Bennett Has Career Day but Concord Holds On for 37-34 Win over Bowie State

ATHENS, W.Va. – Senior Trevon Bennett (Fort Washington, Md.) came off the Bowie State bench to throw for a career-best 349 yards but Concord University held off the Bulldogs second half surge to claim a 37-34 win on Saturday afternoon.

"Trevon did what we knew he was capable of doing but first half turnovers really hurt us”, said Bowie State head coach Damon Wilson following the loss.

Bowie State (0-3) was led by Bennett’s (349) passing yards and team-high 55 rushing yards. Senior Khari Lee (Baltimore, Md.) had a career afternoon as well, hauling in eight receptions for 105 yards. Redshirt sophomore Jordan Garrison (Baltimore, Md.) played his best game as a Bulldog, recording 101 yards on five receptions and two touchdowns.

Redshirt junior Curtis Pumphrey (Laurel, Md.) led the Bulldogs defense with 10 total tackles while graduate student Christopher Townsend (Washington, D.C.) and redshirt senior Paxton Queen (Upper Marlboro, Md.) added nine and eight tackles respectively.

Brian Novak and T.J. Smith paced the Mountain Lions’ offense with 419 passing yards and 149 reception yards on seven catches. Calvinaugh Jones led both teams with 141 rushing yards on 22 carries. Gary Saylor was Concord’s top defensive player with eight total tackles.

The Concord Mountain Lions (3-0) scored first at the 11:06 mark when Andy Ellington kicked a 22-yard field goal. The score was setup after a 51-yard run by Calvinaugh on the Mountain Lions first play from scrimmage down to the Bowie State 13 yard line.

Concord (3-0) capitalized on Bowie State’s third interception of the first half when Novak connected with T.J. Smith for a 26 yard touchdown with 14:20 left in the second quarter. Ellington added the extra point for a 10-0 lead.

The Mountain Lions increased its lead to 17-0 on a Novak to Ryan Stewart 48 yard touchdown at the 9:59 mark of the second quarter.

Concord’s Will Greathouse blocked a Mario Diaz-Aviles 41 yard field goal with 10 seconds left in the first half and Jeremiah Johnson returned it 65 yards for the score. Ellington added the extra point and sent the Mountain Lions into halftime with a very comfortable 24-0 lead.

When Wilson was asked what changed the momentum in the second half, he said, “We played our worst football in the first half … the guys regrouped and responded in the second half but we simply ran out of time in the end.”

The Concord duo of Novak and Smith added six more points at the 12:01 mark of the third quarter, this time from 11 yards out to pad the Mountain Lions lead at 31-0.

The Bulldogs finally got some points on the scoreboard at the 10:24 mark of the third quarter on a Bennett to Kerrick Pollock (Miami, Fla.) for a 21-yard touchdown. The Diaz-Aviles extra point was good but Bowie State trailed 31-6.

Bowie State’s defense forced a Concord fumble and took advantage of the turnover. Bennett connected with Garrison for a 40 yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 31-14.

Graduate student Kendall Jefferson (Temple Hills, Md.) pounded in from one yard out at the 4:09 mark of the third quarter to trim the deficit to 31-21. The score was setup following a 51-yard Bennett to Pollock pass and catch.

Bennett and Garrison teamed up again at the 14:06 mark of the fourth quarter for a 16 yard touchdown that cut the Mountain Lions lead to 31-27.

Concord stopped the Bowie State run when Novak connected with Stewart for an 18 yard score. The extra point was muffed and set the score at 37-27 with 11:04 remaining in the game.

Bennett scored his first touchdown of the season with 4:53 left to play and the Diaz-Aviles extra point pulled Bowie State within three at 37-34. 

The Bulldogs hit the road for the third consecutive week next Saturday (9/27) traveling to Salisbury (N.C.) to face the surprising Blue Bears of Livingstone College in the conference opener for both teams. Game time is set for 1 pm in Alumni Stadium.