Sunday, September 3, 2017

Explosive Offensive Plays Result in Opening Night Victory for Alcorn Braves 50-21

LORMAN, Mississippi -- To kick-off the 25th season at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium, the Alcorn State University football program scored six touchdowns en route to a 50-21 win over Miles College on Saturday evening in the season opener for both teams.

Senior De'Lance Turner registered a pair of touchdowns for the Braves (1-0) including one in the air and one on the ground. He finished with 128 rushing yards and 38 receiving yards. Senior quarterback Lenorris Footman tallied two rushing touchdowns and one throwing. He recorded 241 passing yards and 92 rushing.

Eight different receivers caught a pass in the game for the Braves. Senior Norlando Veals led the way with 81 yards, while junior Marquis Warford hauled in 69. Warford also tallied a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Defensively, sophomore Solomon Muhammad stood out with 10 tackles and a forced fumble. Junior Leishaun Ealey also finished in double-figures with 10 tackles.



Miles (0-1), a Division II program from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), was led by running back Justin Hardy who notched 111 rushing yards and a touchdown.

On the opening drive of the game, the Alcorn defense forced a three-and-out. The Braves offense followed it up with an 11-play, 64-yard drive to leap in front 7-0. The series featured completions to Veals, Warford and junior Charles Hughes. The scoring play was a 14-yard run down the right side by Footman.

Later in the quarter, a punt by sophomore Corey McCullough pinned the Bears at the one-yard line. On the very next play, Muhammad forced a fumble and junior Trae Ferrell pounced on it at the 13-yard line. Alcorn's ensuing offensive drive resulted in Footman's second rushing touchdown, a six-yard spurt through the middle to go up 14-0.

Near the end of the first quarter, Miles' Hardy broke loose for an 83-yard touchdown rush through the right side to make it a 14-7 game with 2:00 left.



Midway through the second quarter, McCullough drilled a 45-yard field goal right down the middle to give Alcorn a 17-7 edge. The opportunity was setup after a 20-yard pass to Turner got the Braves into the Bears territory.

The Braves got the ball back at their own two-yard line with 4:06 left in the half. Completions to Warford and junior Jaquaveon Boles got them out near midfield, and a trio of rushes by Footman put them at the Miles 20-yard line. With four seconds left, Footman threw a screen pass to Turner as he maneuvered his way down the left sideline and into the end zone. Alcorn carried a 24-7 lead at the half.

Miles started the second half on a high note after N'Ktaviou Floyd returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 24-14.

The Braves quickly responded after Turner zig-zagged his way down the field for an 88-yard touchdown run. He weaved left and right to get past the defense and then outran the secondary for about 40-yards to push the advantage back up to 31-14 at the 14:10 mark.



Alcorn was on the move again mid-way through the quarter after a pair of rushes by Turner resulted in 35 yards to put the team in the red zone. The Braves settled for a 27-yard field goal which was good by McCullough as Alcorn led 34-14.

With 2:55 left in the third, the Bears punted it away to Warford who shook a couple defenders and was off to the races for a 72-yard punt return touchdown. It pushed the lead up to 40-14.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Bears scored on a 47-yard pass from Li'Jon Cordier to Leonard Tyree through the middle which changed the score to 40-21.

Alcorn quickly responded with a big play of its own as junior P.J. Simmons darted for a 64-yard touchdown run down the right side to go back up 47-21 with 13:43 left.

The Braves tacked on a 26-yard field goal by McCullough with 6:53 remaining. It wrapped up a nine-play, 31-yard drive which included a 15-yard pass to Warford and a 13-yard rush by Simmons.

Alcorn will play its first road game next Saturday when it travels to FIU for a 6:30 p.m. (CT) kickoff. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Braves and the Panthers.

NOTES
- Alcorn improved to 70-51 all-time at Spinks-Casem Stadium

- The Braves won their season opener for the second year in a row after defeating Alabama State 21-18 last year.

- Alcorn posted its fifth consecutive home opening victory. The Braves defeated Alabama State 21-18 last season, Mississippi Valley State 55-14 in 2015, Lynchburg 55-7 in 2014 and Edward Waters 63-12 in 2013.

- The contest marked the first-ever meeting between Alcorn and Miles College.

- The Braves dominated in total offense, 582-243 including a 279-76 edge in passing. Alcorn also won the time of possession battle 34:38-25:22.

