On Saturday, Livingstone coach Daryl Williams and his team suffered one of the toughest losses in the history of a program that’s had more than its share of deflating losses.

The Blue Bears were celebrating a CIAA victory after what they believed was a game-winning, fourth-down touchdown pass — a sprinting Williams had joined in the celebration in the end zone — only to find out that a flag had been thrown and they’d lost to Fayetteville State.

Fayetteville State prevailed 31-28 in two overtimes on homecoming at Jeralds Stadium.

“Unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable,” Williams said in a phone interview. “Just unbelievable. But I’m not criticizing anyone. It should never have come down to an overtime or to one play.”

Livingstone controlled the first half. Fayetteville battled back in the second.

Drew Powell’s TD pass to Arthur Bowden put the Blue Bears ahead 21-14 with 3:12 left. Fayetteville State’s Drew Bryant fired a TD pass to Chris Hubert with 1:32 left to tie it.  Regulation ended 21-all.

Both teams scored a touchdown and kicked the PAT in the first overtime. Livingstone had the ball first, and Powell found Bowden for another TD. Bryant answered with a 2-yard scoring run for the Broncos.

In the second overtime, the Blue Bears’ defense held Fayetteville State. On fourth-and-13 from the Livingstone 28, Antonio Mayo connected on a 45-yard field goal, and the Broncos took a 31-28 lead.

Then it was Livingstone’s turn from the FSU 25.

On first down, Powell got loose for a 15-yard run, but it was erased by a holding penalty. Now it was first-and-20 at the FSU 35. Powell ran for 3 yards. Then two straight passes were dropped.

On fourth-and-17, Powell hit Austin Higgins for what appeared to be a 32-yard touchdown pass. The Blue Bears celebrated. But there was a flag near the sideline. The call was an illegal forward pass. Powell was ruled to have been past the line of scrimmage when he threw. That penalty includes a loss of down, and the game was over.

“We were jumping up and down in the end zone,” Williams said. “And then it’s a loss.”

Livingstone took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, scoring on an interception return by senior lineman Ryhon Sykes and a punt return by freshman DB Daniel Walker. The Blue Bears led 14-7 at halftime.

“We played lights-out most of the game,” Williams said. “But drops hurt us. Turnovers hurt us.”

Fayetteville State’s Ladarius Rouse picked off two of Powell’s passes. One came in the red zone. The other pick came with Livingstone threatening at the FSU 38. Powell also lost a fumble. 

The yardage totals were even.

Powell threw for 162 yards and rushed for 73 to account for the bulk of Livingstone’s 344 yards.

Livingstone’s defense allowed 342 yards, but the Blue Bears had five sacks and the Broncos were only 3-for-14 on third-down conversions.

Senior linebacker Kenneth White had 10 tackles for the Blue Bears and broke up three passes.

Livingstone fell to 5-4 and 2-4 in the CIAA. Fayetteville State also is 5-4, but the Broncos have won five straight and are still unbeaten in the league. They’ll play Winston-Salem State next week for the Southern Division title.

Livingstone is close to playing in big games, but the Blue Bears aren’t quite there yet.

“It’s all part of a process,” Williams said. “We don’t want to be one-hit wonders, we want to build a winning program. A loss like this, as hard as it is, is a part of the process. We’ll learn from it.”

Williams said the bus ride back from Fayetteville was quiet. Livingstone plays at Johnson C. Smith next Saturday in the final game of the season.

“The guys are disappointed, but they’ll respond the right way,” Williams said. “They played a good ballgame today and I know they’ll play well again next week. We want to finish this season the right way.”