WASHINGTON – Even when things went wrong, they turned out just fine for South Carolina State on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Howard University.

On the game’s first play from scrimmage the Bulldogs fumbled the ball but S.C. State recovered and then went on an 11-play drive that ended with a 44-yard field goal by Blake Erickson for a 3-0 lead.

When Howard got the ball Bison quarterback Floyd Haigler, from Orangeburg, appeared to have a receiver open inside the S.C. State 20 on second and 10 from the Bulldog 32. But Haigler, who said he was trying to throw the ball away, was picked off by strong safety Markee Hamlin in the end zone.

The Bulldogs then went 80 yards for a score, as Terrance Smith caught a 28-yard TD pass from Malcolm Long and the PAT made it 10-0. The high-powered S.C. State offense added a 14-yard TD pass from Long to Chris Massey early in the second quarter and breezed to a 43-13 MEAC win before 5,081 fans on a clear, cool afternoon.

The Bulldogs (8-1, 6-0) won their 17th straight league contest and inched closer to the regular-season MEAC title. The Bulldogs entered the game ranked No. 10 in the Sports Network FCS poll and No. 1 in the SBN Black College Football poll.

“In the first half we were pretty consistent on offense. We have to come in and stay focused. You can’t sleep on a team like Howard,” said Long, who completed 15 of 21 passes with two touchdowns in the first half as the Bulldogs built a 22-6 lead. Long finished 21 of 33 for 180 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions as seven different Bulldogs caught a pass.

“He uses his weapons well,” S.C. State head coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough said of Long. “He is a guy that can throw the football and has a lot of weapons.”

Massey, just minutes after his first TD, blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety as S.C. State took a 19-3 lead with 7:55 left in the second quarter.

“They double-teamed the man beside me,” said Massey, who was able to slip through the Howard line for the block.

“He is a player. He does a lot of stuff for us,” Pough said of Massey. “Each week he has gotten better as a wideout. This guy has a chance to be special.”

Erickson made a 28-yard field goal with 5:31 left in the first half to make it 22-3. A field goal by Howard as the first half ended made it 22-6. Howard (2-7, 0-6) has lost 17 straight games in the conference under third-year head coach Carey Bailey. “You have everything to lose,” Pough said. “You don’t want to lose your winning streak and break that (Howard) losing streak at the same time.”

Haigler also threw an interception early in the third quarter, as defensive end Arnett James stepped in front of a short pass in the middle of the field and returned it 13 yards to the Howard 28. That led to 6-yard TD pass from Long to Massey with 4:14 left in the third quarter to make it 29-6.

Senior defensive back Phillip Adams got a deflected pass for an interception and returned it 71 yards for a touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 36-6 lead with 8:58 left in the game.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Derrick Wiley took over for Long midway through the fourth quarter and on his second play he handed off to William Ford, who went 61 yards for a TD for a 43-6 lead.

Howard’s Haigler threw a 38-yard scoring strike to Willie Carter with 2:45 left in the game for the final margin.

S.C. State entered the game averaging 150.8 yards per contest on the ground and 208.6 in the air. The Bulldogs gained 180 on the ground and 195 in the air at Howard. Chris Thompson and Razzie Smith led the Bulldogs with five tackles each.

“It was an all or nothing affair,” Pough said. “The last thing you want is to have the streak broken by a team going in the other direction.”

Pough was not happy with third-down conversions, though his team was nine of 15 on such plays. “We could have done better but we still got the win. We did not play our best,” Massey said.

The Bulldogs will host Morgan State on Nov. 14.

David Driver is a freelance writer in Maryland. He can be reached through his website at www.davidsdriver.com

 

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