder and foot injury, volunteered to go back into into the game for starter Dominic Grooms, who broke the thumb on his throwing hand.
Three times in the fourth quarter, Heffner, who threw a touchdown in the second quarter, got TSU in scoring range with a chance to either tie the score or send it to overtime. But, unlike so many times before, he was unable to get the Tigers into the end zone and Murray State held on for a 24-17 victory.
"I didn't think there was any way, coming into the game, that I could play. But basically, when they needed me, I had to try to go in and do my best,'' Heffner said. "After I went in, every time I threw, my shoulder hurt and my foot gave me problems too." The loss took No. 25-ranked TSU (8-4, 5-3 Ohio Valley Conference) from being a long shot for the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs to having no shot at all. The Tigers, who spent most of the season in first place in the OVC, wound up in fourth.
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Attendance: 2,292 at Stewart Stadium, Murray, KY
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