Bowie State 13, Elizabeth City State 8

October 8, 2005

(ELIZABETH CITY, NORTH CAROLINA) “It wasn’t pretty … the weather was unbearable … it put us in a bind for what we wanted to do offensively and we just couldn’t get on track,” said Bowie State Head Coach Mike Lynn following this afternoon’s 13-8 victory in front of 357 rain soaked fans. The win improves the BSU Bulldogs to 5-2 overall (2-2 overall).

Bowie State’s Devin Williams put the first six points on the Roebuck Stadium scoreboard at the 11:17 mark of the first quarter. Williams recovered a fumble by Elizabeth City State’s Jerome Smith and rumble through the muck for a 25-yard touchdown. Ronald Walls converted the extra point, making the score 7-0 Bowie State.

The Bulldogs upped its lead to 13-0 when a busted punt turned into an 87 yard touchdown. BSU Aaron Moore muffed the snap, scrambled slightly to his right and tossed a short pass to Sterling Green. Green turned that short pass into six Bowie State points with 1:38 left in the second quarter. The Vikings of Elizabeth City State (1-6 / 0-4 CIAA) scored a safety with seven seconds remaining before the half, when Bowie State’s Moore mishandled the slick pigskin which rolled out the back of the end zone, making the score 13-2 at the break.

Elizabeth City State’s Dan Herlihy (4 of 21 for 63 yards) converted a fourth and seven into a Vikings touchdown with 14:34 left to play in the fourth quarter. Herlihy dumped a short pass to Chris Carter along the ECSU sideline and then scampered 34 yards, cutting the deficit to 13-8. It was pretty much a standoff after that point until BSU’s Isaac Redman (210 yards on 30 carries) rushed for 71 yards down to the ECSU 10 yard line to seal the victory. Redman’s 210 yards are a new Bowie State record, surpassing his old mark of 209 yards versus Morgan State in Week 3.

As a team, Bowie State accounted for 340 total offensive yards and held Elizabeth City State to 131 yards in total offense. Besides, Redman’s output, BSU was led on defense by Terrence Stafford with nine tackles and forced three fumbles, followed by Tyreve Smith with six total tackles. Herlihy led the Vikings on offense with 63 passing yards, completing 4 of 21 passes. Maceo Thomas led ECSU on defense with 12 tackles, which included five tackles for a loss. “They have a heck of a good defense … their front seven is probably the best we’ve seen all year,” said Lynn.

The Bulldogs return home next Saturday at 1:00 p.m. for Homecoming against the surprising Tigers of St. Paul’s College. This will also be the final game of the season at BSU’s Bulldog Stadium. St. Paul’s suffered a tough 26-20 triple overtime loss at Virginia State.