RICHMOND, Va. – Backed by a defense that continued to come up with big stops, the No. 14 Bowie State football team used a pair of big touchdowns by senior running back Calil Wilkins to claim a 27-7 road victory at Willie Lanier Field Saturday afternoon in a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) division contest.
With the win, the Bulldogs (7-1, 5-0 CIAA) sit in the driver seat for the Northern Division title with a 3-0 record while Virginia Union Panthers (4-4, 3-2 CIAA) suffers their first division loss on the season at 2-1.
Wilkins finished the day with a season-high 134-yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns while senior quarterback Ja’rome Johnson threw for 112-yards on 12-of-17 passes and a touchdown. He also registered a 20-yard rushing TD in the fourth quarter.
Redshirt junior and defensive lineman Joshua Pryor tacked on eight total tackles to go along with two tackle for losses (11-yards) and a sack while redshirt sophomore and defensive back Raymond Boone also recorded eight tackles – all solo.
10 seconds into the game, Virginia Union scored on an 89-yard punt return to take an early 7-0 lead but the Bulldogs responded, using a five-play (36-yards) drive capped off by a six-yard reception TD from Wilkins to knot the score 7-all with 8:18 on the game clock.
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No. 14 Bowie State took the lead when Wilkins cut through a pair of Panther defenders for a six-yard scamper that would put the Bulldogs ahead 14-7 at the end of the opening quarter. A 19-yard field goal with 8:18 left in the second quarter gave BSU a 17-7 lead at halftime.
After a series of three and outs by both teams, the Bulldogs scored the first points of the second half thanks to a 31-yard field goal from redshirt freshman kicker Alen Omerhodzic (Bowie, MD) that stretched BSU’s lead 20-7 over VUU as BSU would carry that lead into the fourth quarter.
VUU had no answer for the Bulldogs’ defense as the Panthers committed three turnovers on downs, including an incomplete pass on fourth down that was defended very well on the final drive.
Overall, No. 14 Bowie State tallied 394-yards of total offense, highlighted by 282 on the ground while defensively, BSU limited the Panthers to 64-yards on the ground against a team that put up 363 last week. VUU went 0-4 in fourth-down conversions against the Bulldogs.
No. 14 Bowie State will remain on the road next weekend when the Bulldogs travel to Lincoln, Pa., in hopes of claiming the Northern Division title for the third consecutive season. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.
Courtesy: Bowie State Athletics
