TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Central State continued its winning ways on the road with a 24-7 victory over Stillman College on Saturday night.
Coming off last weekend's 21-0 shutout over Lane College, the Marauder defense set the tone early when linebacker Deonate Gary picked off a Brett Standifer pass and took it 30 yards for the game's first touchdown at the 12:49 mark of the opening quarter. Standifer's struggles continued on the very next Stillman drive when Clim Robbins stepped in front of Standifer's pass for his team leading 5th interception of the season.
Determined to establish the run game, the Marauders ran the ball on 12 of their 16 play, 64 yard touchdown drive, capped off by a 2 yard run from quarterback Terrence Waffordwith 12:39 to go in the first half. The CSU defense kept Stillman out of the endzone and just 46 total yards of offense in the first half as CSU took the 14-0 lead into the locker room.
Stillman's first drive of the 3rd quarter was similar to how they began the game as Gary got his hands on another pass attempt and returned it 51 yards to the Stillman 4 yard line.Terrence Wafford connected with receiver Julian Walker three plays later to put CSU up 21-0 with 12:28 left in the 3rd quarter. Stillman finally scored late in the quarter after recovering a CSU fumble at the 28 yard line. The Tigers successfully completed two passes to get down to the CSU 2 yard line before Rovonta Johnson ran in for the score to cut the CSU lead to 21-7 with 15 seconds left before the start of the 4th quarter.
CSU gave SC new life on the following kickoff when Dashad Tucker lost a fumble at midfield. With the Tigers driving, linebacker E'Donovan Stewart dislodged the ball from receiver Devon Mackey. Houston Boone, Jr. pounced on the ball for the Marauders to reclaim possession for CSU at their own 34 yard line. The Marauders responded with a 5 play, 37 yard drive but failed to convert on a 4th down attempt at the SC 29 to give the ball back to Stillman with 7:27 remaining.
Needing a score, the Tiger's hopes were dashed after Lindley Reid punched the ball out of the hands of Hudson Cain and Nehemiah Coward recovered the loose ball at the CSU 38 yard line with 6:20 to go. CSU took four minutes off the clock by successfully running the ball five straight times for 46 yards before settling for a John Adams field goal with just over 2 minutes left in the game. With no timeouts, Stillman ran out of time at the 15 yard line as CSU claimed the 17 point win.
CSU dictated the pace of the game thanks to a rushing attack that accounted for 197 yards on 47 attempts. Senior running back Jihad Rasheed shouldered most of the load with 16 carries for 70 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, Gary finished with 5 solo tackles and 1 pass break up to go along with his two interceptions. Stewart accumulated for 5 total tackles and 1 sack. In addition to his fifth interception of the year, Robbins continued to expand his role on the offensive side of the ball with 3 carries for 35 yards.
"We ran the ball well and controlled the line of scrimmage. For the most part, I thought we did a great job of minimizing our mistakes and playing to our strengths today," CSU head coach Cedric Pearl said. "Our defense continues to make big plays for us and I thought we did a adequate job in all three phases of the game."
With Saturday's win, CSU recorded its first four game road winning streak since the 1995 season. Allowing just 7 points in over 8 quarters of play, the CSU defense now ranks No. 1 in nearly every SIAC defensive category heading into next weekend's game against Tuskegee University. Improving to 4-4 overall with a 2-2 ledger in conference play, CSU climbed up to 3rd in the SIAC West Division with Saturday's victory. CSU also took a 2-1 edge in the all-time series against Stillman.
Central State returns to the state of Alabama next Saturday to face reigning SIAC champion Tuskegee (7-1; 3-0). Fans can watch the game live from Abbott Memorial Alumni Stadium beginning at 2 pm (est) on the Tuskegee Sports Network.
COURTESY CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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