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Benedict College Athletics

BC celebration ECSU
Dennis Switzer
The Benedict Tigers celebrate their victory over Elizabeth City State.
20
Winner Benedict BCFB2014 2-1
19
Elizabeth City State ECSU 1-2
Winner
Benedict BCFB2014
2-1
20
Final
19
Elizabeth City State ECSU
1-2
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
BCFB2014 Benedict 7 0 0 13 20
ECSU Elizabeth City State 13 3 3 0 19

Next Game:

Fort Valley State University

9/27/2014 | 6:00 PM

Next Game

Full Schedule
Sep. 27 (Sat) / 6:00 PM
 Fort Valley State University
History

Game Recap: Football |

Tigers Beat Elizabeth City State On Last-Second Touchdown

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – With four seconds left on the clock and the Benedict Tigers, trailing by six points, facing a fourth down from the Elizabeth City 8-yard line, it all came down to the final play on Saturday.

Quarterback Cameron Stover scrambled in the backfield, rolled to his right, then found a wide open Tyquan Bazemore in the left corner of the end zone for a touchdown to tie the game. Freshman kicker Tory Mimbs, who had missed the extra point attempt on Benedict's previous touchdown, connected on the PAT with no time left to give the Benedict Tigers an incredible 20-19 come-from-behind victory over the Elizabeth City State Vikings in the 17th annual Down East Viking Classic.

As the Tigers stormed the field, the players carried Mimbs off the field on their shoulders and hugged and congratulated Bazemore.

"The fourth down at the end of the game, I told the guys we were going with a play we call 'Scatter.' I told Cam, whatever you do, don't go down with the ball," Benedict head coach James Woody said. "We practice those types of situations. If it's fourth down and you scramble around, make sure you're patient. Bazemore did his job in the end zone. But the line did a phenomenal job to give him a lot of time. And it's hard to cover when you have a lot of time back there."

"I rolled around and looked around, and my guy was wide open in the end zone," Stover said. "The line did a great job. They held up and I had as much time as I could ask for and Bazemore made a good catch. It was incredible. This was my third time playing ECSU and my first time beating them. It feels amazing right now."

Bazemore said when he saw the ball coming towards him, his only thought was, "Game over."

Bazemore was playing in front of a large group of family members, including his grandmother, who was celebrating her birthday Saturday.

"I told my coach I needed to get a touchdown for my grandmother," Bazemore said. "I told Cam, I need one, and he made it happen. I knew I was wide open. I knew I would catch that. I had to make the clutch play. We worked too hard for that."

Mimbs, a freshman who is primarily a punter but has been forced into serving as the Tigers' place kicker as well, said this was his first-ever game-winning kick.

"It's something else," Mimbs said. "Coach Woody has really been pushing me. We have great special teams. I've been pushing myself as soon as I got here. Today, I started off and made one, then missed one and missed a field goal. The offense and defense and everybody set it up for me and I just knocked it through. That's what I'm supposed to do."

The Tigers trailed 19-7 entering the fourth quarter. After scoring the first touchdown of the game on a 50-yard fumble recovery less than two minutes into the contest, the Tigers had trouble moving the ball consistently. Elizabeth City State had a 16-7 lead at the half.

The Vikings were forced to punt on their first series in the fourth quarter, and Jeremy Glinton tackled ECSU punter Fisher McInville for a 15-yard loss before he could get the kick off, giving the ball back to the Tigers at the ECSU 35-yard line. On the very next play, Stover connected with Kendariss Brown for a 35-yard touchdown. Mimbs missed the extra point, making the score 19-13 with 11:56 left to play.

The Vikings turned the ball over on their next series, as Evan Pegues forced a fumble by ECSU quarterback Tyrell Houghton and DeVante Pinkney recovered at the ECSU 41. The Tigers weren't able to take advantage of the turnover, giving the ball back to the Vikings two plays later when Stover was intercepted by Maliek Wright at the 1-yard line.

The Vikings' drive stalled at the 24-yard line, and George Myers Jr. returned the punt 27 yards to give the Tigers good field position at the ECSU 35 with 2:40 left in the game. Stover had a key 14-yard run on third-and-13 to give the Tigers a first down at the 14. The Tigers ran the ball twice and an incomplete pass set the stage for the game-deciding fourth down at the 8.

"In the first half, we were pressing too much on both sides of the football. But I challenged the defense in the second half," Woody said. "I told them, we've got to stop this drive and don't let them get a touchdown and if we stop them and give them a field goal, we're going to win this football game. In the second half, our linemen made some adjustments."

Elizabeth City State, 1-2 on the season, had a big advantage in time of possession (36:52 to Benedict's 23:08) out-gained the Tigers 298 yards to 172, and converted nearly 50 percent of their third downs (11-of 21, compared to 4-of-14 for Benedict).

Despite outscoring the Vikings13-3 in the second half, Elizabeth City State had the ball for 22 minutes and five seconds, but the Benedict defense held them to just a 21-yard field goal.

Defensively, Avery led the Tigers with 11 total tackles and had the 50-yard fumble return when a Benedict punt hit the ECSU punt returner on the leg as he was trying to wave for a fair catch. Avery scooped up the live ball at midfield and raced untouched into the end zone. Benedict's only other scoring chance in the first half came when Mimbs missed a 32-yard field goal attempt.

After Benedict took the early 7-0 lead, ECSU tied the game on a 1-yard run by Kenny King. On Benedict's next series, Stover fumbled the ball and the Vikings took advantage of the good field position for a 9-yard touchdown pass, but the extra point missed. The Vikings later had a 14-play drive that ended with a 22-yard field goal for a 16-7 halftime lead. ECSU opened the second half with a 13-play, 61-yard drive that stalled at the Benedict 4-yard line. Jeff Flores kicked a 22-yard field goal for a 19-7 ECSU lead. The Vikings never moved the ball into Benedict territory the rest of the game.

Benedict, now 2-1 overall, returns home next Saturday to face Fort Valley State University. Kickoff is 6 p.m. at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium.

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Players Mentioned

Kendariss Brown

#23 Kendariss Brown

WR
6' 1"
Senior
Evan Pegues

#24 Evan Pegues

LB
6' 2"
Senior
Cameron Stover

#7 Cameron Stover

QB
6' 2"
Senior
Tyquan Bazemore

#21 Tyquan Bazemore

RB
5' 9"
Senior
Tory Mimbs

#41 Tory Mimbs

K/P
6' 0"
Freshman
George Myers Jr.

#5 George Myers Jr.

RB
5' 6"
Sophomore
Jeremy Glinton

#18 Jeremy Glinton

WR
6' 1"
Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

Kendariss Brown

#23 Kendariss Brown

6' 1"
Senior
WR
Evan Pegues

#24 Evan Pegues

6' 2"
Senior
LB
Cameron Stover

#7 Cameron Stover

6' 2"
Senior
QB
Tyquan Bazemore

#21 Tyquan Bazemore

5' 9"
Senior
RB
Tory Mimbs

#41 Tory Mimbs

6' 0"
Freshman
K/P
George Myers Jr.

#5 George Myers Jr.

5' 6"
Sophomore
RB
Jeremy Glinton

#18 Jeremy Glinton

6' 1"
Redshirt Junior
WR