CIAA Football Week in Review

CIAA Football Week in Review
For the week ending October 1, 2011, (Week 6)

TROJANS RALLY TO STUN BULLDOGS IN OT

PETERSBURG, VA-In one of the most stunning comebacks of the season, Virginia State (3-2, 2-1 CIAA) rallied to shock the visiting Bowie State Bulldogs (3-2, 2-2 CIAA) 28-21 in overtime in a pivotal Northern Division matchup last night at Rogers Stadium.

The stunning part was how the game got to overtime in the first place. In what had been a tightly contested battle all night, a 32-yard touchdown run by tailback Keith Brown put the Bulldogs ahead 21-14 with 58 seconds left in the game. On Virginia State’s ensuing possession, Bowie State’s Darius Clair seemingly sealed the victory when he intercepted a fourth down pass attempt by Trojan quarterback Jarred Battle and the Bulldogs took possession with 30 seconds left in the game. With the seven-point lead, the Bulldogs went to their victory formation (a curious move since VSU had all of their timeout) looking to run out the clock. The strategy backfired as the Trojans used their three timeouts to stop the clock and forced the Bulldogs to punt on fourth down. The deflated Trojans got new life when BSU punter Michael Gagne mishandled the punt and VSU’s Malcolm Solomon recovered the fumble at the Bulldogs’ 21-yard line. On the next play, Battle made amends for the earlier interception when he found Timothy Paulk for a 21-yard touchdown pass. William Rudd kicked the all important PAT and VSU had miraculously tied the score at 21-21 with seven seconds left in the game. On Bowie State’s final possession of regulation VSU’s Alundus Beggs sacked Bulldog quarterback Andre Johnson as time expired, sending the game to OT.

The reenergized Trojans got the ball first in the overtime period and quickly went to work. Tailback Tyler Wilson popped big runs of 10 and 7-yards to move the ball down to the BSU 8-yard line. Three plays later, Virginia State took their first lead since early in the second quarter when Battle ran it in from two yards out. Rudd added the PAT and VSU led 28-21. The Trojans then put the game in the hands of their defense. Bowie State used two plays to get down to the VSU 8-yard line. From there, VSU’s defense stiffened and dropped the Bulldogs for losses on two successive running plays. The game ended when the Trojans hurried Johnson into incomplete passes on 3rd and 4th down and Virginia State’s improbable comeback was complete.

In game dominated by defense, neither side was able to put up gaudy offensive numbers.  Battle rushed for two touchdowns and finished with 187 passing yards and threw for another score, while Wilson had six catches for 81 yards and added a game-high 68 rushing yards for the Trojans.  Virginia State also got an 88-yard kickoff return touchdown from Howard Spencer. The Bulldogs were led by the versatile Clifton Budd, who took snaps at quarterback and receiver and finished with 127 yards of offense and got touchdowns runs from Tariq Jones, Keith Brown and James Proctor to account for their 21 points. Defensively, Delano Johnson had a monster game for the Bulldogs, finishing with 14 tackles (10 solos), a forced fumble, and an interception.  Linebacker Jeremy Pruitt led the Trojan defense with 14 tackles (7 solos).

Next week, the Trojans travel to Fayetteville State to take on the Broncos in a televised game. The Bulldogs, who have dropped two straight, travel to West Virginia to take on Fairmont State on Thursday night.

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