Oct. 8, 2005
Stats
ELIZABETH CITY, NC- The Bowie State University Bulldogs fought torrential downpour and a late Viking surge to down Elizabeth City State University 13-8 Saturday at Roebuck Stadium.
The afternoon's weather was a factor in Saturday's sloppy play, as the two teams combined for 9 fumbles and 2 interceptions. The Bulldogs paced themselves executing their ground attack, accumulating 207 yards on the day. BSU finished the day with 340 yards of total offense, more than doubling the Vikings' output of 131 yards Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs jumped on the board first after a Jerome Smith fumble was recovered and returned 25 yards for the score by Devin Williams. BSU would strike again with 1:38 remaining in the half via an 87-yard touchdown pass from punter Aaron Moore. Moore had been back to punt with it being 4th and 17 on the Bulldogs 13 yard line when he fumbled the snap. After recovering the ball, he completed a short pass to strong safety Sterling Green who turned a probable loss into an 87 yard touchdown making the score 13-0 in favor of the Bulldogs. After the Vikings? ensuing drive yielded no results, the Viking defense scored two points via a safety with seven seconds left in the half.
After a scoreless 3rd quarter, the rain ceased, the sun appeared and along with that came the Viking offense. With 14:34 remaining in the game, a 34-yard touchdown pass from Dan Herlihy to Chris Carter capped a 4 play- 37 yard drive to pull ECSU to within 5, (13-8) after a failed two-point conversion. The rest of the game would yield two teams with two different agendas. The Vikings needed to score while the Bulldogs continued their ground attack in hopes of running out the clock. After a time out was called by the Vikings with 1:36 remaining, it was 2nd and 9 for the Bulldogs on their 19-yard line. Sophomore running back Isaac Redman took his 30th carry of the game for what appeared to be a short gain. However a couple of missed tackles later, Redman had broken for a 71-yard run that killed the clock and the Vikings' hopes of a final drive. Redman finished the day with a game high 210 yards rushing for the Bulldogs who improve to 5-2 overall, 2-2 in the CIAA.
On the other side of the ball, Maceo Thomas led all tacklers with 12, while teammate Greg Moore added a solid all-around performance with 6 tackles, a forced fumble, 2 sacks and quarterback hurry.
The Vikings (1-6, CIAA 0-4) will be on the road this Saturday, October 15th as they travel to take on defending CIAA Champion Shaw University. Game time is slated for 1:30pm at Garner High School in Raleigh, NC. For more information on ECSU athletics, log onto www.ecsuvikings.com
