College and high school football report

Robert Stephens, Featured Writer

Howard survives Morgan St.

October 23, 2012 - The Howard Bison suffered a scare from the Bears of Morgan State capturing a 21-20 victory in front of a homecoming crowd of 10,305 at Greene Stadium Saturday.

The Bears who have been snake bitten the past two weeks botched a PAT allowing Howard to escape with the narrow victory.

Morgan jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 6 yard run by Travis Davidson with 9:46 remaining.

The Bison tied the game with no time remaining in the first half on a 17 yard pass from Randy Liggins to Jonathan Booker.

“We just wanted to change the tempo of the game.” said Howard head coach Gary Harrell of replacing starter Greg McGhee with Liggins.

Greg McGhee returned and led the Bison on an 80 yard drive with McGhee scoring on a one yard plunge, making the score 14-7 with 6:07 remaining in the third quarter.

Greg McGee ran Howard's second half attack.

Terrance Leffall scored on a 4 yard run after a blocked punt by the Bison special team unit as the Bison took a 21-7 lead into the fourth quarter. Devin Rollins was credited with the block.

Morgan State came storming back in the fourth quarter, scoring twice, but a blunder by their special team unit on the point after touchdown conversion sealed their fate.

"It was a high snap that just went through the holder's hands" shared Morgan's kicker, Earvin Gonzalez, of the fateful miscue. "That has never happened before".

“It’s always great to win homecoming in front of the alumni and it’s a conference game also.” said Howard’ head coach Harrell.

“We need all three units to be successful (special teams, offense, and defense) for us to win.” said coach Harrell.

“Our goal is still to win the conference; We have to win the remaining games. We cannot afford to come out flat.” said the coach, nicknamed ‘Flea’, before adding “We feel good about this win. I just want to go home and enjoy this one.

The Bison travel to South Carolina State, Saturday, and when the Bulldogs were mentioned – that tilt is SCSU’s homecoming, Harrell responded “Let me enjoy this one”.

Howard, with the win, improved to 5-2, (4-1) in MEAC play.

In other scores of local interest:

The Maryland Terrapins missed a 33 yard field goal as North Carolina State defeated the Terrapins 20-18.

The Terps’ quarterback, Perry Hills, suffered a torn ACL and is out for the season.

Wes Brown, a bright spot for the Terps, rushed for 25-121 yards and one touchdown.

North Carolina State improved to 5-2 on the season. The Terps fell to 4-3.

Colgate amassed 707 yards total offense as the Raiders beat Georgetown 57-36. The Hoyas fell to 3-5, (0-2) in Patriot League play.

Virginia Union defeated Bowie State 37-13, as Union scored 16 points in the second quarter.

Union improved to 4-4, (2-3) in CIAA play. Bowie State fell to 4-4, (2-3) in conference play.

In other scores of interest:

Thursday night North Carolina Central defeated Hampton 37-20. Central improved to 5-2, (4-0) in MEAC play. Bethune-Cookman 5-2, (4-0) beat Norfolk State 48-3. Delaware State 4-3 (3-1) blanked North Carolina A&T 3-3,(1-3) 24-0. South Carolina State 3-5, (2-3) edged Florida A&M 3-5, (3-2) 27-20 in overtime. Savannah State recorded their first win of the season beating Edward Waters 42-35. State is now 1-6 on the season.

Grambling State defeated Virginia-Lynchburg 22-7. Arkansas-Pine-Bluff beat Southern 50-21. Livingston blanked Winston-Salem State 58-0. St. Augustine edged Fayetteville State 34-28 in triple overtime. Jackson State beat Mississippi Valley State 14-7. Prairie View jumped on Alcorn State 52-37. Miles took down Lane 38-20 and Fort Valley State beat Stillman 35-17.

In the BCS $ run for the money as things start to get serious across the nation:

Alabama (7-0) traveled to Knoxville and defeated Tennessee 44-13, now facing unbeaten Mississippi State Saturday. The gate at Knoxville this past weekend was generated by 102,455 patrons.

