BOWIE, MD -- The Bowie State football team fell 44-16 to the visiting Virginia State Trojans at home Saturday afternoon on Homecoming. The loss was the first homecoming setback for Bowie State since 2014 in which the Bulldogs fell to the Trojans, 24-14 on Oct. 18.

The Trojans improved to 6-0 on the year and 4-0 in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) play, while the Bulldogs drop to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in conference matchups. VSU is 1-0 in the Northern Division and BSU is 0-1 in the Northern Division.

Carleton Stewart paced the Bulldogs rushing attack by accumulating 30 yards over the course of the game. Corey Johnson also added 16 yards on the ground while Keshane Hinckley pulled in six catches for 51 yards. Defensively, Jadon Carter added one interception and Shawan Lewis had seven tackles, 1.5 TFL, and one sack in the loss. The Bulldogs won the turnover battle in Saturday's game, forcing two turnovers while avoiding any giveways, with BSU turning those takeaways into three points.

Defensively, Bowie State did an decent job limiting the Virginia State passing attack, holding the Trojans to 96 yards through the air. In part because of that stellar defense, Bowie State receivers out-gained their Virginia State counterparts 110-96. The Bulldogs defense disrupted the VSU passing attack on the way to recording two interceptions and breaking up two Trojans passes.

How It Happened
Bowie State scored on the first drive of the game to take a 6-0 lead. The Trojans responded to go ahead 9-6 before the Bulldogs scored again on a seven-yard touchdown run from to jump back ahead 13-9.

Virginia State fought back to take a 23-13 lead before Bowie State put a field goal on the board to close the gap with :06 remaining in the second quarter and make it a 23-16 game. Bowie State didn't score again in the game and Virginia State added 21 more points to finish off the game.

Game Notes
» Virginia State outgained Bowie State 541-167 in the contest.
» BSU won the turnover battle 2-0 after picking off two passes.
»The Bulldogs tallied 13 points in the first quarter, accounting for 81.2% of their total score.
» Bowie State converted 3 of 13 third downs while Virginia State was successful on 5 of 13.
» The Bulldogs had two players with more than eight tackles in the ballgame led by Cameron Chesley, who had 10.
» Justin Zavala punted eight times for the Bulldogs with an average of 45.4 yards per punt while pinning the Trojans inside their own 20 four times.
» Bowie State scored on an 86 yard kickoff return from .
» BSU forced one red zone turnover in the contest.
» The Bulldogs collected nine tackles for loss and added two sacks.
» Jordan Davis led the Trojans passing attack, completing eight of his 17 attempts for 96 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions.
» Kymani Clarke led the Virginia State rushing attack with 244 yards and four touchdowns.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Bulldogs will travel to Richmond, Va., to face Virginia Union on Saturday, Oct. 14 at Hovey Field. The Bulldogs are 17-20-1 all-time against the Panthers dating back to 1979. The Panthers claimed a 27-24 win over Bowie State in Bowie, Md., last season. 

For the most up-to-date information on Bowie State University Athletics and its 13 varsity sports teams, please visit www.bsubulldogs.com.