- With 92 rushing yards, Footman moved up to No. 11 all-time in career rushing in school history with 1,603 yards, surpassing Smith Reed (1961-64). Footman is also No. 11 in career touchdown passes with 22 and 13th in career passing yards with 2,613.

- Turner was one rushing yard shy of his career-high 129 set at Jackson State last season. His 88-yard run in the third quarter marked a career-long, upping his previous best of 69 against Grambling State in the 2016 SWAC Championship game.

- Warford inked 190 all-purpose yards which bested his previous career-high of 186 at Grambling State last year.

- Muhammad's 10 tackles doubled his previous career-high of five at Alabama A&M last season.

- Alcorn's captains were Brooks, Footman and McCullough. Miles won the toss and elected to receive.

Quoting Alcorn head coach Fred McNair

Opening Statement
"What can I say, Coach Ruffin brought a pretty good team here. I felt like they played a hard-fought ball game. On behalf of Braves football, we try and put a brand on what we do. I thought the first half we came out and executed somewhat well, we just had too many penalties. That's not what we teach here at Alcorn. That's not our brand of football and we're not going to tolerate that. It's kind of hurtful to get that many penalties in a ball game. Just think if we didn't get those penalties how the turnout would be. We're going to press that issue all week."

On getting the job done in all aspects of the game
"That's a part of the game plan. Every week we strive to do that as far as passing, running, special teams and playing great defense. We try to do it to perfection every week. We just have to delete some of these penalties. We played a great ball game without those. If we execute the way we should without penalties the outcome would be even better. Though we are definitely happy about the win."

On Lenorris Footman
"He's come out as a leader. As he goes, this offense goes. He had two rushing TD's but in the end zone he has to protect the ball. On that interception, I wish he would have just held the ball and ran it. We would have gotten a lot more yards if he would have just ran. We talked about it as a coaching staff and the things he can do with the football are electrifying and we're going to keep pressing the issue."

On Turner making an extra effort to score right before the half
"That's a big 14-point swing we are talking about there. Before half time you get a chance to score, and after the half we receive the ball for another chance to score again. I think De'Lance did a great job on receiving the ball and that's a thing he does well. Being able to catch the ball out the backfield and what he can do with it after the catch just shows off his athleticism."

BOX SCORE

ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY BRAVES ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS

UAPB Defeats Morehouse College 23-10 in Season Opener

PINE BLUFF, Arkansas -- The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff didn't get off the fast start it was hoping for against Morehouse College on Saturday night, but the end result more than made up for it.

The Golden Lions scored 23 unanswered points in the second half to knock off the Maroon Tigers 23-10 in front of a spirited crowd at Golden Lion Stadium.

Running back KeShawn Williams ran 17 times for 125 yards and 1 touchdown for UAPB (1-0), which scored 17 points in the third quarter to erase a 10-point deficit and win its season opener for the first time since beating Langston 17-14 in 2012.

"I told the team earlier in the week that you can't get two victories until you get one," UAPB Coach Monte Coleman said. "We had some good plays on special team and had some stops on defense when we needed them. Of course, we've got some things that we need to shore up, but it was a great overall team victory for us, and it feels good to get that first one out the way."

The Golden Lions finished with 344 yards of offense, but they can thank their defense for leading the way in putting an end to an eight-game losing streak. Morehouse (0-1) moved the ball effectively in the opening half but was shut down over the final two quarters. The Maroon Tigers finished with 279 yards of offense but had just 74 after halftime. They crossed midfield just twice in the second half, and both were a result of a turnover.

"It got a lot tougher for us in the second half," Morehouse Coach Rich Freeman said. "We missed two field goals in the first half that should've given us six points. But we had two crucial personal fouls penalties in the second half that kept drives alive for [UAPB], and I think those ultimately changed the momentum of the game.

"But you've gotta give [UAPB] credit. They played well on defense, particularly in the second half, and did the things they needed to do to win."

UAPB had four sacks in the second half and forced two turnovers in the fourth quarter to put away a Maroon Tiger team that held their own for much of the game before slowly running out of steam midway through the third quarter. But Morehouse did waste two prime opportunities to jump on UAPB early.

The Maroon Tigers came up empty after Alex Gonzalez missed a 43-yard field following a 12-play, 43-yard drive on their first possession. Morehouse got the ball back on the very next play when Treyvon Lucky recovered a fumble by UAPB wide receiver Paris Mack but eventually turned it over on downs at the Golden Lions' 13-yard line.

