Aug. 29, 2010
Final Stats
ELIZABETH CITY, NC- Elizabeth City State held off an upstart Johnson C. Smith football squad for a 45-27 win in their season opener at Roebuck Stadium Saturday evening.
After holding a 24-7 lead at the intermission, the Golden Bulls seized the momentum in the second half reeling off 14 unanswered points via two touchdown tosses from Golden Bull quarterback Ryan Carter. The Vikings got some much needed breathing room on the Golden Bulls' next drive when an errant Carter pass was picked off and returned 33 yards for a score by Devon Price with and 3:40 remaining in the third quarter the Vikings led by ten, 31-21.
ECSU extended their lead in the fourth quarter when Cedric Blacknall's first of two rushing scores capped an 11 play, 82 yard drive with 12:29 left in the contest. JCSU (0-1, CIAA 0-1) broke the scoring plane again on a 3-yard touchdown run by Archie Barrow at the 7:32 mark. However all hopes of a late comeback were dash when Billy Wiggins returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards to the Golden Bull 30 yard line, setting up a 3 play drive which Blacknall finished with his second 3-yard TD of the evening for the final point spread.
Carter finished the day with 308 yards through the air and another 59 on the ground but was harassed by the Viking defense most of the game. He was sacked three times, picked off twice and hurried on 17 different occasions.
Preseason All-American Malcolm Jenkins got his senior campaign off to a strong start with 7 tackles (5 solo, 2 assisted), a sack for a loss of 3 yards, 2 and a half tackles for a total loss of 10 yards, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, 2 pass breakups and 8 quarterback hurries.
Daronte McNeill accounted for two of the Vikings scores, one a 75 yard touchdown pass from Creven Powell. McNeill carried the ball 19 times for 83 yards on Saturday, an average of 4.3 yards per touch.
ECSU (1-0, CIAA 1-0) will have a short turnaround as they prepare to take on Central Arkansas on Thursday, September 2 in Conway Arkansas. Game time is slated for 7:00pm CST. For more information on ECSU Athletics, visit www.ecsuvikings.com.
