Morgan State 28, Bowie State 20

September 16, 2006

(BALTIMORE, MARYLAND -- September 16, 2006) The Morgan State Bears overcame a 13-0 first quarter deficit and went on to capture a 28-20 victory over the Bowie State Bulldogs in the 4th Annual Prince Hall Mason's Classic.

Bowie State jumped out the box midway through the opening quarter when Lamar Manigo completed a 17-yard pass to DeMarcus Reeves and John Riley added the extra point, giving BSU a 7-0 advantage. Manigo hooked up with Sean Napper for an 8-yard pass and catch with 2:25 left in the first quarter, extending Bowie State's lead to 13-0. However, Morgan State's Chad Simpson cut the MSU deficit to 13-7 at the 1:46 mark, rumbling 40 yards for the Bears first points of the afternoon.

Morgan State took a 14-13 lead early in the second quarter when Byron Selby connected with Rodrick Wolfe for a 29-yard touchdown. MSU's Bears upped its lead to 21-13 just over four minutes later, when Simpson scampered 54 yards into the Bowie State end zone.

Simpson (10 carries for 178 yards) scored his third touchdown of the afternoon at the 11:51 mark of the third quarter, this time from 60 yards out to push Morgan State's lead to 28-13. The visiting Bulldogs final points came with 40 seconds left in the contest on a Manigo to Anthony Green 15 yard pass and catch in the left corner of the end zone.

Larry Dixon caught seven passes for 77 yards to lead Bowie State's receivers. "Morgan played tough ... they made the plays when they needed to and we didn't do a great job stopping them," said BSU Head Coach Mike Lynn. "We'll chalk this up as an opportunity to get better as we head into conference play."
As a team, Bowie State outgained Morgan State in total yards (323 to 259). Bowie State also controlled the clock, as they usually do, holding on to the pigskin 35:21 compared to 24:39 for Morgan State. Manigo (16 of 34 for 178 yards) was named Bowie State’s MVP and Simpson was selected Morgan State’s MVP

Bowie State (2-1) begins conference play next Saturday (9/23) versus Livingstone College at 4:00 p.m. in the Charlotte Memorial Stadium. Morgan State (1-2) travels north to face the Pirates of Hampton University in the Urban League Classic.