Gem City Sports Network

MARAUDERS WIN FIRST OF THE YEAR

PINE BLUFF, Arkansas – The Central State Marauders spoiled Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s homecoming celebration with a 40-35 win over the Golden Lions on Saturday afternoon.

Still in search of their first win, the Marauders opened the scoring with an 80-yard drive highlighted by a 39-yard pass from Trent Mays to Martell Clark. CSU capped off the drive when full back Darius Meadors scored from 1 yard out for his first rushing touchdown of the season.

The Golden Lions answered early in the second quarter as quarterback LeEar Patterson completed back-to-back passes of 36 yards and 34 yards to set up a 1 yard KeShaw Williams touchdown run.

CSU immediately responded on the next offensive possession. Mays connected with Renon Lorenzo for a 36-yard gain. Darian Nelson rushed for 17 yards on the next play. Mays then found Clark for a 13-yard touchdown pass. After a failed extra point attempt, CSU led 13-7 with 11:13 left in the first half.

CSU linebacker Kahari Logan forced a Patterson fumble on the next UAPB possession. Mikey’ion Hunter corralled the loose ball for the Marauders at the Golden Lions’ 27-yard line. The Marauders scored on the next play as Mays ran from 27 yards out to put his team up, 20-7, at the 9:52 mark of the second quarter.

The Golden Lions regained momentum thanks to a litany of big plays to end the half. On the ensuing kickoff, Paris Mack returned the ball 57 yards to set up the UPAB offense at the CSU 37-yard line. Four plays later, the offense found the end zone as Patterson crossed the plain from 2-yards out.

After a quick three-and-out from the CSU offense, UPAB struck again when Patterson found Mack through the air for a 65-yard score to take a 21-20 lead with 6:03 left in the second quarter.

On the next UAPB possession, Patterson found Williams for a 59-yard gain. Patterson capped of the drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Robert Simms to give the Golden Lions a 28-20 lead at the intermission.

The Golden Lions threatened to extend their lead early in the third quarter. UAPB marched down to the CSU 5-yard line but were unable to come up with any points after a detrimental holding call and a missed 31-yard field goal attempt.

Trailing by eight late in the third quarter, freshman running back Jerry Lanier provided a spark with a 37 yard run. Mays later found an open Darius Ford for a 20 yard gain to get CSU into UAPB territory. Mays went to Ford again three plays later for a 31 yard gain down to the 1-yard line. Meadors picked his second touchdown of the afternoon on the next play. CSU failed to convert a two-point attempt and trailed, 28-26, with 14:12 remaining.

The CSU defense forced the Golden Lions into a quick three-and-out to give the ball back to Mays and the Marauder offense. Mays jumpstarted the drive with a 22 yard pass to Ford. Mays later found an open Meadors for 44 yards. Running back Terraris Saffold finished the drive with a 12-yard touchdown drive to put the Marauders up 33-28 with 10:21 left to play.

CSU seized control with another 83-yard touchdown drive in the late stages of the game. CSU kept the ball on the ground with ten straight running plays. Saffold touched the ball six times for 73 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown to give CSU a 40-28 lead with 1:29 to go.

The Golden Lions added a late touchdown with 11 seconds left but CSU recovered the ensuing onside kick a closed out the game for the first victory of the season.

Mays completed passes to eight different receivers, converting 20 of 36 pass attempts for 334 yards and 1 touchdown. He also picked up 19 yards and 1 score on the ground. Ford finished with a career-best 8 receptions for 117 yards. Saffold led the CSU rushing attack with 87 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Defensively, CSU was led by Isaiah Smith’s 9 tackles. Mikey’ion Hunter recorded 8 tackles, 1 sack and a fumble recovery. With the win, CSU is now 1-6 overall.

Patterson led the Golden Lion offense with 333 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. Tashad Charity led UAPB’s defensive efforts with 6 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and 1 sack. The loss drops UAPB to 2-5 overall.
The Marauders will return to Wilberforce, Ohio in search of their first conference victory when they host Fort Valley State next Saturday at 1 pm.

Notes
– With Saturday’s win, CSU snaps a 9-game losing streak dating back to last season
– The Marauders collected their first win over an NCAA Div. I program since 2005 (Savannah State)
– CSU is now 4-3 all-time against UAPB. The series dates back to the 1972 season.

 

URBANA FALLS IN ROUT

URBANA, Ohio – Notre Dame College gashed Urbana football 45-7 Saturday afternoon at UU Stadium. The Blue Knights (3-4, 2-4 MEC) scored on the first play from scrimmage, but could not get anything going against the Falcons (6-1, 6-1 MEC), who won their sixth straight.

Starting for the injured Tajuan Green, redshirt sophomore quarterback Chance Short found Rodell Rahmaan down the right sideline for an 81-yard score to open the game. It was the seventh touchdown grab for Rahmaan over a streak of 13 catches during the past four games.

Unfortunately, that was all UU could put on the board as the visitors awakened to control the rest of the game.

UU turned the ball over four times and punted a season-high nine times. The Falcons wore down the UU defense with 317 rushing yards and outgained the Blue Knights 546 to 335, while holding the ball for nearly 34 minutes.

Short finished 9 of 30 through the air with two interceptions. The 81-yard TD pass went down as the longest pass play this season for the Blue Knights.

Running back duo Maurice Warren Jr. and Ja’Vahri Portis combined for 119 rushing yards for UU. Portis tied the longest run by a Blue Knight this season with a 32-yard dash in the first quarter. Senior WR Tre Saunders secured a team-high six catches for 88 yards.

NDC quarterback Malik Grove tossed five touchdowns, finishing 10-of-20 passing for 229 yards. Four of those scores went to wideout Marvelle Ross, who recorded 164 receiving yards. NDC running back Brian Walker ran for 129 yards and a score on 20 carries.

UU linebacker Duray Hall collected a season-high 16 tackles and defensive end Mikal Toliver recorded two sacks to lead the Blue Knights on defense.

Notre Dame ran out to a 31-7 halftime lead, following a 21-point second quarter. The Falcons cruised through the second half and forced UU to punt on its final six drives.

 

FLYERS FALL TO CAMPBELL

DAYTON — All the scoring came in the second half as Campbell retained hold of first place in the Pioneer Football League with a 17-7 win at Dayton.

 

Campbell won its fourth straight and improved to 4-0 in the PFL and 5-2 overall.  Dayton is now 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the PFL.

 

Many of the game’s numbers seemed to fall Dayton’s way.  Campbell came into the game averaging 38.7 points a game. The Camels were first defensively in the PFL in total defense (258.3 yards), rushing defense (78.3) and turnovers gained (3.7 per game).   UD gained 382 yards, ran for 154 and did not turn the ball over until two tipped passes were intercepted on the Flyers’ last two possessions.

 

But what tipped the scales was how UD struggled to sustain drives once in Campbell territory.  On the Flyers’ first seven drives that advanced into Campbell territory, five reached their deepest penetration and then lost yardage, negating the potential scoring opportunities in a game that was tied 7-7 after three quarters.

 

Dayton’s Tucker Yinger ran for 113 yards on 23 attempts to lead Dayton.

 

Campbell quarterback Daniel Smith was 15 of 32 passing for 212 yards for two TD’s.  He also ran 17 times for 169 yards.