Freshman Fred Scott had a team-high eight catches for 107 yards and two receiving touchdowns
Box Score
Lincoln University, Pa. – The Johnson C. Smith University football team falls 55-53 to Lincoln University of Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon inside Lincoln Football Stadium. JCSU moves to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the CIAA; while the Lions improve to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
JCSU had an awesome start to the contest, but their good fortunate did not last throughout. Senior linebacker
Michael Coats (Greenwood, SC) intercepted Lincoln's Doug Cook and returned the ball 61 yards for the game's initial touchdown. The Golden Bulls forced a fumble and recovered on the ensuing kickoff to the Lions. Senior tailback
Dedrick Anderson (Winston-Salem, NC) capped a 29 yard drive with a four touchdown run.
At the end of the first quarter, the Golden Bulls held a 28-14 advantage. However, Lincoln outscored JCSU 27-6 in the second quarter for a 41-34 halftime lead. Sophomore quarterback
Keahn Wallace (Homestead, FL) had a pass intercepted and returned 81 yards for a score to give the Lions their first lead of the game (34-28). The play happened with 6:54 remaining in the second.
The Golden Bulls' defense scored the only points of the third quarter. Senior linebacker
Darryl Rankin (Charlotte, NC) crushed the quarterback for a sack and forced fumble. Senior defensive end
Derrick Johnson II (Charlotte, NC) scooped the fumble and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown. The score remained 41-41 heading into the fourth quarter.
Both teams traded offensive scores in the fourth, but JCSU missed a PAT attempt. The Lions held on to a slim 48-47 advantage with less than five minutes remaining. The Golden Bulls managed to drive downfield, but yet another turnover proved to be too costly. Wallace threw his fourth interception to Tim Green, who returned it 77 yards for game winning score.
Down 55-47, JCSU produced a final touchdown with less than a minute on the clock. Wallace connected with senior receiver
Matthew Jeffries (Gainesville, GA) on an 11 yard TD pass. A two-point conversion pass attempt to freshman receiver
Fred Scott (Stone Mountain, GA) went incomplete and Lincoln sealed the win.
The Golden Bulls failed to recover from five turnovers, including four interceptions and 16 penalties for a loss of 153 yards. JCSU had 542 yards of total offense, compared to 479 yards by Lincoln.
Anderson rushed a season-high 161 yards off 20 carries and two touchdowns. Wallace finished with 294 yards off 18-of-37 passing with three touchdowns and four interceptions. Scott had a team-high eight catches for 107 yards and two TDs.
Freshman defensive back
Brett Love (Decatur, GA) led the team in tackles with nine, including seven solo. Junior defensive end
Quintel Talton (Columbia, SC), junior linebacker
Spencer Shine (Charleston, SC), and
Darryl Rankin all got to the QB for a sack. Rankin also forced a fumble and Shine intercepted a pass.
JCSU looks to move forward and erase this loss from their psyche. The Golden Bulls will face Winston-Salem State University on Saturday, October 6th at 4:00 p.m. inside Charlotte Memorial Stadium. This will be their first divisional conference game of the season.
