SALISBURY, N.C. — Although the Yellow Jackets outscored the Blue Bears in the second half,
Allen University football could not overcome a first-half deficit and fell at Livingstone Saturday, 23-21.
After a scoreless first quarter, Livingstone kicked a 24-yard field goal and returned a 50-yard punt for a touchdown to enter halftime leading 10-0.
Allen came storming out in the third, and running back
Beau Herrington rushed up the middle for a 48-yard touchdown on the Yellow Jackets' first offensive play in the second half. Herrington's first rushing touchdown of the season, and 21st of his career, brought the Yellow Jackets within three points of Livingstone's lead, 10-7, with 12:39 left in the third quarter.
Herrington finished the night with 14 carries for 100 yards to go along with his touchdown. His 100-yard performance marks the fifth time Herrington has reached the century mark in a game in his career and the eighth time in modern program history.
Later in the third, after Allen's defense forced three straight punts from the Blue Bears, quarterback
Jamir Dismukes attacked the air and found
Kaleb Commings for a 74-yard touchdown to give Allen their first lead of the game with just over one minute to play in the third.
Dismukes finished the evening completing 9-of-21 passes for 126 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
For the second straight week, Allen's leading tackler was senior linebacker
Andre Phillips, as he recorded nine total stops, including 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in Saturday's effort. Among other notable defensive performances, linebackers
Kirkland Boone and Cam Scott combined for 13 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss, as Boone added a forced fumble and Scott tallied 1.5 sacks.
Livingstone answered twice at the start of the fourth quarter with a touchdown pass and a second made field goal to reclaim the lead, 20-14, with 8:49 left in the game.
But, the lead would be short-lived for Livingstone as on the ensuing kickoff from LC's second field goal, sophomore
Nanders Lawrence returned the kick 96 yards to bring Allen back in front, 21-20.
The Blue Bears managed to find one final answer as they went on a 13-play drive that took more than five minutes of the remaining time away and capped it off with a 22-yard go-ahead field goal and took the lead for the final time, 23-21.
With no timeouts left, an Allen turnover on their next possession led to Livingstone kneeling out the final 1:40 of the game to secure the win.
The Yellow Jackets will return to Columbia for their home opener on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. ET against Point University. The game will take place at Westwood High School, located at 180 Turkey Farm Road, Blythewood, S.C. 29016. Tickets, parking passes, and tailgate passes are available for pre-purchase at
auyellowjackets.com/sports/2022/4/1/ticketing.aspx.
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically black colleges and universities with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors seven men's and six women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.