Oct. 24, 2009

Final Stats

GALLERY

FAYETTEVILLE - The Fayetteville State football team chose a good day to have the school's largest win over St. Augustine's College.

The Broncos' 56-6 homecoming victory on Saturday clinched a share of the CIAA Western Division title and a berth in the CIAA Championship on Nov.7 in Durham.

"I'm ecstatic man, I'm happy," running back Calvin Harris said. "We still have Livingstone ahead of us, so I'm not too anxious but I'm ready."

FSU will be making its fourth appearance in the championship game since it was brought back in 2000.

After an interception return for touchdown by SAC's Steven Stanback, FSU scored 49 unanswered points.

"Today we actually played four quarters of football... it was a complete game by us," junior Richard Medlin said. "That was the way we really play Bronco football."

St. Augustine's (3-6, 3-3 CIAA) finished with just 35 total yards and was held to -72 yards rushing on 38 attempts - both season lows for the Broncos' defense.

"We played hard all four quarters and just shut them down," said senior linebacker Marcos Esquivel. "We wanted to blitz the quarterback so he couldn't get the ball off. We didn't give him a lot of time in the pocket."

Added FSU (6-3, 5-1 CIAA) head coach Kenny Phillips: "This is the first time in a long time we played four quarters of football here at Fayetteville State. The kids did a great job today."

Esquivel had a game-high 10 tackles and also recorded two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.

"He is one of our defensive leaders," said Phillips. "He played a great game today. He's always consistent and we count him to get out there and make plays for us on Saturday."

Ten Broncos defenders recorded tackles for loss and FSU snatched four interceptions from Falcons' quarterbacks.

Darius Powell, a linebacker/defensive end for FSU, had seven tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks, three forced fumbles and a 12-yard fumble return for a touchdown - all season highs.

"He probably had his best football game of his young career here at Fayetteville State," Phillips said. "He's an unbelievable talent and we need him to continue to play like he played today."

FSU scored three defensive touchdowns - safety Jeff Gowdy recovered a blocked punt in the end zone, Powell's fumble recovery and cornerback Greg Summerville had a 30-yard interception return - and have seven non-offensive touchdowns this year. Medlin rushed for a game-high 88 yards on only eight carries and scored two touchdowns.

Four Broncos - Medlin, freshman Rasheen Pinckney, Michael Staton and Harris - rushed for 45 or more yards. Phillips' unit has averaged 223.7 yards rushing per game in its last four contests.

"That's one of the things I've been stressing," said Phillips. "If we can run the football, we can do some things with our offense. We don't have to go out there and have 500 yards passing."

Said Harris: "We watched a lot of film and we thought the game was going to be closer than it was. We ran hard and tried to protect the football."

After starting the season 0-2, FSU has won six of its last seven games. The win over the Falcons ensures the Broncos' eighth winning season in Phillips' 10-season tenure.

The Broncos close out the regular season on Saturday at Livingstone.

"We have to continue to play well as we have the last four weeks," said Phillips. "We have to keep the momentum going and keep stressing to the players that there is a lot of football left to be played."