The Maroon Tigers managed to cash in two possessions later, though, when Gonzalez nailed a 24-yard field goal with 7:09 left in the second quarter to finish off a 15-play, 67-yard drive. Morehouse had another chance to add on to its lead but had a 34-yard field goal blocked just before halftime.

UAPB, on the other hand, failed to generate much of anything offensively in the first half. The Golden Lions punted on four of their six possessions and turned the ball over on the other two, including an interception by quarterback Brandon Duncan on their final drive of the half. But UAPB's defense never allowed Morehouse to get into the end zone despite giving up chunks of yardage on several occasions.

"Part of our defensive philosophy is to bend but don't break," Coleman said. "It could have been devastating had they punched those scores in. We held them to one field goal out of the times they got into the red zone. That was huge for us because turnovers put us in bad spots at times."

The Golden Lions' defense found themselves on their heels again almost immediately after halftime. Morehouse was forced to punt on the first series in the third quarter but got the ball right back after UAPB fumbled the punt on its own 10-yard line. The Maroon Tigers scored three plays later on quarterback Kivon Taylor's eight-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Aurelius Smith to push their lead to 10-0.

UAPB finally got going on its ensuing series to get back in the game. Duncan threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jaelen Collins to polish off a six-play, 68-yard with 10:18 left in the quarter.

Jamie Gillan pushed UAPB's lead to 17-10 with a 39-yard field goal with 1:11 remaining in the period. The Golden Lions struck again quickly on its next possession to grab their first lead of the game.

After forcing Morehouse into a three-and-out, Williams sprinted 37 yards for a touchdown on the next play to put UAPB ahead 14-10. Running back Christian Jordon added a 10-yard run with 3:58 left in the game to pad the Golden Lions' lead to 23-10. Morehouse threatened to inch closer late in the fourth quarter after defensive end Voris Bryant returned a fumble 88 yards before being caught from behind at UAPB's eight-yard line, but the Maroon Tigers failed to score on four consecutive plays.

The Golden Lions will be on the road next weekend Saturday Sept. 9, in Arkron, Ohio against Akron Zips at 6:30 PM.

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS PINE BLUFF SPORTS INFORMATION

West Virginia State Yellow Jackets Open Season With 51-28 Win Over Charleston

 INSTITUTE, West Virginia -- The Yellow Jacket football fans attending Saturday's season opener will probably not even remember the wet and gloomy weather.

To them the day could not have been any better.

In his first game as a Head Coach John Pennington gave WVSU faithful something they had not experienced before - a home victory over rival University of Charleston.

And not just a win but a dominating 51-28 performance.

"You just can't really draw it up any better," Pennington said of the start to his head coaching career.
"It's just a dream come true."

For the Golden Eagles it was more of a nightmare. One that began shortly after they kicked off.

The Yellow Jackets took that opening kick and needed just three plays and 1:29 to go 60 yards and take a 7-0 lead.

Senior quarterback Matt Kinnick hit Quinton Gray across the middle about 20 yards downfield and the speedy senior took it the rest of the way for a 59-yard touchdown.

That completion made Kinnick State's all-time leader in passing yards. He would later throw three more scoring passes tying him with former Jacket Kevin O'Brien for the program mark of 51 career touchdown passes.

Kinnick now holds four WVSU career records after setting the marks for total yards and completions last season.

The Yellow Jackets scored on their next two possessions with Kinnink throwing a 32-yard strike to Dionta Brown and a deflected 12-yard toss to Gray, to move ahead 20-0

While the St. Clairsville, Ohio, native was sharp in hitting 22-of-27 pass attempts for 311 yards. He also ran his streak of not throwing an interception to three games and 98 passes going back to last season.

"Considering how bad the conditions were he deserves a lot of credit," Pennington said. "And I don't think we had a ball dropped either."

After the field absorbed a daylong downpour Friday it dried a little as the rain stopped overnight. But a light rain began to fall around game time and turned heavier at the half making for wet footballs and muddy running.

When WVSU went to its ground game though neither the mud nor the Golden Eagles could stop red-shirt freshman Calil Wilkins.

The tough 5-foot-7, 200-pound back out of Maryland started his first college game with his family watching from the stands and he put on a show.

