JCSU Football Upsets Fayetteville State, 37-20

Box Score Charlotte, N.C. (Oct. 17, 2015) – Johnson C. Smith and Fayetteville State battled through an entertaining third quarter that included three non-offensive touchdowns, but JCSU prevailed in a huge 37-20 win over Fayetteville State at the Irwin Belk Complex on Saturday afternoon.

Fayetteville struck first on their initial drive as the Broncos capped a nine play, 77 yard drive when Tavon Gatlin hauled in a two yard touchdown pass from Derek Bryant to give FSU the early 6-0 lead.  JCSU responded immediately when Roderick Carter (Miami, Fla.) streaked down the far sideline and Harold Herbin (Fayetteville, N.C.) found him for the 69 yard touchdown bomb. Erik Amaya (Kannapolis, N.C.) was true on the point-after to stake JCSU to the 7-6 lead.

Amaya then kicked a 29 yard field goal to extend the JCSU lead to 10-6 with 4:11 left in the first quarter.

JCSU boosted their lead to 17-6 in the second quarter when Fred Scott (Stone Mountain, Ga.) caught the first of his two touchdowns on the day.  Scott would put JCSU ahead 24-6 in the third quarter following a 16 yard strike.

On the ensuing kickoff, Fayetteville State’s Maleek Gorham caught the kick one yard deep in the end zone and raced 100 yards for the score, drawing the Broncos to within 24-13 at the 5:49 mark.  The Fayetteville State defense forced a JCSU punt and Tavon Gatlin returned the kick 82 yards for a touchdown to make it 24-20 JCSU with 3:29 left.

The JCSU defense then took over.  Sophomore Carlo Thomas (East Orange, N.J.) had his second interception of the game, taking it 43 yards for the touchdown giving JCSU the 31-20 lead with 1:19 left in the third quarter.  Thomas would cap the JCSU scoring in the fourth quarter, picking off a third FSU pass and returned that one 24 yards for the score, putting JCSU up 37-20 with 8:54 remaining.

The JCSU defense stopped FSU on a fourth down conversion attempt and took over with 6:00 remaining but had to punt back to the Broncos with 3:49 left.  FSU was able to drive to the JCSU one yard line, but Thomas came away with his fourth interception of the season and solidifying the JCSU win.  The Golden Bulls then took a knee, melting the clock and taking the upset win.

JCSU quarterback Harold Herbin finished with a team-high 90 rushing yards and passed for 124 yards on a 5-of-11 performance with two touchdowns.  Receiver Fred Scott had four catches for 63 yards and two scores and Roderick Carter had three catches for 94 yards and one score.  JCSU’s
Jordan Lane (Charlotte, N.C.) finished 4-of-8 passing with 36 yards and one touchdown.

Defensively, Carlo Thomas stole the show, picking off four FSU passes and returning two for touchdowns.  Thomas had 100 yards in interception returns.  Javard Gaines (Hackensack, N.J.) had nine tackles on the day, four being solo stops.  Gaines also had one tackle for loss and forced one fumble.  Desmond Taylor (Picayune, Miss.) and Austin Jacques (Springdale, Md.) each had seven tackles.  Taylor had five solo stops while Jacques had three in the winning effort.  Jacques also had a tackle for loss and one quarterback hurry.

Fayetteville State was led by quarterback Derek Bryant, as he tossed for 206 yards and one score on a 25-of-39 effort.  Bronco receiver Chris Hubert caught seven passes for 35 yards while teammate Tavon Gatlin had 50 yards on five catches with one score.

The loss drops Fayetteville State to 3-4 overall, 3-1 in CIAA play and 1-1 in Southern Division contests.  JCSU improves to 2-5 overall, 1-3 in league play and 1-1 in Southern Division play.

The Golden Bulls close out their home schedule next week, hosting the Shaw Bears for homecoming.  Kickoff against the Bears is slated for 1:00 p.m.