Bowie State 12, Johnson C. Smith 9

September 3, 2005

(BOWIE, MARYLAND) Bowie State’s Ronald Walls booted a 27 yard field goal with just two seconds left in the fourth quarter, lifting the Bulldogs to a 12-9 victory over Johnson C. Smith. The non-conference win improves BSU’s record 2-0 overall but drops JCSU to 0-2. “We cannot afford to have as many turnovers (9) and penalties (13) again and expect to be successful, especially to compete for the conference championship,” said a somewhat frustrated Bowie State Head Coach Mike Lynn.

Johnson C. Smith scored first on a 26 yard field goal by Herbert Collins at the 7:29 mark of the second quarter, giving the guest a 3-0 advantage. The Golden Bulls of JCSU padded its lead to 9-0 when Andre Williams scored from six yards out with 48 seconds remaining before intermission. This really motivated Johnson C. Smith because one play earlier, the Golden Bulls took three points off their side of the scoreboard. You see, Bowie State was called for a personal foul when JCSU was faced with a fourth and eight, giving the visitors a first and goal from the BSU six yard line.

Just like the first quarter, neither team could put points on the board, leaving Bowie State to wonder what could have happened to their offense in just seven days. “Today we thought we had eliminated those ghosts that haunted us last year (penalties and turnovers) … We’re not making excuses but we must do a much better job of taking care of the ball and playing discipline football within the rules of the game,” said Lynn.

Just when appeared the Bulldogs had no answer for the Golden Bulls, Bowie State backup quarterback Richard Armstrong came in and ignited the BSU offense. Armstrong, a junior from Pontiac (MI), connected on a 24 yard touchdown pass to Darron Ellis at the 11:43 mark of period four. Ronald Walls converted the extra point, cutting the JCSU lead to 9-7. Following successive four and outs by both teams, Bowie State’s defense came up big on Johnson C. Smith’s next series. JCSU punter Kalvin Collins was in the grasp of Christian Robinson in the JCSU end zone before tossing the pigskin out the back of the end zone, preventing a Bowie State touchdown but accounting for a safety and a 9-9 tie with 6:07 to play in regulation. The Bulldogs were driving the ball downfield after the ensuing Golden Bulls free kick. However a fumble by Nathaniel Queen deep in JCSU territory took the momentum from BSU, giving JCSU a chance to steal a win. Unfortunately for Johnson C. Smith, Edvard Jean (4 for 12 – 39 yards) threw three straight incomplete passes and had to punt the ball back to Bowie State with 2:17 left to play. Junior starting quarterback Lamar Manigo was reinserted back into the game and calmly orchestrated BSU in its final drive. A 13 yard carry by Nathaniel Queen was brought back by a holding penalty. On the very next play, Manigo found a wide open Rashad Henry in the middle of the JCSU defense, picking up 31 yards a first down at the Golden Bulls’ 45 yard line. Manigo completed picked up another nice chunk of real estate, when he connected with Isaac Redman for 13 yards. Queen rumbled for 17 yards down to the JCSU 15 with 1:19 remaining on the clock which prompted Johnson C. Smith to call their final timeout. A 1-yard rush by Redman and a 4-yard run by Manigo pushed the ball to the JCSU 10 and set the table for Walls’ game winning field goal.

Bowie State’s defense made a powerful statement in the victory, holding Johnson C. Smith to a season low 23 yards in total offense. Sterling Green led the charge for BSU, leading both teams in tackles with eleven and accounted for 2.5 sacks. Of those eleven tackles, four were for a loss of 23 yards.

For the second week in a row a Bowie State running back rushed for over 100 yards. This time Nathanial Queen was the top dog, rushing for a career high 102 yards on 17 carries and averaged six yards per carry. Queen wasn’t the only BSU player to go over the century mark on the afternoon. Lamar Manigo threw for 110 yards, completing 7 of 19 passes but was picked off three times.