FINAL STATS

(FAIRMONT, W.Va.)  Fairmont State University jumped out to a 29 point halftime lead and cruised to a 49-20 non-conference victory over Bowie State University.  The 49 points were the most given up by a Bowie State team since a 41-7 setback at Newberry in 2007.

“Tonight we just got beat by a better team and were bitten a little by the injury bug”, said a somber BSU head coach Damon Wilson.  “We lost five starters on defense and we had some guys playing that hadn't played all year … Fairmont State was 4-1 (now 5-1) for a reason.”

Bowie State (3-3) drew first blood at the 5:59 mark of the opening quarter when Senior Andre Johnson flipped a five-yard pass to redshirt Keith Brown for six Bulldogs points.  The extra point was blocked by FSU's Devin Johnson.

Fairmont State (5-1) responded on its next possession when Logan Moore connected on a 33-yard touchdown pass to Mark Sampson, capping off a 5-play, 62 yard drive.  Frank Keenan added the extra point to give the Fighting Falcons a 7-6 lead.

Moore threw his second touchdown pass of the first half, this time connecting on a 45- yard bomb to Matt Wilmer.  Keenan's extra point increased the Fairmont State lead to 14-6 with 10:05 left in the first half.

After a four and out by Bowie State, Fairmont State's Daniel Monroe scampered 25-yards for six more, pushing the Fighting Falcons lead to 21-6.

Following the kickoff, Bowie State gave away six more points via a fumble and illegal batting penalty against the Bulldogs, resulting in another touchdown for Fairmont State.

Damon Waters scooted in from 9-yards with 2:09 left in the first half and Keenan's extra point, padded the Fairmont State lead to 35-6.  

It didn't take long for Fairmont State to increase its stronghold.  The Fighting Falcons took the opening kickoff of the second half and found the Bulldogs' end zone on Monroe 7-yard touchdown.

Bowie State's Johnson penetrated the Fairmont State end zone on the very next Bulldogs possession, scoring from 4-yards out.  Gagne's PAT was good, making the score 42-13 with 11:59 remaining in the third quarter.

Matt Griffin capped off a 7-play, 30 yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown at the 6:18 mark of the final period, cushioning the Fairmont State lead at 49-13.

Bowie State was able to score one more touchdown with 1:13 left to play on a 9-yard pass and catch by senior Clifton Budd to junior Reginald McIntyre.

Fairmont State was led on offense by Moore's 188 passing yards and Monroe's 144 rushing yards.

Junior Marcelus Manear was the top Bulldog on the defensive side of the ball with six tackles and sophomores Delante White and Eric Walters along with juniors Quentin Walker  and Antonio Bond added five tackles each.

Johnson threw for a season-high 200 yards, completing 21-of-35 and one touchdown, but was intercepted twice and sacked four times.  Brown led Bowie State on the ground with 52 rushing yards on 10 carries and senior James Proctor, Jr. caught seven passes for a game-high 97 yards.

Fairmont State ran 88 plays compared to 66 for Bowie State.  FSU's Fighting Falcons accumulated 412 yards of total offense while BSU's Bulldogs rolled up 401 yards of total offense (326 passing).

The Bulldogs will return to the gridiron – Friday, October 14th for an 8 pm road conference game against Lincoln University of Pennsylvania at Avon Grove HS.