Saturday, October 04, 2003

Blue Bears turnover 27-7 victory to Virginia State 

Adrian Ferguson, LC SID

Salisbury, NC – Livingstone College (1-4, 1-1 CIAA) lost its first conference game of the season to Virginia State University (3-3, 1-2 CIAA) 27-7 in Alumni Memorial Stadium. The Trojans accumulated 399 total offensive yards on 69 plays while the Blue Bears ran 49 plays for 117 yards. Six turnovers (3 interceptions and 2 fumbles) hampered Livingstone’s offense and proved to be a deciding factor in the loss.

In the first quarter, Virginia State’s Otis Grandson made the first interception of the game and returned it 36 yards to set up VSU’s first score. Kevin Jones connected with Jerome Jeter on an 18-yard touchdown pass. Muse Conteh converted the extra point for a 7-0 lead.  On the play that Livingstone committed a second interception, offensive lineman Brian Dalton forced the interceptor (Sean Wade) to fumble with a thunderous blow that allowed Antoine Smith to recover the fumble.  Two plays later, Sean Wade picked LC’s third interception in which Muse Conteh successfully made a 22-yard field goal for VSU’s 10-0 first quarter lead.

After a Livingstone turnover on downs, Virginia State’s Dennis Jones squeezed through the middle and down the sideline for a 91-yard touchdown. With the successful PAT kick, VSU lead was extended to 17-0. 

Livingstone appeared on the scoreboard in the second quarter after Santana Loudermilk picked a Kevin Jones pass for 64 yards into the end zone. Ibrahim Bah made the PAT kick for a 17-7 score.

With 4:08 remaining in the first half, VSU scored on a 52-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Jones to Jerome Jeter. Conteh converted the PAT kick for a 24-7 halftime lead.

In the fourth quarter, Conteh nailed a 23-yard field goal for a final score in favor of Virginia State 27-7.

Virginia State’s Dennis Jones rushed 26 times for 147 yards while Kevin Jones threw 18 of 32 with 2 picks for 262 yards.

Livingstone’s Moises Gordon totaled 23 tackles with five for a loss of nine yards. Jason Ocean finished with 19 tackles, with five for a loss of seven yards, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Livingstone will travel to Charlotte, NC next weekend to face rival Johnson C. Smith in the Golden Bulls homecoming celebration.