Football | 10/5/2019 9:59:00 PM

Box Score CHARLESTON, S.C. – After a dominating first half performance, the Savannah State Football team dropped a close battle to Charleston Southern on Saturday, falling 19-24 to the Buccaneers in Charleston, S.C.

Savannah State, in their first year competing as a Division II team, falls to 3-2 on the season as the Buccaneers pick up their first win moving to 1-4 on their homecoming night. CSU, a Division I FCS team, leads the non-conference, inter-divisional series, 9-1.

The Tigers came out strong in the first half as their defense utterly dominated on the field, led by sophomore Walter Yates. Two major interceptions put SSU into scoring position early on. The Tigers had no penalties in the opening half.  

Early in the game, Yates recovered a fumble giving SSU the ball on their own 39-yard line with 12:58 to play in the first quarter.

On third down with 11:49 in the first quarter, D'Vonn Gibbons found some room on the left side, breaking free for a 49-yard dash to the end zone lifting the Tigers to an early 7-0 lead.
Five minutes later, on Charleston Southern's second possession of the game, Jack Chambers hit Jaquan Williams with a 13-yard touchdown pass to knot up the game.

SSU's defense forced a fourth down with 21 seconds to play in the opening quarter. Charleston Southern's Alex Usry dinged a 44-yard field goal attempt off the upright, keeping the scored tied at 7 at the end of the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Kiwon Harris nabbed an attempted pass from Chambers for his first interception of the season. SSU opened a successful drive deep in the Buc's territory.

Moments later, on 4th down and inches on CSU's 14-yard line, the Tiger offensive line did some magic up front, forcing the Buc's to jump. The ensuing offsides penalty gave SSU the first down.

Just after, D'Angelo Durham pounded in a 9-yard touchdown run. A bad snap on the point after attempt left special teams scrambling and SSU lost the extra point, taking a 13-7 lead with 8:13 to play in the second quarter.

On the Buc's next possession, the SSU defense registered its second interception of the night as three Tigers tipped it and eventually Ny'em Bozeman brought it down for his second INT of the season. The Tigers offense struggled to gain any ground on the following possession.

With 4:19 to play in the second quarter, Giovanni Lugo drilled a 49-yard field goal to lift SSU to a 16-7 lead, which held into the half.

On their second possession of the third quarter, SSU's offense working in the Buc's red zone, struggled to gain on the ground. Putting the scoring into the capable hands of kicker Giovanni Lugo—who was named the SIAC Special Teams Player of the Week earlier this week. Lugo drilled a 39-yard field goal with 5:02 to play, lifting SSU to a 19-7 lead in front a hushed crowd.

But the Buccaneers weren't done. On their ensuing possession, they finished off a 9-play 75-yard drive with a touchdown pass as Chambers hit Kameron Brown with 4-yard bullet, cutting the Tigers' lead to 19-14 with 3:51 to play in the third quarter.

SSU committed their first two penalties of the game in the third quarter, the costliest was a personal foul deep in their own territory that gave CSU the short TD run.

It was all Charleston Southern in the 4^th quarter. On their second possession, Chambers rushed to the end zone wide open, completing a 36-yard drive to give the home team their first lead of the game, 21-19, with 10:07 to play.

On the ensuing SSU drive, the Tigers found themselves on their own 34-yard line and facing a 4^th down situation with only 4 yards to fresh downs. Instead of kicking, SSU went for it. Gibbons hit Czar Beneby with an 11-yard pass to give SSU a new set of downs and a chance to take the victory.

Four downs later, however, SSU again faced 4^th and 5-yards in the midfield. They went for it again, but Gibbons pass to Joe Boykin slipped out of the receiver's hands, turning the ball over and sealing the game.

CSU knotted up the final points of the game on their ensuing possession, holding all the momentum at that moment. Alex Usry hit a 35-yard field goal for the final score with 2:19 to play.
SSU racked up 200 rushing yards in the game to CSU's 184. But the Buc's dominated in the air, with 231 passing yards, hitting 24 of 35 pass attempts. CSU had 27 first downs to SSU's 10.

Durham led the Tigers on the ground with 59 rushing yards and a touchdown, followed by Gibbons who racked up 55. Quentavious Wilson, a key part of the SSU option, earned 39 yards rushing on the night. Cameron White, in his first start on the season, led the receiving core with 12 yards on two completions.

Yates had a stellar night on defense for the Tigers, leading the entire field with 12 tackles, including a sack, an interception and three tackles for a loss. John Wilson was just behind Yates with 10 tackles on the night, a sack and two tackles for a loss. Kenneth Singleton recorded his first interception of the season and 5 tackles for SSU.

The Tigers return to action next week with a visit to Alcorn State. SSU plays Clark-Atlanta on Oct. 19 before returning home for an Oct. 26 homecoming game against Albany State.