Bowie State beats up on Alderson Broaddus 42-14

From bsubulldogs:

Alderson Broaddus (0-3) 14

 Bowie State  (3-0) 42

• HISTORY

Written by Kevin Parrish

BOWIE, Md. – With nearly 2,000 fans in attendance for the matchup between Bowie State University and Alderson Broaddus University, it was the Bulldogs who prevailed over the Battlers 42-14, taking a commanding lead of the series matchup.

A win is always an excellent thing for Bowie State Head Coach Damon Wilson, but even after a victory, there is still something that can be improved before the next game. “We’re still missing on little things” said Wilson. “It’s still a work in progress, but overall the result speaks for itself. “I’m very happy … Very happy that we always get the win. Always getting a W is always a good feeling. Like I say, there’s still some things that we could clean up, but overall, I’m very proud of the way we came out and hit it, especially in front of the home crowd.”

The victory pushed Bowie State to 3-0 overall while Alderson Broaddus dropped to 0-3 on the year, in the Bulldogs final non-conference game for the regular season.

As Bowie State continues its winning ways, the play of redshirt junior Gaston Cooper (Silver Spring, Md.) has improved with each victory. In his debut, Cooper struggled by completing 5-of-16 passes for 38 yards and was picked off twice. The following week, Cooper completed 15-of-31 passes for 148 yards.

Then, today, in his third start under center, he completed 8-of-14 passes for a season-best 187 yards and three touchdowns. If anything, it’s clear the signal-caller is gaining confidence after each matchup.

“He’s a lot better, coach Wilson said. “In game one, he was pretty awful! In game two, he got a little bit better. As for today, I think at halftime he was probably about 60 percent from a completion standpoint, which was better. You know, it’s not where we want to be, but he’s going in the right direction.”

One reason for the early disappointments could amount to a lack of snaps. Cooper transferred to Bowie State in 2017, where he spent two seasons backing up former Bulldog quarterback Amir Hall. Three games into the season, it’s apparent that comfort has begun to replace his nervousness.

“After I was pulled in the AIC game, I kind of came back, regrouped and kind of left all those nerves and feelings up there in Massachusetts”, said Cooper. I took a step back, reflected, just took a deep breath. It all comes down to relaxing and slowing the game back down. It was just really a lot of nerves coming in, but I mean, right now I feel like it’s just another day of practice.”

“Cooper is coming along”, Wilson said. “He’s getting better. He made some mistakes earlier in the game, but you know he was able to get us ahead going into halftime. I’d just like to see progression in regard to reading the defense and that sort of thing. He’s doing a much better job than he did game one.”

For the second-consecutive week, senior DuShon David (Washington, D.C.) was the leading receiver for the Bulldogs with 107 yards on three receptions. In total, the Bulldogs receivers gained 206 yards on 11 catches. On the other side of the ball, redshirt senior Anthony Howard (Temple Hills, Md.) led the Bulldogs for the third game in a row, accounting for six tackles.

Bowie State used a 33-yard pass from Cooper to freshman Victor Olayinka (Glenarden, Md.) at the 13:02 mark in the first quarter to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead.

In the second quarter, the Bulldogs converted again with an 11-yard run by Cooper, extending their lead 14-0.

Following that with 54 seconds left in the period, redshirt senior Geordan Clark (White Plains, Md.) hauled in a 27-yard pass from Cooper which put the Bulldogs up 21-0.

Coming out of halftime, the Battlers answered on its first possession as Zach Luke grabbed an 18-yard pass from junior Joe Czelusniak to shorten the lead 21-7.

A minute later, however, David caught a pass from Cooper and outran the Alderson Broaddus secondary for a 75-yard score, pushing the Bowie State lead to 28-7 at the 10:05 mark of the third quarter.

At the 12:15 mark of the fourth quarter, junior Ja’rome Johnson (Washington, D.C.) juked defenders on his way to a 10-yard touchdown, giving Bowie State a comfortable 35-7 lead.

Junior Tevin Singleton (District Heights, Md.) picked off a pass and returned it down the Bulldogs sideline for a 42-yard touchdown with 10:09 left in the contest, padding the Bulldogs lead at 42-7.

With 4:57 left in the final period, Alderson Broaddus’ Dominic Pegley caught a 49-yard pass from Czelusniak to account for the final margin of 42-14.

The Bulldogs will welcome the Saint Augustine University Falcons to campus next Saturday (September 28), in its first conference matchup of the year. But whether it’s a conference matchup or not, the focus relies on communications and trusting one another.

“We always want to get better each week, Wilson continued. “We don’t care if it’s a conference game or not, we just have to get better each week. This week, we’re going to focus on communicating better and be ready for Saint Augustine’s.”
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