Bowie State Has Sweet Homecoming; Routs Lincoln Univ (PA) 86-14
BOWIE, Md. 
– On an absolutely gorgeous late Saturday in October, 3,237 fans at Bulldogs Stadium were witness to one of the most impressive offensive outputs in college football history.
#20 Bowie State Bulldogs (8-1; 5-1 CIAA Conference North Division l) would score 13 times in the games (12 touchdowns, one field goal) and they totally crushed conference foe, the Lincoln University (PA) Lions (0-9; 0-6 CIAA Conference), 86-14 in a Division II CIAA Conference football game.
Junior QB Amir Hill went 14 for 19 and 238 yards for Bowie State. He also threw six touchdown passes, five of them in the first half alone. R-Shirt Senior RB Robert Chesson had 135 rushing yards on 12 carriers and scored two touchdowns and teammate Junior RB Maurice Williams would rush 14 times for 123 yards and a touchdown. Three receivers each caught two touchdown passes from Hill.
Lions Junior QB Vincent Espinoza was highly ineffective only completing 10 of 25 passes for 106 yards and he was picked off three times. Back-up Freshman QB Trey McCollum took over in the third quarter and would only complete 3 of 7 passes for a measly 17 yards but did have a touchdown pass in the loss. Senior RB Rameses Owens led the Lions with 14 attempts for 88 yards and a touchdown.
From receiving the opening kick-off, the Bulldogs would drive 95 yards in seven plays as Hill would find R-Shirt Senior WR Brandon Britton for a 18-yard touchdown pass. With only 2:09 taken off the clock, Bowie State had the early 7-0 lead.
Two penalties didn’t help the Lions out first time they had the ball. Three plays netted Lincoln negative three yards and Sophomore K/P Cody Waddell’s 40-yard punt was fielded by by Bulldogs Sophomore DB William Flowers would return the punt 40 yards and let Bowie State begin it’s second offense possession at the the Lions 36-yard line.
It only took Bowie State six plays to score their next touchdown. This one was a 1-yard touchdown run from Chesson. The extra point failed though but the Bulldogs did have a 13-0 lead with 8:33 still left in the first quarter.
Not able to muster any offensive production, Waddell was force into another Lions punt. He would boot the ball 50 yards down the field and taken by Waddell at the Bulldogs 11-yard line. He would have an 89-yard punt return for another Bowie State touchdown and sent the fans into a frenzy. Sophomore K Gene Carson made this extra point and the Bulldogs had a commanding 20-0 lead and they were not even being close to stop scoring.
On the next drive, the Lions got lucky when Espinoza would hit Junior WR Carlos Croslin for 10 yards and a first down but Bulldogs R-Shirt Freshman DB Tevin Singleton stripped the ball away from Croslin but a heads-up recovery from McCollum would keep the Lions drive alive.
Just three plays later, Espinoza threw his first interception as Bulldogs R-Shirt Junior DeVonta High picked him off and would take it back to the house for a 45-yard pick six score. With 3:35 still left in the first quarter, Bowie State now scored 27 unanswered first quarter points.
Espinoza would get picked off on the next Lions drive by Bulldogs Sophomore DB John Johnson at the Bowie State 42 and would return it to the the Lions 37.
Three plays later and the Bulldogs would score their FIFTH touchdown of the first quarter when Hill connected with Freshman TE Marquis Watts on a 6-yard touchdown pass. Bowie State lead at this point, 34-0 and there was still 44 seconds on the first quarter clock.
Lincoln finally found some offense as the scored on their first drive of the second quarter. Owens would bust open a 41-yard touchdown run and with the extra point, the Lions joined in on the scoring, but the Bulldogs still had a whopping 34-7 lead.
Hill had his third touchdown pass on the Bulldogs next drive. The benefactor was Watts, who scored his second touchdown pass of the game (11 yards) and the lead grew to 41-7.
Lincoln looked to build on some offensive momentum as they would run 10 plays for 43 yards, but on fourth and eight at the Bowie State 33, Lions Freshman RB Justin Johnson pushed for just a single yard and the Bulldogs took over on downs.
On first and 10 at the Lincoln 18, Hill threw his fourth touchdown pass of the first half, an 18-yard strike to Britton (his second touchdown catch of the game) and you weren’t dreaming, Bowie State had it’s SEVENTH touchdown in the first half as the lead swelled to 48-7 with 3:16 left in the first half.
A three and out forced the Lions to punt yet again and the Bulldogs down it at their own 39-yard line, as Waddell’s punt only traveled 13 yards.
First play after the punt and Hill, on fire at this point, threw a 39-yard touchdown strike to Junior WR Lansan Sesay only taking seven seconds off the clock and in the first 29 minutes, 33 seconds of game time, the Bulldogs piled up EIGHT touchdowns from all areas, offense, defense and special teams and held a 55-7 lead at halftime.
Looking to get their second half off to a positive start, Lincoln would be penalized for an illegal block on the second half opening kick-off, making the offense start the possession at their own 12. For a second time in the game, the Lions only ran three plays and had gained negative four yards. Waddell punted the ball to Flowers and he wuold have his second touchdown on a punt return, taking this one in from 43 yards out. Bowie State had a mind-boggling 62-7 lead, with 13:01 left in the third.
Espinoza would finish his day when on the Lions ensuing drive, he threw his third interception of the game. This pass was picked off by Bulldogs R-Shirt Junior LB Kyle Jackson and he returned it 22 yards to the Lions 48-yard line.
It took Hill exactly one play to record his SIXTH touchdown pass of the game, throwing a 48-yard bomb to Sesay for his second touchdown catch of the game and it was a runaway laugher as it was now 69-7 Bowie State and there was still 11:15 remaining on the third quarter clock.
Later in the quarter, Chesson had his second rushing touchdown of the game (11 yards) and the 11th overall for Bowie State and the lead expanded to 76-7.
Lincoln would take the ball 86 yards on nine plays and taking 4:36 off the clock as McCollum, now the back-up QB, completed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Senior WR Elijah Smith and cut the Bowie State lead to 76-14.
Bowie’s first and only three and out happened on their next drive as Senior back-up QB Jay Adams came in to replace Hill.
Lincoln threatened to score on consecutive drives as they took the ball down to the Bulldogs 13-yard line, but four consecutive incomplete passes turn the ball back over to Bowie State.
The Bulldogs had their longest drive of the game. They would get to the lincoln 1-yard line but on fourth and goal, they decided to let Sophomore K Gene Carson hit a 20-yard field goal, it’s 12th scoring drive of the game and stretched the lead out to 79-14.
The final touchdown (12th of the game) took only three plays and Williams punched it in from one yard out and with 3:07 left in the game, the scoring ended at 86-14 Bowie State. It was the second time this year alone that Lincoln has given up 80 or more points to an opponent.
Next Saturday, Bowie State plays it’s last game of the regular season as they travel to Elizabeth City, North Carolina and battle the Elizabeth City University Vikings (4-5; 2-3 CIAA).
For Bowie State to have a chance to play in the CIAA Championship in two weeks, they first need to win their game and hope for a big Virginia State Trojans (8-0; 6-0 CIAA North Division) loss. The Bulldogs only loss of the season was a 47-35 defeat on 10/14 to the Trojans and Bowie State trails them by one game.
