Betnune-Cookman 44, Morgan State 26

October 1, 2005

(DAYTONA BEACH, FL) Bethune-Cookman College used 30 first quarter points in order to defeat Morgan State by a count of 44-26 on a Homecoming Saturday in Daytona Beach in front of a near-capacity crowd of 10,580 at Municipal Stadium.

Jesus Cortez’s (Fort Meade, Fla.) 50-yard field goal started a torrid assault of 30 first quarter points for Bethune-Cookman (4-1, 2-1 MEAC) as they raced out to a 37-0 lead just moments into the second quarter.

In fact, the Wildcats scored on their first six (6) possessions of the game, highlighted by a 58-yard pass down the right sideline from quarterback Jimmie Russell (Jonesboro, Ga.) to receiver Jonathan Summers (Jacksonville, Fla.) to push the B-CC lead out to 37-0.

The Bears of Morgan State (1-4, 0-2 MEAC) rolled off 12-straight points behind Byron Selby as he threw a 12-yard strike to receiver Kelvin Dickens. He followed that up with a 3-yard touchdown run of his own to make it 37-12 with 1:12 remaining before the half.

The Wildcats countered in the third quarter as Russell scampered into the B-CC record books for third place all-time in school history with four (4) rushing touchdown on the day … seven in the last two games. His 18-yard quarterback keeper around the right side in the option gave B-CC an insurmountable 44-12 lead with 9:59 left in the third quarter of play.

MSU scored twice more on the day with Selby connecting on a 19-yard strike to Jai Wilson, followed up with a Selby 5-yard run to pull the score to 44-26. The two-point conversion attempt by Craig Nelson was no good.

The Wildcat defense was monstrous, at times, on the day after being assaulted last week by Norfolk State. Today, they gave up just 106 yards rushing, though giving up over 400 yards last weekend.

The defense was anchored by Travis Roland (Daytona Beach, Fla.), Rodney Hughes (Austell, Ga.) and Ben Ballard (Jacksonville, Fla.). Roland led all ‘Cat defenders with eight tackles (six solo) along with two quarterback hurries and one quarterback sack. Hughes and Ballard each collected seven tackles on the afternoon. The Morgan State defense was led by Darius Leak with a game-high 12 tackles (1.5 tackles for loss), along with teammate Bryan Wilson with nine tackles of his own.

On offense, there were several ‘Cats that stood out, but none more important than Russell’s 128 yards rushing (four TDs) and 83 yards passing (one TD). Eric Weems (Ormond Beach, Fla.) also rushed for over 100 yards on the day with a 113-yard performance that included one touchdown.

As for Morgan State, Selby led the way on the ground with 73 yards and both rushing TDs on the day for the Bears, along with 223 yards passing and two touchdowns.

The Wildcats of B-CC will now prepare to hit the road for over a month as the next three games will all be on the road in hostile territory. It begins next weekend as the ‘Cats travel to take on the Hornets of Delaware State. The Bears of Morgan State return home next weekend to take on the Aggies of North Carolina A&T in Baltimore.