Box Score SAVANNAH, Ga. - Bethune-Cookman University scored 35 points in the first half, including 28 points in the second quarter, en route to a 49-7 victory over Savannah State University in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football game Saturday night at T.A. Wright Stadium.
 
A crowd of 3,683 watched as Bethune-Cookman (8-2, 7-0) won the MEAC title and improved to 34-8-2 in the series against SSU (1-9, 0-7).
 
It was campus/community/high school band day at SSU. It also was Senior Day for the football team's five seniors: Travis Alston, James Briscoe, Terrance Williams, Antonio Proctor and Cedric Brown.
 
Bethune-Cookman, which entered the game ranked No. 11 in the Football Championship Subdivision in rushing offense and No. 1 in the MEAC with 237.7 yards per game, ran for 377 yards on 55 carries against SSU.
 
“They're a good football team,” SSU head coach Steve Davenport said. “There's a reason they're conference champions. And this is not to whine about anything but we're kind of beat up and struggling up front. We lost another offensive lineman (Caleb Freeman) to a concussion this week. And we lost our second-best receiver in Kris Drummond, who turned his ankle on Thursday. But you put 11 out there and they have to play the game to the best of their ability. And you've got to give Bethune credit for stopping whatever we did out there.”
 
SSU finished the game 1 of 15 on third-down conversions. The Tigers ran 28 times for 80 yards and threw 30 times for 120 yards.
 
Bethune-Cookman starting quarterback Quentin Williams, who entered the game ranked No. 1 in the MEAC in passing efficiency, was 9-of-12 passing for 103 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted one time by SSU's Trevion Ashford. Williams ran 11 times for a game-high 113 yards.
 
In the first quarter, SSU's Jacob Thomas attempted a punt that was blocked by Bethune-Cookman's Jazz Moss and recovered by the Wildcats' Rashad Payne at SSU's 16-yard line.
 
Four plays later, on fourth-and-1 at SSU's 7-yard line, the Tigers' defense stopped Bethune-Cookman running back Isidore Jackson for no gain.
 
“In the first quarter, we were shutting them down,” said Williams, who made 13 tackles, second only to teammate Vaughn Cornelia's 14 tackles. “In the first quarter, we had a lot of momentum. We had a lot of energy going. We've just got to learn how to keep that going for four quarters.”
 
Six plays later, Bethune-Cookman's Tyrone Bouie blocked a punt by SSU's Thomas. The Wildcats' Torre Price returned the ball for a 14-yard touchdown and Sven Hurd kicked the first of his seven extra points for a 7-0 lead with 7:03 left in the first quarter.
 
“Yeah, it's a bad way to start,” Davenport said. “We fixed what the problem was but, obviously, you don't want to give a guy an opportunity. We survived the first one. The defense did a heck of a job and then the next one's a touchdown. That kind of got them off on the right foot. We were playing decent football, defensively, at that point but that's a tough way to start.”
 
Bethune-Cookman's Rodney Scott ran up the middle for a 10-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 with 11:51 left in the second quarter, capping a seven-play, 41-yard drive.
 
The Wildcats went up 21-0 with 6:25 left in the second quarter when Williams threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Eddie Poole, capping an eight-play, 83-yard drive.
 
Bethune-Cookman's Jackson ran for a 2-yard touchdown to make it 28-0 with 2:09 left before halftime, capping a seven-play, 60-yard drive.
 
As time expired in the first half, Bethune-Cookman's Williams scrambled and threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to David Blackwell in the corner of the end zone to make it 35-0.
 
“They were running what they run,” Davenport said. “They're a zone read team and we kind of got out of sync a little bit there where we had a guy not doing his assignment and worrying about the faking of the dive, and not handling the quarterback like he was supposed to.
 
“But you have to give credit to them. That's what they do and they do it well. We had an opportunity. We stopped them the first couple of drives but the minute you get out of sync with that offense you can kind of get discombobulated, and that's what happened to us.”
 
In the third quarter, SSU's Thomas punted and the ball bounced before hitting the leg of Bethune-Cookman's Patrick Harris and rolling into the Wildcats' end zone. SSU's Cornel Weston recovered the ball for a touchdown and Preston McCarthy kicked the extra point to cut the score to 35-7 with 7:50 left in the third quarter. SSU's touchdown was the first allowed by Bethune-Cookman in the second half in five games.
 
“I saw the ball hit (Harris') leg as he ran up to the ball to catch it and I just got on it,” said Weston, a junior from Orlando, Fla., who scored his first touchdown as a Tiger.
 
Bethune-Cookman's Brodrick Waters ran for a 3-yard touchdown to give the Wildcats a 42-7 lead with 3:54 left in the third quarter. His run capped a nine-play, 45-yard drive.
SSU's McCarthy attempted a 26-yard field goal but Bethune-Cookman's Dawud Lane blocked it and Price recovered for the Wildcats with 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
 
Bethune-Cookman's Waters ran for an 8-yard touchdown with 2:59 to play to give the Wildcats a 49-7 lead. Waters' second touchdown run capped an 11-play, 100-yard drive.
SSU starting quarterback Antonio Bostick was 11-of-30 passing for 120 yards. He threw three interceptions.
 
SSU's final game will be at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 17 against South Carolina State in Orangeburg, S.C.