A beautiful, crisp, autumn day in the nation’s capital provided the perfect backdrop for football as South Carolina State Bulldogs defeated and dominated the Howard Bisons at Greene Stadium, 38-10.
This is the last home game of the season at Greene Stadium, so the Howard seniors were announced as they walked onto the field, joined by their parents and families.
South Carolina State’s defense took the field first and looked to control the game from the opening kick. After a quick Howard 3 and out on the opening series you could tell that South Carolina had plans of doing that all night.
South Carolina State’s offense took the field for their first possession close to midfield. Quarterback Eric Phoenix launched a rocket that went for 38 yards. Phoenix then used his legs to pick up a crucial 4th down conversion. On 2nd and goal, Junior running back KZ Adams runs the ball in for the games first score.
Howard on their second possession drove the ball down the field aided by a huge 45-yard catch and run from sophomore QB Ja’Shawn Scroggins to Grad student Cyrus Wilson. On third down, Scroggins connected with Senior wide receiver Isiah Williams to tie the game at 7.
On the opening second quarter possession by the Bulldogs, Phoenix loses the ball for the first turnover of the game. Late in the 2nd quarter, on 3rd and 10, Eric Phoenix threw his second touchdown of the day to Senior Einaj Carter. He ran a beautifulseam route and got behind the Bison defense. This made the score 13-7.
Immediately following the touchdown for the Bulldogs, Howard’s Scroggins threw his first interception on the day. On a pass that might have been tipped at the line the ball landed right in the lap of a sliding Kwantre Harry.
After the interception the Bulldogs failed to capitalize and gotstopped on 4th down by a blitzing Terrance Hollon for a huge sack and turnover on downs.
Taking over the ball at midfield, the Bisons drew a helmet to helmet penalty and moved into Bulldog territory. On the next play, Scroggins throws his second interception of the day. He was trying to connect on an out route that was perfectly read and jumped by Jarod Washington who returned it for 6. The Bulldogs went for 2 since they missed the previous extra point and Phoenix connected to make the lead 21-7 to make it an early route in this game.
It looked like there was another 3 and out for the Bisons on the next series but they opted to call a fake punt on 4th down and drew a pass interference to bring the ball to the 50. Scroggins completed a 26-yard pass to Breylin Smith and moved the ball to the 24 yard line, looking to score late into the 2nd quarter. But after two huge hits on the quarterback, a drive that started with promise and fight weltered out with nothing to end the first half.
The Bisons were in the game for most of the first half, but the tide looked to have turned in favor of South Carolina State as the Bisons ended the half in disastrous fashion and would be kicking off the 2nd half to the Bulldogs.
The question became could South Carolina State capitalize offthe momentum grasped at the end of the half. And on the first drive of the second half, running back KZ Adams answered that question with a resounding yes as he ran a tough “big boy” run of 20 yards. A 24-yard TD pass to Keshawn Toney opened this game up to a 28-7 game.
On the Bisons ensuing drive, they show that they are indeed fighting back. There was a huge 36-yard run. And when they did have to punt the ball was muffed by the Bulldogs returner on the 25-yard line. Scroggins threw his second TD of the game, a 21 yard dot to Jarrett Hunter, and now the score is a respectable 28-14.
A bunch of back-and-forth defensive struggles continue as late in the third quarter, Scroggins throws yet another interception to Kwantre Harry to end a drive.
SCSU was not able to do anything with the ball after the interception, Phoenix takes a sack and the drive ends for the Bulldogs.
With 1:35 left in the third quarter, Jarrett Hunter takes the ball off tackle and runs for 11 yards. Scroggins completes a hugecompletion on 3rd and 14 to keep the game and hopes of Howard University alive. However, after a hold on 3rd and 3, Scroggins was unable to keep the drive going and Howard was forced to punt.
Phoenix completes a beautiful deep pass to Carter again to move the ball to the Bisons’ 20. South Carolina State ends this drive with a field goal and the score becomes a three-possession lead in the mid-4th quarter, 31-14.
Caden High scores the game’s final touchdown on a pass from Eric Phoenix mid-4th quarter and the game ends with 38-14 as the final.
Eric Phoenix starred in the game for the Bulldogs as he was 16-26 for 272 yards passing and 27 yards rushing. He tossed 3 TDs with zero interceptions. Scroggins finished his day 15-30 161 yards 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
Einaj Carter had a huge game for the Bulldogs with 4 catches and 120 of Phoenix’s 272 yards and was on the receiving end of one touchdown. The Howard Bisons’ did a great job with spreading the ball around to multiple receivers but could never gain consistency and traction against the smothering defense. Cornerback Senior Harod Washington had a strong game matched up in man-to-man coverage and had the play of the game with a pick 6 that blew the game wide open for the Bulldogs.
The South Carolina State University Bulldogs improve their MEAC conference leading record to 7-2 with first year head coach Chennis Berry. They are on a 6-game winning streak and remain perfect in MEAC conference play at 3-0. The Howard Bisons fall to a 4-6 overall record with a 1-2 record in conference play.
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