Football 9/5/2009 9:23:51 PM

Livingstone Falls to Savannah State 34-12 in HBCU Classic

Williams Throws For 197 Yards and 2 Touchdowns

McFadden Caught a TD Against SSU

Box Score

GREENVILLE, SC
– The Livingstone Blue Bear football team fell to the Savannah State Tigers 34-12 Saturday night at Sirrine Stadium in Greenville, SC in the Greenville HBCU Classic.

Livingstone fell to 0-2 on the young season with the loss and Savannah State improved to 1-0.

Senior quarterback Steven Williams threw for 197 yards against the Tigers with two touchdowns. The leading receiver for the Blue Bears was freshman Omar McFadden who had 57 yards with one touchdown. Defensively, junior defensive back Alkeem Deloatch led Livingstone with 10 tackles including one for a loss.

Savannah State got on the board first in the first quarter as they blocked a Livingstone punt. The ball went out of the back of the end zone for a safety and SSU went up 2-0. The Tigers went up 8-0 on a two-yard run, but a two-point conversation failed. Livingstone had opportunities to cut into the Tiger lead, but Blue Bear receivers dropped two potential touchdowns in the end zone. After the dropped passes, Savannah State's Justin Babb, who ran for 229 yards took an 81 yard run to the house to put SSU up 15-0.

In the second quarter, SSU continued their scoring as they tacked on a field goal to go up 18-0. Livingstone again was on a march towards the end zone, but a fumble by Williams gave the ball back to SSU who took a five-play, 44-yard drive to the end zone for a 25-0 lead at halftime.

Livingstone's offensive struggles continued at the start of the second half as they coughed up the ball on their first drive of the half. The Blue Bear defense, however was able to keep the Tigers out of the end zone. Williams got the Blue Bears on the board with 3:28 remaining in the third quarter. Williams scrambled out of the pocket along the far sideline and floated a pass into the middle of the end zone where two Blue Bear receivers were open and McFadden made the catch. A two-point conversion failed and Livingstone failed 25-6.

Savannah State increased their lead to 28-6 early in the fourth as they tacked on a 22-yard field goal. Livingstone responded just over two minutes later as Williams this time connected with sophomore running back Linwood Jenkins for a 22-yard score. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful and Livingstone trailed 28-12, but that was the end of their scoring. The Tigers added one more touchdown with just over five minutes remaining for a final score of 34-12.

Livingstone totaled 15 first downs for the game. The Blue Bears totaled 28 yards on the ground and 197 yards through the air. Possession time for the two teams was almost equal as SSU held the ball for only 30 more seconds than the Blue Bears.

The Blue Bears will continue away from Alumni Memorial Stadium next Saturday, September 12, as they travel to Catawba College to take on the Indians in the Mayor's Cup. The contest will kick off at 7 p.m.

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