BOWLING GREEN — Given a real chance at its first Bowl Subdivision victory of the season, Bowling Green’s evening instead ended with more frustration.

In a battle of 1-7 teams, Kent State scored the game-winning touchdown with 1 minute, 50 seconds remaining and defeated Bowling Green 35-28 on Tuesday night at Doyt Perry Stadium.

The Falcons had the ball with a chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter but were forced to punt to Kent State, which drove 56 yards in four plays and took the lead on Jo-El Shaw’s 18-yard touchdown, his third of the day.

The Falcons’ final drive ended with an interception, dropping them to 1-8 and 0-5 in the Mid-American Conference.

Kent State earned its first MAC road win since October, 2016.

“It was tough,” Falcons defensive tackle DeMontae Haigler said. “It was truly tough because we were coming off a good week of preparation, focusing on the little things, [and] coming into this game feeling like this is the one where we could get on a roll. But we came up short.”

The first half was wrought with penalties, as Bowling Green and Kent State combined for 14 flags in the first two quarters.

Flashes quarterback Woody Barrett found Shaw on a crossing route, and he broke a tackle on the way to a 24-yard touchdown catch for the game’s first score.

After settling for two Nate Needham field goals to trim Kent State’s lead to 7-6, the Falcons caught a break. An illegal man downfield call helped sabotage a Kent State drive in the second quarter, a mistake that the Flashes compounded with a shanked punt from their end zone that gave the Falcons the ball at the Kent State 21-yard line.

Bowling Green took advantage, as quarterback Jarret Doege found tight end Dorian Hendrix on a nine-yard play-action pass that gave the Falcons their first lead at 13-7.

However, the Falcons’ three-and-out inside the final two minutes of the half allowed Kent State to take the lead again. Barrett scored on a bruising 10-yard run 18 seconds before halftime that gave the Flashes a one-point edge at the intermission.

Bowling Green put together a promising drive to start the second half but came away with no points. A pass interference call on Kent State, a pair Doege passes to Scott Miller for first downs, and Miller’s trick-play pass to Hendrix set up BG at the Kent State 10-yard line.

However, the Flashes sacked Doege to spoil the momentum, then Needham missed from 37 yards away to give the ball back to the Flashes.

Later in the quarter, Barrett ran for a first down on third-and-10 to keep the drive alive. BG seemingly held Kent State to a field goal attempt, but the Flashes faked the kick and holder Dustin Crum ran for a first down.

Shaw scored his second touchdown on the next play to give Kent a 21-13 lead.

The Falcons tied the game 91 seconds into the fourth quarter on Doege’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Ra’veion Hargrove coupled with his two-point conversion pass to Quintin Morris.

The tie was short-lived, as Barrett completed three passes for 69 yards on the ensuing drive, including a 2-yard touchdown pass to Antwan Dixon that gave Kent State a 28-21 lead with just more than 11 minutes to play.

The quick change was the theme of the night for BG

“As you’re learning to win, it seems like if we get down a score, we fight, we come back, and we tie it or take the lead, and then we have our letdown,” Bowling Green interim coach Carl Pelini said. “We’ve got to learn to control our emotions and play under pressure. That’s my job to teach them how to do that.

“It’s a hard one to take, that’s for sure.”

The Falcons created a break midway through the fourth. Marcus Milton punched the ball away from Barrett and BG recovered on Kent State’s 26-yard line.

Doege converted a fourth-down conversion on the following possession with a scrambling throw to Hargrove, then tied the game with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Noah Massey with 5 minutes, 34 seconds to play.

However, BG’s late-game drive went nowhere, and the Falcons allowed Barrett to scramble for 34 yards on a third down to set up the winning score.

With time running out on what will be a losing season, Pelini said it’s never too late for the Falcons to turn the corner.

“The big thing in my position right now is that we’re a better football team tomorrow than we are today, and it’s never too late,” he said. “Those are things we’ll keep addressing, keep trying to fix, and keep working on.”

Bowling Green's 2018 football schedule

Contact Nicholas Piotrowicz at npiotrowicz@theblade.com, 419-724-6110 or on Twitter @NickPiotrowicz

First Published October 31, 2018, 4:28 a.m.