Bowie State Dominates Virginia Union with 34-7 Victory

BOWIE, Maryland  --  Bowie State University dominated from beginning to end in a sunny, but very chilly Bulldogs Stadium on Saturday, beating rival Virginia Union University 34-7. The victory snaps a four-game Bowie State losing streak.

The Bulldogs (3-5, 1-4 CIAA) jumped on Virginia Union from the opening kickoff. Redshirt junior Kendall Jefferson returned the kickoff 55 yards to the Virginia Union 45 yard line. Senior Jared Johnston (Dumfries, Va.) connected with sophomore Garry Cropper (Odenton, Md.) for 30 yards on BSU's first play from scrimmage. From there, senior Keith Brown (Temple Hills, Md.) carried the ball three straight plays, scoring from one-yard out. Junior Mario Diaz-Aviles (Washington, D.C.) added the extra point to give the Bulldogs the early 7-0 lead at the 12:59 mark.

Virginia Union (3-5, 3-2 CIAA) tied the score at 7-7 early in the second quarter on a three yard rushing touchdown by Damon Kelly (Orange Park, Md.) and extra point by Troy Krepich (Leesburg, Va.), capping off a nine-play. 41 yard drive.

The Bulldogs put together a 12-play, 82 yard drive on the games very next possession with Brown finding the Panthers end zone again, this time scoring from four yards out.

Bowie State pushed their lead to 21-7 at the 2:09 mark of the second quarter following an interception by junior Anthony McDaniel (Ft. Washington, Md.) at the Panthers 11 yard line. Redshirt junior Khari Lee (Baltimore, Md.) caught a four yard TD bullet for six from Johnston.

Jefferson recorded his seventh touchdown run of the season, scoring on a five yard run with 5:35 left in the third quarter to give the Bulldogs a comfortable 28-7 advantage.

The Bulldogs final points of the game came about following an interception by redshirt sophomore Curtis Pumphrey (Laurel, Md.), his second of the afternoon. Bowie State began the drive at the Virginia Union 35 yard line with 4:21 remaining in the game.

Johnston did most of the damage, rushing for 24 yards and passing for 15 yards, capping off the drive with a seven yard TD run to put the game on ice with 1:19 left on the clock

Brown rushed for 93 yards on 26 carries, averaging 3.6 yards per carry. Johnston went 8-for-20 in the air for 131 yards and a touchdown.

Lee led the Bowie State receivers with four catches for 46 yards and Cropper had to catches for 50 yards.

Senior Delante White (Temple Hills, Md.) led the Bulldogs defense with 13 tackles, while redshirt sophomore Antoine Young added 11 tackles. Senior Dwayne Price (Ft. Washington, Md.) contributed seven tackles and redshirt freshman Kevaugn Townsend (Ft. Washington, Md.) had five tackles in the win.

Eric Shaw (Washington, D.C.) was the leading offensive producer for VUU's Panthers, rushing for 85 yards on 27 carries. Panthers quarterback Kenneth Graham (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) completed 8-of-20 passes for 46 yards. Jamaal Wright caught two of those passes for just six yards. London Byrd (Sanford, Fla.), Tyrell Austin (Miami, Fla.) and Dominique Roane (Richmond, Va.) were tops for the Panthers defense with seven tackles each.

The Bulldogs will return to action on Saturday (November 2nd), taking on The Lincoln University at Bulldogs Stadium at 1 pm. Fifteen seniors will be honored in a special pre-game ceremony.