Florida (7-0) mauled South Carolina 44-13 as the Gamecocks suffered their second loss of the season; brutal setback for The Ball Coach, as they fell to 6-2 (4-2) in SEC play. The Gators face Georgia at Jacksonville Saturday. The game at Gainesville Saturday saw 90,883 attend.

Undefeated Kansas State spanked West Virginia 55-14 at Morgantown. The Mountaineers total disregard for defensive play has derailed their BCS big money hopes.

Kansas State hosts Texas Tech in a possible trap game. State is now 7-0 on the season. In the house were 60,101 people.

Ohio State (8-0) one of my favorites in the Big 10, edged Purdue 29-22. The Buckeyes’ quarterback, Braxton Miller, left the game due to injury. The Buckeyes travel to Penn State Saturday in the Probation Bowl between two of the top tens in the Big Ten. A stated 105,290 saw it on Saturday.

Howard's defense gave up second half yards, and was aided by a Morgan State special teams miscue.

At College Stadium Texas A&M hosted LSU (7-1) and the Tigers came away with a 24-19 win over the Aggies who dropped to (5-2) on the year. A posted 87,429 fans attended.

Notre Dame (7-0) edged BYU at South Bend 17-14, before 80,795, while the Irish hype machine goes out of control with their upcoming game at Oklahoma (5-1) in Norman.

Michigan edged Michigan State on a 38 yard field goal with nine seconds remaining to improve to 5-2 on the season. What ever happened to State? The Spartans, considered one of the better teams at the start of the season, fell to 4-4. In the house, 113,833 people, the largest crowd of the day witnessed the Wolverines 900th collegiate win.

USC passed over Colorado 50-6 to attempt to remain in the $ hunt. Matt Barkley completed passed for 19-20 for 298 yards and 6 touchdowns.

The Trojans are now 6-1 on the season. USC saw 83,274 turn out.

Clemson (6-1) welcomed Virginia Tech to Death Valley and dropped the Hokies to 4-4 on the season with a 38-12 win, before 81,500 fans.

News Flash! Tennessee State suffered their first loss of the season to Jacksonville State (Ala.) 31-28 in an Ohio Valley Conference contest. State is now 7-1 on the season.

In high school play this past weekend:

The surprise of the weekend was North Point’s 27-18 win over Friendship Collegiate. Marquel Dickerson rushed for 275 yards and three touchdowns as North Point improved to 5-3 on the season. Collegiate dropped to 6-1.

Elsewhere Hylton (7-1) edged Woodbridge 20-15. Madison (7-1) beat Fairfax 28-21. Stone Bridge (8-0) beat McLean 49-7. Westfield (8-0) defeated Oakton 28-14. DeMatha (7-1) blanked Carroll 62-0.

Seneca Valley (8-0) jumped on Gaithersburg 42-7. Quince Orchard (7-1) blanked Clarksburg 42-0. Blake (5-3) zipped Blair 42-0. Sherwood (6-2) shutout Paint Branch 35-0. Malik Harris who we have featured before rushed for 145 yards and one touchdown as Churchill (6-2) zeroed Springbrook 14-0 on a soggy field.

Ballou (4-4) beat Spingarn 45-8 in a DCIAA East conference game. Good Counsel defeated St. John’s 41-17, as another of our featured players Dorian O’Daniel rushed for 191 yards and two touchdowns. Wise (8-0) shutout Laurel 60-0. Suitland (7-1) blanked Bladensburg 35-0.

Gwynn Park (7-1) beat Largo 39-8. Douglass (7-1) shutout Central 60-0. Sidwell Friends (6-1) defeated Maya Angelou 28-6. Potomac (Md.) beat Crossland 44-6. and H.D. Woodson (3-5) defeated McKinley 54-14. The Warriors have won three straight in DCIAA play.