Bears Fall Short Against Broncos

The 4-0 start is now 4-1.

Shaw gave up 21 first half points to Fayetteville State and fell 28-21 before a crowd of 3,325 at Jeralds Stadium.  The Broncos have won the last six meetings.
 

Shaw’s ground game was in its regular CIAA leading mode at the beginning of the game.  Byron Cary  (23 carries, 41 yards) rushed for 31 yards on four carries on the Bears first drive and scored on a two-yard run to give the Bears a 7-0 lead.  On the ensuing possession, the Broncos did some running of their own picking up 38 yards on the ground on an eight-play, 70-yard drive that took 3:54 and culminated in a Duane Taylor to Shaw Timberlake five-yard touchdown pass-and-catch, tying the game at 7-7.
 

The Bears (4-1, 2-1) began to open up the passing game as, quarterback Jermonty Kimbrough (20-48-2-290-2) found Fayetteville native Mark Bransom for catches of six and 28 yards.  A roughing the passing penalty against Fayetteville State gave Shaw a first and 10 from the Bronco 14.  Cary rushed for one yard on first down, and then lost two yards on second down.  Cary rushed again on third and 11 and lost five yards.  On fourth and 16 Kimbrough and Bransom hooked up again, this time over the middle in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown.  The extra-point was missed but Shaw held a 13-7 lead. 
 

That would be all the scoring the Bears would muster in the first half.  Fayetteville State (3-2, 1-1) would score after a Shaw interception as Taylor found Daryl Bright running in the back of the endzone for a 16-yard touchdown.  The extra-point was converted and the Broncos led 14-13.
 

Both teams punted on their next possessions.  Shaw took over first and 10 from its own 44 following the Bronco punt.  Cary rushed for nine, then seven yards.  Kimbrough then found Bransom for nine yards.  Reginald Price (8 carries, 22 yards) rushed for seven yards and another Shaw first down.  The Bears offense then became stagnant as three-straight plays netted 0 yards.  On fourth and 10 from the Bronco 30, Kimbrough again found Bransom for what appeared to be a 30-yard back of the endzone one-foot-in-bounds touchdown catch.  But after conferring, the officials decided that it was not a touchdown and Fayetteville State took over on downs.  On the Broncos ensuing possession, Torrance Nunnally intercepted a pass returning it 39 yards to the Fayetteville State 14.  The Bears at this point began to find the going tough running the football as two-straight Cary rushes netted –7 yards.  On fourth down, Kimbrough’s pass was intercepted in the endzone by Walt Williams, who returned it 42 yards.  The Broncos ran the two-minute drill to perfection going on a 10-play 58-yard drive in 1:18 as Amir Holding’s four-yard touchdown run gave the Broncos a 21-13 halftime lead.
 

The Bears could not get anything going in the second half, fumbling on its first possession.  The Broncos capitalized as Taylor found Marques Newman for a five-yard touchdown catch and the Broncos led 28-13.
 

With their offense sputtering, Shaw began to play more of a field position game.  Instead of going for it on fourth down in Bronco territory, William Sanders punted two-straight times and the ball was downed at the Bronco nine and five yard lines, respectively.  On its next two possessions, Shaw went for it on fourth down.  On the first possession on fourth and one from the Bronco 33 a quarterback sneak was called to no avail.  On fourth and 10 from the Bronco 25, Kimbrough was sacked for an 11-yard loss.
 

As the game looked all but over for the Bears, they started their next-to-last-drive from their own 16 with 1:45 remaining.  Kimbrough found Damon Harrison (6 receptions, 90 yards) for 18 yards.  He then found Brasnom for 21 yards, 19 yards and 18 yards to the Fayetteville State 13.  On third and 10 Kimbrough found Cary for a 13-yard touchdown pass.  Shaw went for two and Kimbrough avoided a heavy Bronco rush and found Harrison for the two pints and the Bears trailed 28-21.  Shaw recovered the on-side kick and started first and 10 from its own 47 with 34 seconds remaining.  Kimbrough tried a deep pass to Bransom that went incomplete.  He then looked deep for Shawn Woodard, who was able to get his hands on the ball but Dentyl Jackson knocked it away.  On fourth and 15 Kimbrough found Cary for 19 yards as he got out of bounds with three seconds remaining.  Kimbrough’s last second pass to Kenneth Robinson was incomplete with no time remaining on the clock.
 

The Bears gained 382 yards of total yards to Fayetteville State’s 328.  Khaleel Sutherland led the Bears with 14 tackles (nine solo). 
 

Shaw will travel to Maryland to face eastern division opponent Bowie State next Saturday at 1:30 p.m.