BLUEFIELD, West Virginia --Led by a crushing defensive performance that held the Bluefield State offense to 64 rushing yards, Fayetteville State took down the Big Blues 28-18 on the road Saturday afternoon.
The Broncos improved to 3-2 on the year and 3-0 in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association play, while the Big Blues fell to 1-4 and 1-3.
Bryce Council totaled 65 yards to lead the Broncos' ground attack in the game, picking up 10.8 yards per carry along the way. Derrick Alston Jr. also tacked on 42 yards on the ground.
Demari Daniels' most prolific target in the ballgame was Alston Jr., who caught two passes for 17 yards.
Dylan Morris led the Fayetteville State defensive effort, recording five tackles, 0.5 TFL, and one interception. Beni Mukulu added one recovered fumble and Brian Grier had three tackles, 2.0 TFL, and two sacks in the win.
The Broncos won the turnover battle in Saturday's game, forcing two turnovers while coughing the ball up one time, with Fayetteville State turning those takeaways into 14 points. Fayetteville State converted on 40 percent of third-down attempts on the day.
Defensively, Fayetteville State held up fairly well against the Bluefield State offensive attack, holding the Big Blues to 310 total yards. The Broncos defense took up residence in Bluefield State's backfield all game, racking up four sacks and 10 total tackles for loss.
How It Happened
FSU found itself down early 6-0, but fired back to grab a 7-6 lead with 13:37 remaining in the second quarter.The Broncos then followed with another score to expand the lead to 14-6.
Fayetteville State continued to build its lead after Bluefield State made it a 21-12 game, scoring again with 11:50 left in the fourth quarter to go up 28-12. Fayetteville State went scoreless the rest of the game while Bluefield State added six points to finish off the scoring.
Game Notes
» Bluefield State outgained Fayetteville State 310-201 in the contest.
» Fayetteville State won the turnover battle 2-1 after intercepting one pass and recovering one fumble.
» The Broncos scored first with 13:37 left in the second quarter when Caden Davis turned the left corner and rushed 40 yards for the score. FSU never trailed the rest of the game on their way to victory.
» Fayetteville State had their highest scoring quarter in the second period, when they put up 14 points.
» Fayetteville State converted 4 of 10 third downs while Bluefield State was successful on 8 of 18.
» Theniias Moss led the Broncos with eight tackles.
» The Broncos totaled 10 tackles for loss and added four sacks.
» Isiah Teal led the Big Blues passing attack, completing 26 of his 45 attempts for 227 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
» Darius Thompson was Bluefield State's leading receiver with 64 yards and two touchdowns.
