ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. – Bowie State University captured the CIAA Northern Division crown after defeating Elizabeth City State University 63-42 on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, Bowie State improves to 9-1 overall, 7-0 in league play and 5-0 in the division.
Bowie State and Elizabeth City State had to endure a two and a half hour weather (lightning) delay after the game was suspended at 1:38 p.m. EST. The contest was stopped with 14:10 left in the second quarter and the Bulldogs in front 21-7. Taking its 1 p.m. kickoff time and weather delay into account, Saturday’s game lasted a total of 5 hours and 30 minutes.
“Kendall (Jefferson) showed his true senior leadership in this game, we’re very excited to win the North and will now prepare for Winston-Salem State and the (CIAA) Championship game”, said an excited but tired Bowie State head coach Damon Wilson.
Graduate student Kendall Jefferson (Temple Hills, Md.) set a Bowie State single-game rushing yards record with 269 on 24 carries and scored three rushing touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs. Jefferson also tallied 155 kickoff return yards with one being a 95 return for a score. Freshman Nyema Washington (Forestville, Md.) threw for career-high 364 yards and set a new BSU single-game touchdown passes record with five.
Junior Nyme Manns (Baltimore, Md.) tied a Bowie State single-game record for most TD receptions with three, recording seven catches for 157 yards. The Bowie State trio of redshirt sophomore Rahman Kamara (Bowie, Md.), senior Brian Hall(Capitol Heights, Md.) and freshman Quinton Jordan (Upper Marlboro, Md.) recorded seven tackles each to pace the Bulldogs defense.
Redshirt junior kicker Christopher Palmer (St. Mary’s, Md.) surpassed his own BSU single-game record of seven PAT’s with nine extra points in this regular season finale.
As a team, Bowie State set a new school single game record for total offensive yards with 732, surpassing the old mark of 595 vs. Livingstone (9/9/2009).
Elizabeth City State (4-5, 2-5 CIAA, 1-4 North) was led on offense by quarterback Daquan Neal (Franklinton, N.C.) with a game-high 377 passing yards, completing 18-of-32 and four touchdowns. Lovie Banks-Rose (Washington, D.C.) was the Vikings’ leading receiver with 10 catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Rose was also responsible for 259 kickoff return yards for ECSU. Johnny Nunn (Charlotte, N.C.) had five receptions for 150 yards and two touchdowns.
Stephen Williams and Josh Dawkins recorded game-high, double-digit tackles, pacing Elizabeth City State with 17 and 13 respectively.
The Bulldogs will face the Winston-Salem State Rams next Saturday (November 14th) in Durham (N.C.) County Stadium at 2 p.m. for the CIAA Championship.
