Sept. 24, 2011
Final Stats
DURHAM, NC- Elizabeth City State University Vikings held off a furious fourth quarter rally for a thrilling 28-21 win over Shaw University Saturday afternoon at Durham County Memorial Stadium.
The Bears (0-4, CIAA 0-1) rallied in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points to pull within a touchdown, and had the ball with a chance to tie the game in the waning minutes. A personal foul gave Shaw first and goal on the Viking 4 yard line but the Bears were backed up by two straight penalties, a holding call followed by an illegal shift putting them at the 18 yard line.
After the Vikings were whistled offsides, the Bears scored what appeared to be a potential game tying touchdown but were flagged for holding again, backing them up to the ECSU 23.
Facing a do or die fourth and goal Daniel Lee dropped the game tying TD pass in the end zone, sealing the Vikings first win over the Bears since 2006 and concurrently snapping Shaw's 16 game home winning streak.
The Vikings gave up only 239 yards of total offense to but the home team had no answers for the ECSU ground game.
The ECSU backfield continued to roll on Saturday, amassing 180 yards in the first half (300 yards for the game), with 126 coming from Daronte McNeill. McNeill, Kevin Swain and DeAundre Barfield each rushed for a score in the first half and the Vikings held a 21-6 lead at the intermission.
McNeill went over 100 yards for the second straight game, finishing with 181 yards and two scores, Swain finished with a season high 90 yards and Barfield chipped in with 37 yards. All three backs averaged a minimum of 5.0 yard per carry.
The Bears only score of the first half was surrendered on special teams when James Langford returned a kickoff 94 yards for a score (the extra point was blocked). The Vikings pulled ahead 28-6 after McNeill's second TD of the day but another special teams' snafu spotted Shaw another score when Marcus Baker blocked a punt which was scooped and scored by Jason Royal with 14:16 left in the game. The Bears scored a two point conversion pass from Quinshon Odom to Mailk Cross.
After ECSU's next drive stalled, the Bears got the ball back on their own 20-yard line and went 80 yards in 8 plays to pull within a touchdown of the lead 28-21.
The Vikings (3-2, CIAA 1-1) will have a week off before they return to action on October on Saturday, October 1st against Virginia Union University. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00pm at Hovey Field in Richmond, VA. For more information on ECSU Athletics, visit www.ecsuvikings.com and follow us on Twitter @ECSUVikings.