He carried the ball 24 times for 191 yards and a touchdown

"Just watching him in practice and seeing his mindset this year we knew it was just a matter of time," Pennington said. "He has a lot of talent and Coach (Quincy) Wilson has worked a lot with him and done a great job."

While the offensive fireworks were drawing everyone's attention the WVSU defense was turning in a solid performance.

"They did a great job of getting us the ball in good position several times," Pennington said.

Junior defensive back Khave Konte paced the unit with 13 tackles, 12 of them solo, while junior Moises Valcarcel added 12 including one for a 23-yard loss and junior Rob Branch picked off a UC pass.

Throw in a good outing by the special teams including kicker Aaron Ball, punter Kole Patterson, and long-snapper Dakota Booth and fans cannot help but be excited about the coming weeks.

"When all three phases play like that you are going to win," Pennington summed up.

Gray finished the day with six catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns while Zach Pate pulled in five passes for 77 yards.

The win earned WVSU the Kanawha Valley Classic trophy for the first time in its four years of existence.

"It feels good," Pennington said. "Down on the field it was just an incredible feeling."

So how long was he planning to take to enjoy the victory?

"Right now all I can think about is UVa-Wise," he said. "It's a short week, we play them on Thursday so we have to get ready."

That contest kicks off at 7 p.m. at Wise. The Cavaliers won 41-29 at Glenville State Thursday night.

WEST VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Record Setting Day For Trautz and the Cheyney Wolves in 56-28 Win Over Lincoln

CHEYNEY, Pennsylvania – Senior QB Dominick Trautz accounted for a school record six touchdowns, five passing and one rushing to lead the Cheyney Wolves to a 56-0 first half lead en route to a 56-28 victory over the Lincoln Lions in the Battle of the First on a soggy Saturday afternoon inside O'Shields-Stevenson Stadium.

The Wolves (1-0) jumped out to a 35-0 lead after the first quarter with Trautz opening the scoring with a 9-yard run and connecting on a 12-yard pass to Jr. TE Kyle Berlin and two more scoring tosses to R-Fr. WR Brandon Joyner for 20 and to Sr. WR Nigel Wiley for 37 yards, sandwiched around a 1 yard TD run by Fr. RB Damon Williams.

The Lions (0-1) scored 28 second half points on a pair of touchdown runs from Ramese Owens a run from QB Vincent Espinoza and a 41-yard toss from Espinoza to Andre Price to close out the scoring.

Fr. Kicker Alexander Rummel converted all eight of his point after touchdown kicks to establish a new Cheyney mark in his first collegiate game.
Sr. RB Brandon French led all rushers with 79-yards and scored from a yard out to open the scoring in the second quarter.

Cheyney scored on its first six possessions of the game and could have made it seven, but a fumble at the one-yard line went through the endzone for a touchback.

After a Lincoln punt, Trautz connected with Sr. WR Yvesner Ferdinand for a 31-yard score and closed the scoring by finding Berlin again by taking advantage of the 6 foot 7 inch juniors' height with a dart over the middle.

Cheyney forced a three and out to start the game, The Wolves took over on its own 21, and Trautz opened the scoring by capping a 9 play 79 yard drive with a 9-yard run.
The Lions then returned the ensuing kickoff to the Cheyney 28 and a penalty put the ball on the Wolves 14.

On the next play, Sr. LB Jamiel Hines picked off a pass at his own 10 and returned it 82 yards to the Lions 8-yard line.

Two plays later Trautz scrambled and then found Berlin who made a diving catch for a 12-yard score to make it 14-0.

The Wolves defense then forced another three and out and Cheyney took over at the Lions 23-yard line following a 15-yard return by Ferdinand.

Williams, who rushed for over 3,300 yards and scored 32 times in two seasons at Boswell, HS in Fort Worth, Texas, took his first collegiate carry down to the one and scored his first CU touchdown on the following play, to put Cheyney ahead 21-0.

On the first play after the kickoff, Sr. Keyson Dingle recorded a sack and forced a fumble that was recovered by So. LB Phillip Harley at the Lincoln 32.
Three plays later Trautz connected with Joyner for his first career-touchdown from 20-yards out.

After the lions picked up their initial first down of the game, the wolves then forced a punt attempt, but the snap was bobbled and Dingle and Furbush tackled the punter at the Lincoln 37.

Cheyney wasted no-time converting as Trautz found Wiley down the right sideline for a 37-yard score, to make it 35-0 with 2:46 left in the first period.

