LIVINGSTONE YIELDS 55-8 TO ELIZABETH CITY STATE IN VIKINGS HOMECOMING

ELIZABETH CITY, NC- The Elizabeth City State University Vikings picked up their fourth consecutive win with a 55-8 walloping of the Livingstone College Blue Bears in front of a Homecoming crowd Saturday afternoon at Roebuck Stadium.

With only 10 seconds left, the Blue Bears (0-8, CIAA 0-5) narrowly avoided being shut out for the first time this season when Curtis Edens connected with Donte Daye for a nine-yard touchdown. Rashaad Flucker then found the end zone on a successful two-point conversion pass for the final 55-8 point spread.

The Viking defense held Livingstone to just 29 yards net rushing, with a total offensive output of 131 yards on 62 plays from scrimmage. Three Blue Bears’ signal callers combined for four interceptions. The ECSU Defense forced two fumbles and took over on downs once totaling seven takeaways on the afternoon. Kendrell Harley scored the lone defensive touchdown of the day on a 15-yard interception (his second pick of the day) return with 9:17 remaining in the fourth quarter, making the score 48-0 after the extra point attempt failed.

On the offensive side of the ball, six different Vikings found the end zone on seven occasions. Quarterback Dominic Strand finished the day with a modest 117 yards through the air yet tossed three touchdowns to three separate receivers with its longest of the day going for 41 yards to Tashawn Lee with 56 seconds remaining in the first quarter to make the score 14-0 in favor of ECSU. Both Morrell McPhatter and Dennis Hamilton capped more lengthy drives of nine-plays for 65 yards and seven plays for 52 yards, respectively to complete Strand’s passing TDs of the day. Joel McClenny marked his second two-touchdown performance of 2007 (Shaw University 9/22) with second quarter rushing scores equaling 10 yards (9-yards and 1-yard) on two carries. That brings his season total six touchdowns on ten carries in 2007. In the fourth quarter Curtis Rich, Jr. and Laronte Bryant each added rushing touchdowns of 20-yards and 7-yards with 13:54 and 28 seconds remaining, respectively.

As a team the Vikings rolled up a season best 357 yards of offense on 66 plays. They also bested their opponents’ in first downs 19 to 9.  Livingstone had four different individuals attempt an offensive pass while three of them shared the duties of running the offense. Steven Williams is currently on the injury list from last week’s game. Wide Receiver Donte’ Daye assumed the punting duties on the day. Christopher Howard returned six kickoffs for 106 yards. Ryan Reese led both defenses with 11 total tackles (five solo and six assisted). Akeem Deloatch assisted with six solo and four assisted tackles for a total of ten.