November 21, 2009

Howard Drops Season Finale to Delaware State

Boxscore

DOVER, DEL. - Jaashawn Jones rambled for 130 yards and two touchdowns and Riley Flickinger added three field goals to help Delaware State defeat Howard University, 30-20 in the regular season Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference finale at Alumni Stadium.

The Bison (2-9 overall, 0-8 in the MEAC) took the early lead when they took advantage of a Hornet miscue.  Delaware State had a bad snap on a punt attempt that sailed over Nick Lochner's head and gave Howard good field position at the Hornets' 12-yard line.  It took three plays but sophomore running back Terrance Leffall capped it with a one-yard plunge.

The Hornets countered with a short drive of their own but the Bison defense stood tall and forced a 35-yard field goal by Flickinger at the beginning of the second quarter.

Delaware State (4-7 overall, 3-5 in the MEAC) rode the momentum and took the lead midway through the second quarter on an eight-play, 55-yard drive that was capped off on a 28-yard by Jones.

Neither team was able to do much as the half ended with the Hornets up, 10-7.

The Bison got a huge boost when sophomore Willie Carter took the second half kickoff and weaved his way 92 yards for a touchdown, the first of his career as a return specialist.

From there, Delaware State began to take control.  First the Hornets finished off a 67-yard drive with a 20-yard field goal by Flickinger that got them to within, 14-13.  Then quarterback Anthony Glaud, who passed for 315 yards, scrambled 5 yards for a touchdown that gave his team the lead for good at 20-14.

Flickinger opened the fourth quarter with a 29-yard field goal that upped the margin to 23-14 and Jones closed out the scoring for Delaware State with a one-yard burst.

Howard quarterback Floyd Haigler closed out the scoring for the game when he engineered a six-play, 79-yard drive that he capped off with a 33-yard strike to sophomore wide receiver Daley Gunter with 51 ticks left on the clock.

Playing in his last game as a Bison, Haigler completed 14 of 26 for 158 yards and a TD.  Carter, who finished with 120 yards on kick returns, added three receptions for 69 yards on his resume for the day.

Defensively, red-shirt junior linebacker Jermel Ellis had his best day as a Bison with 11 tackles and a fumble recovery.  Senior defensive end Will Croner closed out his career with another fine effort (9 tackles, a sack) as did senior safeties Martin Corniffe (8 tackles) and Arando Jamison (8 tackles).

Sophomore linebacker Ian Simon continued to make a strong statement for all-conference honors as the team-leading tackler recorded eight tackles.

GAME NOTES:  The 20 points was the most by Howard this season.