The 35 points are the most by a Cheyney team ever against the Lions.

Another punt snap issue put the Wolves at the Lincoln 24, capped off by a French 1-yard run to the endzone to open the second quarter.

Trautz finished the day going 15-20 for 230 yards five touchdowns passing and rushed four times for 28 yards and one rushing score in three quarters of work.

Freshman Chad Palmer played quarterback in the fourth quarter, and completed his only attempt for two yards .

Joyner grabbed five passes for a team-high 57 yards and a score, Wiley pulled in three passes for 51 yards and a score, Berlin had three catches for 44 yards and two scores and Ferdinand made two catches for 41 yards and a TD.

Williams rushed 38 yards on eight carries and a TD, and R-Fr. Marcus Sullivan carried 10-times for 26 yards in the fourth.

The defense was led by So. DT Stephen Haynes who recorded seven solo and one assisted tackle including three tackles for loss. R-Fr. DB Terez Franklin was credited with six stops and a recovered fumble.

Sr. LB Chaplin Johnson-Davis recorded six tackles and Dingle made six stops, five for a loss. With two sacks and a forced fumble.

Cheyney is now on the road for three straight weeks, starting with a trip to California, Pa. next Saturday for a contest against the #6 ranked Vulcans at 1:00 p.m.

BOX SCORE


CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY WOLVES SPORTS INFORMATION

No. 22 Langston Lions Open Season With 30-14 Win Over Lincoln

LANGSTON, Oklahoma -- The Langston Lions kicked off the 2017 campaign with a dominating 30-14 victory over Lincoln (Mo.) on Saturday, Sept. 2 at W.E. Anderson Stadium. This was the 64th annual Battle of the LU's between both schools.

Langston got on the scoreboard after quarterback Milton Harper (SR/Tulsa, Okla.) hit Taj Johnson (SO/Aurora, Colo.) for a 15-yard touchdown pass, capping a five-play 36-yard drive in the first quarter.

The Lions tacked on two more scores in the second quarter after Tyree Hanson scored on a two-yard run and defensive lineman Tyler Bess (SR/Hollis, Okla.) returned a fumble 61 yards for a touchdown to take a 20-0 lead into halftime.

On their opening drive of the third quarter the Lions again marched straight down the field, ending with Harper hitting Daylon Person (SO/Watts, Calif.) for a 45-yard touchdown pass to hold a commanding 27-0 lead at the 13:15 third quarter mark.

The first score for the Blue Tigers came courtesy of the defense when they blocked Jaylen Lowe's punt and returned it to the end zone to pull within 27-7 at the 9:23 mark; Langston countered with a 14-play, 56-yard drive which ended with Abraham Lueveano nailing a 19-yard field goal attempt to make it 30-7.

Lincoln collected the final score after Henry Ogala hit Miles Drummond for a six-yard touchdown to make it 30-14.

This is the second-straight season opening win for the Lions, with both victories coming again the Blue Tigers. Head coach Quinton Morgan improves to 13-2 overall as head coach.

In his first start under center at Langston, Harper finished nine-of-20 for 151 yards and two touchdown passes; Taj Johnson led the way on the ground with eight carries for 36 yards.

Michael Andrade (SO/New Orleans, La.) led the aerial attack with three catches for 30 yards.

Defensively, Jamarie Finnie led the Lions with six total tackles, five solo with a 1/2 sack, 3 1/2 tackles for loss and one forced fumble.

Langston (1-0) heads to Batesville, Ark. next weekend to face Lyon College. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.

Box Score

LANGSTON UNIVERSITY LIONS SPORTS INFORMATION

Albany State beats Valdosta State for first time since 2004

ALBANY, Georgia — Valdosta State’s offense got going late to help the Blazers extend a streak that began more than 25 years ago.

Unfortunately for the Blazers, it was much too late to prevent a 29-12 loss in their season opener against the Golden Rams Saturday at Albany State University Coliseum.

VSU has played 306 straight games since it was last shut out in its 1991 season opener against Central Florida, but the Division II active record appeared to be in jeopardy against Albany State.

The Golden Rams held the Blazers to just 92 yards of offense in the first half and 138 yards through three quarters as it built a 20-0 lead, but Valdosta State head coach Kerwin Bell believes the biggest mistakes were made on his team’s first few possessions.

