| Shannon Gainey almost ran a kickoff back
100 yards. D’Andre Hopper almost had a 99-yard run. Livingstone almost scored.
In an absolute stunner, the
Livingstone College Bears were shut out 17-0 by the Virginia State Trojans Saturday in a
much-anticipated CIAA showdown.
That’s right. The Livingstone
Bears, those whirling dervishes of offensive excellence, those exciting, playful, speedy,
untouchable Bears, winners of the last two CIAA championships, did not score a point in 60
minutes.
That’s unheard of.
But it happened. And even after
sleeping on it, the realization that a high-octane Livingstone offense was unable to
penetrate the goal line is still unfathomable this morning.
“It’s a shock to all of
us,” marveled quarterback D’Andre Hopper in the Saturday evening sunset.
“We score 42 points last week (in a 28-point win over Bowie State) and come out here
today and act like we’ve never played football before. It hurts real bad.
“Iwouldn’t say I’m
embarrassed. I’d say disappointed.”
But not as much as the fans who
packed the home side of Alumni Stadium. They had come to watch their beloved Bears score
at will.
They totally expected it. After
all, Livingstone entered Saturday as the CIAA leader in total offense, scoring, rushing,
first downs, third down conversions and fourth down conversions.
But on a perfect afternoon to sit
outside and watch football, all they saw was a very imperfect offense.
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Hopper, Carlton Jones and Shannon
Gainey usually contribute about 400 yards by themselves. Considering Virginia State was
undefeated in the league at 2-0 and owners of the best passing game in the CIAA, this was
going to be fun.
Quarterback Antonio Hawkins has
already thrown for 5,000 yards. Flanker Damon Thompson is the closest thing to Peter
Warrick that the CIAA has. In fact, Thompson admits, “Warrick’s my favorite
player.”
So everyone was expecting a 48-45
game. But the defenses — something no one talked about beforehand — took
centerstage.
Livingstone’s secondary
allowed Thompson only one stretch of super-human play. Just before halftime, he caught
four straight passes for 32, 14, 12 and six yards, setting up a field goal for a 10-0 VSU
lead. He had six grabs for 84 yards by then but only three for 15 in the second.
“We just made sure we stayed
aggressive on him, said Devie King, a junior defensive back from Charlotte.
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The Livingstone offense remained
confident coming out for the second half that they could emulate the defensive
aggressiveness.
Ten points to make up? No sweat.
“I really thought that at any
time, we would explode,” said coach Greg Richardson. “We had gotten to the point
where I didn’t think anybody could stop us. We have too many weapons.”
And right on cue, Gainey took the
second half kickoff 42 yards. Moments later, on the VSU 38, the Bears faced a
fourth-and-inches. It was here that you sensed this just might not be Livingstone’s
day.
An illegal procedure penalty
pushed the Bears back, forcing a punt.
The defense held, forcing a punt
that rolled dead on the the Livingstone two.
No sweat. Hopper immediately broke
a quarterback dash around the right end and was seemingly gone. Fifty-six yards later, a
Trojan dove for him. Hopper was carrying the ball with one hand. You can imagine the rest.
Hopper fumbled. VSUrecovered. And
Livingstone never really threatened again. When VSUscored for a 17-point margin late in
the third, the Bears’ spirit was finally broken.
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When the debacle ended, the
Trojans walked across the field to meet Livingstone. But many of the Bears didn’t
feel like shaking hands. They were too busy shaking their heads. In two home games, they
have scored six points for their new coach.
“I’m not used to losing,
man,” said Jones, who played at North Iredell High under East Spencer native Charles
Love. “I’ve been in a winning program since elementary school. Ican’t
believe we haven’t put points up at home. We’ve scored six in two games?
That’s not Livingstone offense.”
It certainly isn’t and the
Bears (2-3, 1-2) better find it by next week’s meeting with Winston-Salem State in
Statesville.
“Two losses in our league is
usually the kiss of death,” Richardson said. “We cannot afford another
one.”
Hopper smiled when asked about the
next seven days.
“I thin k we’ll practice
a little harder and a little longer.”
“No doubt about it,”
Richardson said.
It is now that the team with the
highest profile in the CIAA over the last four years has to bring a gut check with them to
their workouts.
“There’s no question we
can bounce back,” Richardson said. “But these kids have to understand
there’s a sense of urgency. Because they haven’t been through adversity, they
might not understand what a sense of urgency means.”
But the Bears know what a shutout
means
It means Saturday wasn’t what
we’ve come to expect from Livingstone football.
“Those guys will get it
together,” assured King, showing the team unity Richardson preaches. “We’re
champions.”
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Ronnie Gallagher is the sports
editor of the Post. |
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