BOWIE, Md. – The 11th ranked and undefeated Bowie State Bulldogs football team saw its season come to an end on Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the NCAA Playoffs, falling short to the #25 Carson-Newman Eagles by a score of 17-9.  The loss wraps up the Bowie State season at 11-1 while Carson-Newman improves to 9-2. Carson-Newman advances into the second round of the playoffs and will face Lenoir-Rhyne.  PHOTOS (Courtesy of Larry Johnson)
 
Junior quarterback Ja'rome Johnson (Washington, D.C.) led the Bulldogs offensively with a game-high 263 passing yards and 98 rushing yards. Senior DuShon David (Washington, D.C.) led all receivers with 77 yards on five receptions and one touchdown. Senior Jauntez McRae (Baltimore, Md.) was Bowie State's leading tackler with eight (five solo), while sophomore Joshua Pryor (Baltimore, Md.) and redshirt freshman Jordan Carter (Bryans Road, Md.) added seven tackles each in the loss.
 
Carson-Newman was led on the ground by Antonio Wimbush with a game-high 143 rushing yards on 18 carries and one touchdown and Tyler Thackerson threw for 137 yards (longest of 63) completing just 3-of-5 passes. The Eagles defense was led by Daniel Dixon-Brooks with a game-high 10 tackles (six solo) and Rondrow Peebles contributed eight tackles.
 
Carson-Newman got on the board first at the 10:31 mark of the first quarter on a Thackerson to Braxton Westfield 63-yard pass, catch and score for the 7-0 the early Eagles 7-0 lead.
 
Bowie State answered back when Johnson connected with David for a 33-yard score to knot the game at 7-all with 7:43 to go in the opening quarter.  The Bulldogs defense gave Bowie State's its first and only lead of the game at the 1:32 mark when redshirt freshman Jonathan Ross (Waldorf, Md.) tackled Thackerson in the end zone for a safety and 9-7 advantage.
 
A Nate Craft 44-yard field goal shifted the advantage back over to Carson-Newman at the 6:11 mark of the third quarter.
 
Wimbush rumbled in from 10 yard out to extend Carson Newman's lead to 17-9, capping of an 11-play, 91-yard drive early in the fourth quarter (13:28).
 
Bowie State racked up 21 first downs in the contest compared to 14 for Carson-Newman. The Bulldogs also held an advantage in total yards accounting for 410 (147 rushing and 263 passing). The C-N Eagles tallied 363 yards of total offense (226 rushing and 137 passing). Bowie State was inside the Carson-Newman red zone five times but came up empty each time.