STATESVILLE— The offense struggled.
Penalties killed drives.
The defense bent, bent some more and finally broke.
None of it mattered much Saturday night in the grand scheme of things, though. Not after Livingstone quarterback Joel Ward was dragged down from behind late in the first half.
As Ward crumpled to the ground, the officials signaled immediately for the ambulance crew standing just a few yards away. Some 20 minutes later, Ward was wheeled off on a stretcher. His cries of pain while the medics stabilized his left leg came courtesy a double dose of devastating injuries — a dislocated hip and a dislocated knee.
Somehow, the Blue Bears managed to pull it together after that loss and pull within 14-7 early in the third quarter. Comeback hopes quickly faded, however, as Virginia State scored on its next three drives to salt away a 43-13 victory at the Statesville Classic, an annual matchup between Livingstone and a member of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association at Statesville High’s Greyhound Hollow.
“He’s hurt and it hurts us. Joel was coming around as a quarterback and now we’re back at square one trying to develop a quarterback,”Livingstone head coach Greg Richardson said. “I’m sure there was some emotional letdown there. Any time your starting quarterback goes down there is some kind of letdown. But it’s really hard to say that was it.”
In fact, the Blue Bear offense wasn’t effective with Ward in there or with anybody else at the helm thanks to an overwhelming number of penalties. Every time something good happened for Livingstone, the yellow hankies rained down.
In the second quarter, freshman Tracy Blair reeled off a 25-yard run to put Livingstone at the State 24. Three plays later it was first-and-30 near midfield thanks to an illegal block, illegal motion and a hold.
Amazingly, the Blue Bears climbed out of that hole for a 35-yard TDstrike from Ward to Shannon Gainey — which was called back for holding. And on third-and-31, when the Trojans tried to hand Livingstone a first down by roughing the passer, another hold nullified both penalties, and the Blue Bears settled for a punt.
“If we eliminate them, we’re still in the ballgame,”Blair said. “The last four games we’ve gotten killed in penalties:personal fouls, clippings, holdings. All 15-yarders.”
The numbers added up at an incredible pace: At various points in the game, the Blue Bears had more penalty yards than yards of total offense. For the game, it was 146 net yards and 101 lost on 12 penalties.
“We’re going to have to really address that issue this week in practice. It’s one thing to get beat. It’s another to beat yourself. Penalties have been an Achilles Heel for us this year.”
Still, the Blue Bears were right in the game after halftime. Trailing 14-0 at the break, Malcolm Weed took over at QB and converted a third-and-7 pass to get into Virginia State territory. Blair, a 5-foot-7, 175-pound freshman, then showed his speed when he swept around the left side of the Trojan defense, cut back toward the middle and raced to the corner of the end zone. Ibrahim Bah’s extra point made it 14-7 with 9:40 to play in the quarter.
“It affected us a lot,”Blair said of Ward’s absence. “Because he wasn’t in the game, we had to all step it up: Execute, execute, execute.”
Virginia State followed that gameplan to the letter, rattling off a nice four-play, 51-yard drive on its next possession to make it 20-7.
The Trojans, known for their passing attack in recent years, showed off the running game Saturday night. Bernard Comer’s 63-yard run set up Kevin Jones’ touchdown toss with 3:57 left in the third quarter for a 27-7 edge. VSU showed off six different rushers on its next possession, which also ended in the end zone.
“I’m real tickled about our running backs because they all bring different dimensions,”Trojans head coach Lou Anderson said. “Where a lot of teams would take one back and give it to him 25-30 times, we keep a lot of harmony. They know there are certain amounts of time they’re going to get it.”
Virginia State rushed for only 78 yards in the first half. It’s final total was 314.
“Virginia State made a really good adjustment in the second half of the game. We were virtually stopping their run and their pass,”Richardson said. “By the time we made our adjustment, it was too late.”
Two additional QBs — freshmen David Melton and Scott McCrimmons — made things interesting in the fourth quarter. Melton ran for an acrobatic score that was called back for an illegal block, then fired a 20-yard touchdown strike to Jauron Holman one play later.
On the two-point try, though, Weed’s last-second option pitch missed its intended target, and Bish-lar Penson scooped up the ball and raced 96 yards the other way for two points.
n
NOTES:Comer was the offensive MVPof the Classic and Blue Bear Jason Ocean, with 16 tackles, earned defensive honors. … The Bears fell to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the CIAA, while VSUmoved to 2-2, 2-0.
n
Contact Steve Hanf at 704-797-4287 or shanf@salisburypost.com
.
Today's News
