Morgan State University Athletics

Boxscore

Morgan State quarterback Bradshaw Littlejohn had his best performance of the season as he accounted for five touchdowns to help lead the Bears to a 34-30 victory against the Hornets of Delaware State. The game was played before 14,749 fans on a Homecoming Saturday afternoon at Hughes Stadium.

It was MSU's fifith consecutive homecoming win as the Bears improved its slate to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the MEAC.

Delaware State (2-6, 2-2) took advantage of an early Bear turnover when an Eric Contos punt bounced off the back leg of Larry "Choo Choo" Davis and was recovered by DSU's Cameron Jones at the MSU 14 yard line. The Bears defense held the Hornets to a 27-yard field goal by Peter Gaertner to put the Hornets up 3-0 with 8:03 remaining in the 1st quarter.

MSU got on the scoreboard late in the 1st quarter when Littlejohn capitalized on a 6-play, 57 yard drive capped by a 9-yard touchdown run by Littlejohn to put the Bears in the lead. The extra point by Nathan Keever made the score 7-3 at the 2:28 mark.

Littlejohn had a great performance in his last game at Hughes Stadium. The senior completed 14-of-21 passes for 240 yards and threw two touchdowns. He also torched the Hornet's defense by compiling 14 carries for 127 yards with three touchdowns.

DSU quarterback Bryan Botts also had a remarkable day for his team. Botts put together a long 13-play drive for the Hornets next score. The junior connected on 5-of-6 passes and found Dennis Savedge open in the endzone for a 5-yard touchdown pass to recapture the lead 10-7 with 11:35 remaining in the half.

It didn't take long for MSU to get back on the scoreboard after the change of possession. Littlejohn threw a 74-yard bomb to junior speedster Kelvin Dickens to cap a 3-play, 54 second drive. The Bears went back in front 14-10.

The Bears struck again when Littlejohn connected with Dickens, this time for a 45-yard touchdown and a 21-10 lead.

Dickens finished the game with four catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

DSU completed the 1st half scoring when Botts engineered a successful 7-play, 80 yard drive, but were held to a field goal as a result of a personal foul penalty on the Hornets.

Trailing 21-13, the Hornets came out of halftime and drove to within the Bears 8 yard line and threatened to score. However, the Bears defense stepped-up when an errant Botts pass was intercepted by Davis in the endzone for a touchback.

The Bears scored on the ensuing possession as Littlejohn drove the Bears from its 20 yard line to the Hornets' 38, before "Big Show" broke off a 38-yard TD run to extend the lead to 28-13 in the 3rd quarter.

The Hornets answered with a 6-play, 80-yard drive, but were again held to a Gaertner field goal to cut the lead to 28-16.

Littlejohn scored the Bears final points of the game when he took the Bears first play of the 4th quarter and scored his third rushing TD of the night, this time from 36-yards out.

The Hornets refused to go away peacefully as they would go on to cut the lead to 34-30 after Botts threw a 47 yard TD pass to Thomas Bolden (13:40) and tailback Afumiy McFadden completed a 62-yard drive with a 3-yard plunge with 3:50 left in the game.

The Hornets had a chance to win the game in the end as Boyd drove his team down the field starting from DSU's 23. A penalty against the Bears on a critical 4th and 4 put the Bears win in jeopardy. But fortunately MSU's defense held up on the last play of the game when Botts' pass to Bolden fell incomplete in the endzone and MSU held on to another high scoring barn-burner.

The teams combined for 989 yards of offense. MSU gained 496 yards, while the Hornets posted 493 yards.

Botts finished 36-of-49 for 420 yards and threw two touchdowns. Botts completed passes to nine different receivers. Bolden and Shaheer McBride led the Hornets receiving corps. Bolden finished with nine receptions for a game-high 150 yards and a TD, while McBride collected seven catches for 103 yards.

The Bears defensive unit was led by seniors Carlos Watts and Shannon Maynard who finished with 13 tackles each. Aaris Johnson also had a solid game as he collected a season-high 7 tackles and 2 tackles for loss. Rookie free safety Kendall jackson added nine tackles (7 solo) and helped the Bears seal victory with a breakup on the last play of the game.

MSU tailback Jason Jackson led MSU's ground attack with his fourth 100-yard game as he racked up 144 yards on 16 carries.