ORANGEBURG, S.C. —
Savannah State stepped out of conference to face FCS opponent South Carolina State on Saturday and came away with a 49-6 loss.
It was the Bulldogs Homecoming with 24,322 fans gathered into Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.
On the opposing sidelines were two faces familiar with Savannah State football.
SCSU head coach Chennis Berry was a All-SIAC offensive tackle at Savannah State in 1994 and SCSU Assistant AD for Football/Chief of State Steven Aycock was a All-SIAC center for the Tigers during the 1992 and '93 seasons.
Savannah State's defense stopped South Carolina State on their first possession.
Faced with a fourth and eight from their own 27, the Bulldogs ran the ball but
Kevin Stokes, Jr. stopped the runner for a 13-yard loss which gave SSU a first and goal from the Bulldogs 14 yard line.
The Tigers could not find the end zone and had to settle on a 41-yard field goal by
Jimmy Tran with 10:58 remaining in the first quarter.
Savannah State once again stopped the Bulldogs on their next possession and following a punt, the Tigers took over on their own 17.
Thanks to
Christian Burks passes of
Arik Gilbert (52 yards) and
Braylon Fowler (11 yards), SSU had a first down at the Bulldogs 21-yard line but three plays later, Burks has his pass intercepted and ran back for a touchdown with 5:46 remaining in the first quarter to put the Bulldogs in front 7-3.
The Bulldogs added another touchdown on their next offensive possession with just under two minutes left in the opening quarter for a 14-3 advantage.
South Carolina State went into the half leading 21-3 after scoring a touchdown with 2:53 left in the second quarter.
Early in the third quarter,
Ameer Phillips sacked the SCSU quarterback for a 10-yard loss and it was recovered by
Xavier Esquillen at the SSU 45 but the Tigers could not convert the turnover into points.
John "Wesley" Bentley caused South Carolina State to fumble the ball on their next possession and it was recovered at the Bulldogs 38 by
Jayden Turner.
Reserve quarterback Rashawn Truell led the Tigers to the SCSU 19 but was unable to punch it in the end zone and had to rely on a 36-yard field goal by Tran with 7:02 left in the third quarter to make the score 21-6.
With 3:41 showing on the third quarter clock, South Carolina State blocked and recovered a
Lucas Edenfield punt in the end zone for a touchdown to widen their advantage to 28-6.
A Savannah State turnover led to a Bulldog touchdown as the third quarter came to an end to give South Carolina State a commanding 35-6 lead.
The Bulldogs scored twice in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring on the day.
As a team, SSU controlled the clock (35:10 to 24:50) but it did not show on the scoreboard.
South Carolina State rolled up 414 yards of offense while the Tigers were held to just 198.
Savannah State played three quarterbacks in the game and they distributed the ball to eight different players.
Burks completed 11 of 21 passes for 116 yards and one interception while Truell threw for 26 yards and a interception and
Devon Tott completed one pass for 23 yards.
Cinsere Clark caught four passes for 64 yards for SSU.
Braylon Fowler also hauled in four passes for 21 yards and
Arik Gilbert had one catch for 52 yards.
Zyaire Williams was the leading rusher with five carries for 17 yards.
Uchenna Nwoha was the leading tackler with five stops while Bentley,
Tavare Brewton,
Gary Davis, Jr. and
Trevor Strowbridge all had four tackles. Phillips added three tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss and a forced fumble.
Tran made both of his field goal attempts while Edenfield averaged 39.1 yards on his seven punts and had a long of 49 yards.
Savannah State (2-3, 1-2 SIAC) will return to the state of South Carolina next week with a trip to Winnsboro to face Allen at 6 p.m. at McClendon Stadium.
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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 (HBCUs) 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 nine men's and seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.