Frpm B-CU Sports Information

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Bethune-Cookman clinched a share of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title for the first time since 2002 as the tenth-ranked Wildcats held off Howard University 35-20 before a Senior Day crowd of 5,431 at Municipal Stadium Saturday.

The tenth-ranked Wildcats improved to 10-0 (7-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) for the first time in school history and sets the stage for the Florida Classic next week against Florida A&M, who is still in the hunt for a piece of the MEAC crown.

"My mind has already flipped to playing Florida A&M," said B-CU coach Brian Jenkins. "We're going back to office tonight and get ready to grind it out."

Eddie Poole scored two touchdowns and the Wildcat defense scored twice and set up another score as B-CU jumped out to a 21-0 second quarter lead then held off a Howard (1-9,0-7) rally paced by three second-half touchdown passes from Terry Bradden.

Howard outgained B-CU 389-196 in total yards.

"The offensive hasn't been in sync the past couple of weeks," Jenkins said. "I'm going to take over and correct that. "Still, we can hold our heads high that we won a game where we didn't play our best."

Reggie Sandilands gave B-CU a 28-12 lead on a 26-yard interception return with 2:44 remaining, but the Bison responded with a 24-yard pass from Bradden to Brandon Drayton and two-point conversion to make it 28-20 with 1:18 remaining.

But on the onside kick, Eddie Poole scooped the ball up and ran 37 yards to give the Wildcats a two-score lead.
B-CU started strong with Johnathan Moment's 1-yard dive capping off a 62-yard opening drive followed by Matt Johnson's 15-yarder to Poole one play after Ryan Lewis' 69-yard interception return. The lead increased to 21-0 in the second quarter when Jarkevis Fields recovered a Howard fumble in the end zone with 5:55 remaining.

Johnson threw for 120 yards by completing 18 of 26 passes for 120 yards, but was picked off twice. JeVaughn Reams had five catches for 36 yards, Androse Bell four for 21 and Maurice Francoise (37 yards) and Poole (21) caught three passes each.

Lewis and Sandilands posted 11 and 10 tackles, respectively, and each added a sack along with their interception. Ryan Davis had two of his three sacks in the fourth quarter. B-CU forced five turnovers.