Box Score
ORANGEBURG, S.C.- Richard Cue passed for two touchdowns and ran for another and Nick Belcher kicked two filed goals to lead South Carolina State to a 27-13 win over Savannah State at Dawson Stadium.
SSU received the opening kickoff but could only muster five yards of offense. After a 35 yard punt by
Jacob Thomas, Bulldog Joshua McFadden returned the ball 30 yards to the SSU 35.
The Bulldogs (5-6) scored on their first possession of the game as Cue threw a 29 yard touchdown pass to Asheton Jordan with 12:50 on the clock. Belcher added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
Savannah State put together a 16 play, 81 yard drive the next time they had the ball and completed it with a game tying touchdown as
Antonio Bostick threw a two yard scoring pass to freshman wide receiver
Roosevelt Isom with 7:37 left in the opening quarter.
Preston McCarthy's extra point was good.
The key play on the SSU possession was Bostick rushing for two yards on a fourth and one at their own 38. Other top plays were a 25 yard reception by
Simon Heyward, a 11 yard reception by
Dylan Cook and a a pass interference call on SCSU's Steven Murphy that gave the Tigers a first and goal at the Bulldogs two yard line.
Late in the quarter the Bulldogs pinned Savannah State deep in their own territory. A 47 yard punt by Thomas was returned to the SSU 32 to give the Bulldogs good field position.
However, good defense by the Tigers yielded only a 38 yard field goal by Belcher to increase their lead to 10-7 with 1:03 left.
South Carolina state scored on heir first drive of the second quarter as Belcher kicked a 31 yard field goal for a 13-7 advantage.
Neither team could move the ball the rest of the half and SCSU led by six at intermission.
On their third drive of the second half, the Bulldogs went ahead 20-7 as Cue threw a three yard touchdown to Caleb Davis with 6:21 on the clock.
SSU fumbled on their next possession and the Bulldogs recovered on the SCSU 43.
The Bulldogs returned the favor as
John Wilson intercepted a Cue pass at the SSU 19 and returned it to the Tigers 42.
It took SSU six plays to score as
Victorian Hardison threw a 10 yard pass to Cook with 1:39 left in the third quarter to slice the Tigers deficit to 20-13 as the extra point kick failed.
A 30 yard pass play from Hardison to Cook that gave SSU a first and goal at the Bulldogs 10 was the key play on the drive.
Wayne Burden recovered a Cue fumble on the Bulldogs next drive but SSU was unable top put any points on the board, early in the final quarter.
The crowd of 10,111 saw Cue score on a 20 yard run with just over five minutes remaining in the game for the final points of the contest.
Savannah State's offense could get no further than the SCSU 33 in the fourth quarter.
Bostick passed for 104 yards for SSU while Hardison threw for 90 yards.
Sheldon Barnes ran for 46 yards while Cook caught six passes for 100 yards. Burden led the Tigers defense with 11 tackles and a sack. Wilson and
Vaughn Cornelia each had interceptions for Savannah State.
The Tigers (1-10) had 250 yards of offense but the quarterbacks were sacked eight times.