“When you play a team every year like this, and these guys have some talent, now they’ve got a coach that’s got them in shape and they’ve got a good scheme, but I still think a game like this you play every year comes down to the first two or three series in the game for us,” Bell said after the game. “When you play a team like that, you’ve got to show them who is in control again. You’ve got to take advantage of what we had.”

Junior Adam Robles got the start at quarterback for VSU, and he connected with receiver Tshumbi Johnson for a 16-yard gain on the first drive of the game.

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Bowie State Bulldogs Cruise to 48-7 Season Opener Victory at Seton Hill

GREENSBURG, Pennsylvania – The Bowie State University football team opened the 2017 season with a 48-7 road victory at Seton Hill University on Saturday afternoon at Offutt Field.

The victory broke a two-game series skid for the Bulldogs (1-0) who had lost the previous two matchups with Griffins heading into Saturday.

Junior Amir Hall threw for 361 yards and five touchdowns on 23-of-26 passing. Hall, the 2016 CIAA Offensive Player of the Year also accounted for 50 rushing yards, second best on the team.

Junior co-captain Derrick Tate tallied a team-best five solo tackles (six total) while junior teammate John Johnson, IV (Washington, D.C.) and redshirt sophomore Tommar Phillips (Lanham, Md.) added five total tackles each for Bowie State.

Redshirt senior Robert Chesson (Annapolis, Md.) rushed for 77 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries to carry most of the load for the Bulldogs, while junior transfer Lansana Sesay (Bowie, Md.) caught seven passes for a game-high 148 yards in his Bulldogs debut.

As a team, Bowie State amassed 599 total yards of offense (382 passing and 217 rushing) and the Bulldogs defense held Seton Hill to just 151 yards of total (39 passing and 112 rushing). The one glaring negative statistic for Bowie State was penalties as the Bulldogs were penalized 17 times for 175 yards.

"We're very happy to start the season 1-0 but extremely disappointed in the number of penalties we had today", said Bowie State head coach Damon Wilson. When asked what was the most impressive part about the teams play, Wilson said "Our overall effort was outstanding!"

Seton Hill scored the first points of the season as Evan Byrd rumbled 66-yards for the touchdown. Santiago Henao added the extra point for the early 7-0 lead at the 13:55 mark of the first quarter.

Bowie State responded when Hall connected with Clark from 16 yards out with 6:45 to go in the opening quarter. Sophomore Gene Carson (Accokeek, Md.) added the extra point to tie the game at 7-all. The Hall and Clark duo teamed up again at the 3:55 mark, this time for a 62-yard pass, catch and score. Carson's extra point gave the Bulldogs a 14-7 advantage.

The Bulldogs pushed its lead to 21-7, this time on the legs of Hall, as he rushed down the sideline for a 15-yard score with 8:13 remaining in the second quarter. Hall goes deep again, connecting with Sesay for a 57-yard touchdown, pushing the Bulldogs lead to 28-7 over Seton Hill.

Bowie State accumulated 339 yards in total offense in the first half compared to 140 yards for Seton Hill. Penalties were a sore spot for the Bulldogs in the first 30 minutes as Bowie State was flagged 10 times for 95 yards.

Bowie State added six more points early in the third quarter (11:56) when Hall found redshirt senior Kerrick Pollock (Miami, Fla.) wide open in the back corner of the Griffins end zone, extending the Bulldogs lead to 34-7.

Chesson punched it in from 1-yard out and Carson converted the extra point at the 7:29 mark of the third quarter, to give Bowie State a comfortable 41-7 cushion. Redshirt junior Adam Gillis, Jr. scored his first points of the new year, strolling in for a 9-yard rushing touchdown, padding the Bulldogs at 48-7 at the 2:49 mark.

Other top statistical players for Bowie State include redshirt sophomore Geordan Clark (White Plains, Md.) with 85 reception yards and Pollock added 68 reception yards. Redshirt junior Brandon Abrams (Bowie, Md.) finished with 55 rushing yards.

Seton Hill's Byrd was his teams' top offensive player with 67 rushing yards. Noah Davis and Fadan Allen were the Griffins' leading tacklers with seven apiece.

The Bulldogs will hit the road next week when they head to the defending CIAA Champions of Winston-Salem (N.C.) State University to battle the Rams in Bowman-Gray Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m. and will be carried live on the ESPN3 app. Winston-Salem State defeated #19 UNC Pembroke 34-31 on Thursday (8/31) afternoon.

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BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS SPORTS INFORMATION