South Carolina State woke up in the second half and put their third straight MEAC football championship to bed.

The Bulldogs (9-2, 4-0 MEAC) held North Carolina Central scoreless in the second half and scored two touchdowns of their own to secure a 38-24 victory at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Howard’s 30-24 win over Delaware State eliminated the Hornets from the title chase, and with South Carolina State winning the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Eagles, the Bulldog faithful can now make reservations for Atlanta and the Cricket Celebration Bowl.

SCSU had to sweat out a tense first half as Gino Addison got Central (5-6, 3-1 MEAC) off to a good start with a 59-yard touchdown run just 23 seconds into the first quarter.

The Bulldogs spent most of the first half chasing the Eagles, finally pulling even at 24 on a 38-yard Jett Jackson field goal with just under two minutes left in the first half.

The Bulldogs came out in the third quarter and took the lead for good as Keely Watson threw a 10-yard scoring pass to Malaqhi Jones for a 31-24 advantage.

The crushing blow came from junior linebacker Marquis Lane-Owens, who read an underneath pass from Joshua Jones to perfection and took the ball 15 yards to the end zone.

The last 25 minutes of the game served as a showcase for South Carolina State’s defensive dominance.

The Bulldogs limited North Carolina Central 110 yards of total offense in the second half after giving up 204 in the first half.

To go with his pick six, Lane-Owens registered 1.5 sacks, Jayden Fuller had 2 of his own and Ka’Von Chisolm and Myles Dixon contributed a sack and half a sack respectively.