Staff report
BOWIE, MD ó The Livingstone football team was unable to stop the rushing attack of the Bowie State Bulldogs Saturday afternoon as they fell 51-0 at Bulldogs Stadium.
With the loss, the Blue Bears fall to 0-4 overall on the season and 0-1 in conference. Bowie State improved to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the CIAA.
The Livingstone defense allowed 456 yards rushing and seven rushing touchdowns to the Bulldogs. The usual defensive stud for the Blue Bears, junior Alkeem Deloatch was put in check by Bowie State as he had only one tackle for the game. Defensively, freshman Jacob Davis led the Blue Bears with 11 tackles.
On the offensive side of the ball, Livingstone was not able to get anything going. The Blue Bears rushed for negative 54 yards. Through the air, the combination of senior Steven Williams and sophomore Bryan Aycoth threw for 112 yards.
The first drive of the game for the Blue Bears didn’t start off too well as Williams was picked off on only the third play of the game. The turnover was not costly, however, as the Bulldogs missed a field goal. After the missed field goal the Blue Bears were forced to punt after three plays, but on the ensuing return, Bowie State fumbled, giving Livingstone the ball only 23 yards from the end zone.
The struggles continued as the Blue Bears as freshman kicker Jordan Beckham missed a field goal. Bowie State then took an eight-play, 80-yard drive for a score.
Livingstone’s next drive also ended on a turnover after a fumble. Despite the offense not being able to get things going, the Blue Bears trailed by only 14 points at halftime.
On the Blue Bears’ first possession of the second half, Williams threw his second pick of the game, but the Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize as they missed a field goal. After the missed field goal, the Blue Bears fumbled after four plays. This time the turnover cost the Blue Bears as Bowie State took the ball into the end zone for a 21-0 lead.
The Bulldogs added another touchdown with less than a minute to play in the third quarter to go up 28-0. After the ensuing kickoff, Bowie State trapped Livingstone in the end zone after the Blue Bears took three plays for negative 28 yards. This put Bowie State up 30-0 after three quarters.
Livingstone will return to what hopes to be the friendly confines of Alumni Memorial Stadium next Saturday when they host Lincoln for a 1 p.m. kickoff.