BOWIE, Md. - In the only (AFCA) Top 25 game of the weekend, #15 Bowie State plastered #25 Virginia Union (6-2, 4-1, 2-1 North) by a score of 52-17 on Saturday afternoon in Bulldogs Stadium.
 
Bowie State (8-0, 5-0 CIAA, 3-0 North) rolled up a season-high 594 yards of total offense with junior Ja'rome Johnson (Washington, D.C.) accounting for 395 passing yards and five touchdowns and ranked second on the team in rushing with 56 yards. Junior Calil Wilkens (Temple Hills, Md.) was Bowie State's leading rusher with 68 yards and scored a touchdown. Redshirt junior Montez Clay (Baltimore, Md.) led the Bulldogs receivers with 80 reception yards and scored a pair of touchdowns. The tough Bowie State defense was paced by senior William Flowers (Baltimore, Md.) with six total tackles (all solo) while sophomore Demetri Morsell (Upper Marlboro, Md.) and graduate student Trey Lee (Waldorf, Md.) tallied five tackles each in the win. Morsell also picked off two passes and returned one for a 92-yard score.
 
Senior DuShon David (Washington, D.C.) tied Clay for game-high reception honors with four for 46 yards and scored two touchdowns while redshirt senior Geordan Clark (White Plains, Md.) was responsible for 53 reception yards on three catches.
 
Virginia Union scored the games' first points at the 13:23 mark of the first quarter via a two-yard fumble recovery by Xavier Hines, putting the Panthers up 7-0.
 
The Bulldogs answered with 8:03 left in the opening quarter, with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Clay, evening up the score at 7-7.
 
Four minutes later, Jefferson Souza connected on a 19-yard field goal, shifting the advantage back over to the VUU Panthers at 10-7.
 
On Bowie State's next possession, redshirt freshman Darius Bowman (Fort Washington, Md.) hauled in an 80-yard bomb from Johnson at the 3:27 mark, giving the lead back to Bowie State at 14-10. It was Bowman's first career touchdown reception and the longest Bulldogs reception of the season.
 
The first points of the second quarter came at the 6:25 mark, when BSU's Clay hauled in another touchdown pass from Johnson, this time from 35 yards out, strengthening Bowie State's lead at 21-10.
 
Virginia Union had something to say about the Bowe State score 10 seconds later, when Charles Hall caught a 75-yard pass from Khalid Morris, cutting into the Bulldogs lead down to 21-17.
 
David caught his first pass of the afternoon at the 2:08 mark of the second quarter, scoring on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Johnson, stretching the Bulldogs lead to 28-17 by halftime.
 
The Bulldogs offense continued to click in the second half, as Wilkins ran in for a 9-yard touchdown, pushing the Bulldogs advantage to 35-17 on Bowie State's very first possession of the third quarter.
 
With five minutes to play in the third quarter, Gene Carson converted on a 24-yard field goal to pad the Bowie State lead at 38-17. The Bulldogs defense continued to hold the Panthers offense at bay while continuing to dominate on offense. At the 2:10 mark of the quarter David hauled in a 17-yard pass from Johnson, to expand the Bulldogs lead to 45-17.
 
The Bulldogs put the final nail in the coffin at the in the fourth quarter when Morsell picked off his second pass of the contest and returned it 92 yards for the final margin of 52-17.
 
Bowie State will play its final regular season home game next Saturday (November 2) hosting the Lions of Lincoln University of Pennsylvania on Senior Day and Military Appreciation Day. Prior to the 1 p.m. kickoff, 23 senior Bulldog football players will be honored in a special pregame ceremony.