Box Score Turnovers to blame in Marauders' 24-19 loss to Fort Valley State
WILBERFORCE, Ohio – One week after a road win over a Div. I FCS school in Arkansas-Bluff, the Central State Marauders nearly pulled the upset over the defeneding SIAC champion Fort Valley State. Turnovers proved to be costly as CSU eventually faltered, 24-19, to FVSU on Saturday afternoon.
The game began on a positive note for CSU when
Darian Nelson returned the opening kick to the FVSU 49-yard line. With reigning SIAC Offensive Player of the Week
Trent Mays ruled out of Saturday's game, senior
Lavon Meeks started under center for the Marauders. With Meeks at the helm, CSU ran a series of successful running plays resulting in a touchdown as
Terraris Saffold ran it in from 8-yards out. CSU failed to convert the extra point and led 6-0 at the 11:44 mark of the first quarter.
FVSU answered with a Juan Serna field goal on their next possession. CSU marched down the field late in the first half and had just 5 yards to go for anouther touchdown. FVSU denied CSU of adding any points as Meeks was stripped of the ball by Zacka Anderson and recovered by Kevis Jones.
The score remained 6-3 until the late stages of the second quarter. With FVSU forced to punt deep in their own territory, a high snap went over Serna's head. The punter manager to recover the ball and get his kick away. The ball hit off a CSU player and FVSU recovered it at their own 32-yard line, giving the offensive new line. The Wildcats took full advantage of the fumble recovered by manufacturing an 8-play, 67-yard drive capped off by a Chauncey Jackson touchdown run from 5 yards out. Serna converted the point after and the Wildcats led 10-3 with 2:04 remaining in the first half.
CSU were a benefactor of a roughing the passer call an illegal facemask penalty to quickly drive the ball down to the FVSU 1-yard line with 17 seconds left in the half. Meeks ran up the middle and stretched over the goal line to give the Marauders a 13-10 lead at intermission.
Slade showed that he felt more comfortable in the second half, connecting with Loren Smoothers for an 18 yard touchdown and fidning Daniel Gordon for a 23 yard touchdown to put FVSU ahead, 24-13 with 12:13 left in the game. While Slade was warming up, CSU turned the ball over twice in FVSU territory on an interception and fumble recovery.
The Marauders gave themselves a chance after an impressive 85-yard drive ended with a Meeks pass to
Renon Lorenzo from 18 yards out. CSU was unsuccessful in a two-point attempt and trailed 24-19 with 56 seconds left.
The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Fort Valley State and the Wildcats successfully ran out the remainder of the game.
Slade led the FVSU offensce with 144 passing yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 45 yards. Zacha Anderson was impressive on the defensive side of the ball for the Wildcats, leading FVSU with 8 tackles along with 1 interception and a forced fumble. With the win, FVSU improves to 4-3 overall with a perfect 4-0 mark in SIAC play.
Meeks showed his versatility and athleticism at the quarterback position finishing the day with 178 yards and 1 touchdown through the air. He also led all players with 97 yards and 1 score on the ground. Freshman
Mikey'ion Hunter led CSU's defensive efforts with 10 tackles and 3.5 tackles for a loss.
Falling to 1-7 and 0-4 in conference play, CSU will play their final two games of the regular season on the road. The Marauders will play at Tuskegee University next Saturday followed by a Nov. 5 matchup at Lane College.
Quotable – Head Football Coach Cedric Pearl
"A tough loss. That really is all I can say regarding today's result. We were on the right track today but the turnovers prohibited any chance of us coming out on top."
"With Trent (Mays) out and Lavon playing receiver up to this point, our game plan was to run the ball effectively and throw the ball when we needed to. We had success moving the ball but the turnovers prevented us from putting up more points."
"Our defense played well against one of the top offenses in our conference. We have a lot of young players on that side of the ball and I thought they did a good job of playing together today."
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Quotable – Senior Lavon Meeks
"My goal today was to just execute the game plan that the coaches put in place. We had to do a better job of protecting the ball and fell short in that area of the game."
"I just want to go leave everything out on the field in these last two games and do everything I can to help our team get a win."
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Quotable – Senior Lawrence Mosley
"It was great to have my family out with me during pre-game and to support me in my last home game at Central State. I am just really upset that we couldn't come out on top and deliver a win for them."
"As a senior, I just want to go out by winning these last two games. As a senior, I want to have a good feeling to end my collegiate career and I want the program to be able to build off a positive end to this season."
Notes
- Central State honored six graduating football players prior to Saturday's kickoff.
- FVSU entered Saturday's game ranked as the No. 1 offensive in the SIAC. CSU outgained FVSU, 378-299, on Saturday.
- CSU holds a 6-4 overall record in the all-time series against FVSU.
Next Game
Opponent: Tuskegee
Date: Saturday, October 30th
Kickoff: 1 pm cst
Venue: Cleve L. Abbott Memorial Stadium
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Coverage
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Tickets
For ticket information, visit -Â
http://goldentigersports.com/documents/2017/8/16/2017_Football_Season_Ticket_Pricing_.docx?path=football
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