Bowie State 10, Virginia State 6

The Bulldogs stopped the Trojans twice from the one-yard line with 20 seconds left in the game. Trojan running back Bernard Comer was stuffed short of the line with nine seconds left in the game by Charles Alston and most of the defensive line, and the clock ran out, giving the Bulldogs the 10-6 win.

The Bulldogs had squandered opportunities all day, but after the Trojans kicked a field goal to take a 6-3 lead with 8:09 to play, the Bulldogs drove 67 yards in eight plays with Mike Bryant scoring the game-winning touchdown on a 10-yard run.

Bryant, a wide receiver who is the Bulldogs' career receiving yards leader, sparked the Bulldogs all day at running back and running back punts. He rushed for 50 yards on 13 carries and returned five punts for 90 yards.

"This was his last home game and we needed Mike to step up and he responded by playing like the big-time player that he is," said Henry Frazier, III, who was the Bulldogs starting quarterback when the Bulldogs won the league title in 1989.

Bryant's touchdown run was set up when Jabali Smith, playing in relief of starter Maurice Hill, fired a 37-yard strike to receiver Darnell Jeffries down the right sideline.

The win gave the Bulldogs a 6-4 overall record and the Eastern Division title with a 5-2 conference mark. The Bulldogs and Trojans (7-3, 5-2) finished with the same conference mark with the Bulldogs winning the Division outright by virtue of Saturday's win. They will travel to Winston-Salem, NC, next Saturday to face Western Division champion Fayetteville State University.

The Bulldogs were in a similar situation at the end of the 2001 season with one noticeable difference. In 2002, the Bulldogs held their fate in their own hands.

As it has been for the Bulldogs most of the season, the no. 2 defense in Division II led the way on Saturday, when they faced the CIAA's most-explosive offensive team in Virginia State. The defense held the Trojans to 222 yards of total offense and kept Kevin Jones, the CIAA's leading passer in check. Jones completed just 12-31 for 158 yards and two interceptions.

Sophomore Atcheson Conway led the balanced defense attack with eight tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery. Damian Walker had seven tackles while Marvin King and Alston finished with six apiece.

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