By David Shaw
sports@salisburypost.com
No matter how much grief this season dishes out, Livingstone keeps coming back for more.
Even as the Blue Bears and Johnson C. Smith commemorated the CIAA’s oldest rivalry Saturday at Alumni Stadium, Livingstone surrendered two touchdowns in the final five minutes and fell to the occasion, 30-15.
“Winning is not everything. It’s the only thing,” interim coach Eric Brown said after Livingstone dipped to 0-6 overall and 0-3 in conference play. “These young men need to learn how to win again. Then we can move on.”
The Blue Bears ó who rolled gutter balls in each of their past three contests ó may have played their best game of the season.
They scored for the first time since Sept. 5 when quarterback Steven Williams lobbed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Chris Peoples, capping a crowd-pleasing opening drive. It marked the first time Livingstone had scored in the first half all season.
“The first half felt like it’s supposed to feel,” said Williams, who went 15-of-20 passing for 134 yards. “We tried to come back out the same way in the second half, pushing the ball down field, but we couldn’t finish the deal.”
Don’t blame the running game. Livingstone, which had rushed for only 43 yards in its first five games, gained 46 on its first possession. Most damaging were the darts and dashes of junior Linwood Jenkins, who totaled 167 yards on 25 carries and scored the Blue Bears’ first rushing touchdown of the year on a 6-yard, fourth-quarter dive for the pylon.
“We made some adjustments, and the linemen blocked their tails off,” said Jenkins, a 195-pound slasher who once played for Kent State. “And the coaches called good plays for me. It seemed like everybody left it on the field.”
It still wasn’t enough to bring down JCSU (3-3, 2-1). The Golden Bulls used four second-half touchdowns to erase a 9-3 halftime deficit.
“Guys were trying to do too much in the first half,” J.C. Smith coach Steven Aycock said. “We made too many mistakes.”
Smith quarterback Ryan Carter was victimized twice. First came a deflected, second-quarter interception by Jamar Graham at the Blue Bears’ 21. Then came Carter’s last-minute fumble into the end zone, a bobble recovered by Livingstone cornerback Michael Jackson.
“Tell Ryan Carter to keep that basketball mentality off the football field,” Aycock said. “It’s not a cross-over. It’s hold onto it, high-and-tight.”
JCSU turned the game around with a pair of third-quarter TDs. A 47-yard punt return paved the way for Carter’s 11-yard scoring pass to Corey Carter early in the period. Moments later Carter hit Rico Poole with a short sideliner that went for a 35-yard touchdown.
LC forged back late in the third quarter after Devonta Harmon picked off a pass on the 1-yard line. The Blue Bears went 99 yards in eight plays and inched within 16-15 when halfback Marcel Roberson pitched to Jenkins for a 6-yard sweep to the right side. Jordan Beckham’s PAT drifted wide right.
“That’s just another missed opportunity,” Brown said. “That’s what I mean by finishing plays.”
Livingstone’s chance to regain the lead was snuffed out when Williams was sacked by freshman Derrick Johnson for a 15-yard loss with 5:40 remaining.
“When you’re trying to make a play, it’s not that easy to just get rid of the ball,” Williams said. “I came up short.”
The game’s best finisher was running back Quinton Toomer ó and he was wearing JCSU blue, yellow and white.
A converted linebacker, the 205-pound bruiser scored on a 60-yard TD run that gave the guests a 23-15 lead with 4:50 remaining. Then he broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and closed the scoring on a 73-yard sprint with 1:05 to play.
“I just had to be patient,” Toomer said after finishing with 157 yards on seven second-half carries. “Before I got in, I saw their safety flying all over the place. On both touchdowns, I just had to wait for a seam and then hit it full steam.”
That’s something Livingstone has yet to accomplish.
“We don’t use the words ‘I can’t’ around here,” Brown said. “It’s all about what we need to do.”
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NOTES: Williams (710 career attempts) surpassed the previous school record of 696 held by Darryl Ardrey (1990-93). … Alkeem Deloatch and Graham each made 10 tackles. Harmon has interceptions in two straight games. … The Blue Bears celebrate homecoming next Saturday when Chowan visits at 1:30 p.m. … Bryan Aycoth (West Rowan) punted eight times for a 30-yard average with a long of 55.