Late Fumble Sinks Howard

From News Services
Sunday, October 8, 2006

Corey Swinnie's 35-yard fumble recovery ended in a fourth-quarter touchdown and sealed Winston-Salem's 12-0 homecoming win over Howard yesterday in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Rams (2-4) led 6-0 at the half on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Monte Purvis to Josh Crawford early in the second quarter.

The touchdown gave Purvis his second scoring pass of the year, to go with his pair of rushing touchdowns.

The teams combined for 11 more drives before Swinnie's touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

The Bison (1-4) started the drive at their own 35-yard line with 8 minutes 19 seconds remaining, but Jason Holman and Williams Hayes combined to jar the ball loose from the grasp of Howard running back William Blanden on the second play.

Winston-Salem "did a great job on defense and they refused to give anything up," said Howard Coach Ray Petty. "We also helped with poor execution."

Howard limited Winston-Salem to 199 yards of total offense, but were equally futile on offense, managing just 182 yards.

"We could've overcome most of the mistakes, but the fumble was too big," Petty said. "Defensively, we played great but couldn't capitalize on any chances."

· LEHIGH 28, GEORGETOWN 3: Sedale Threatt led the Mountain Hawks to their sixth consecutive victory over the Hoyas by passing for 155 yards and two touchdowns as visiting Lehigh routed Georgetown at Multi-Sport Field.

Lehigh (2-3, 1-0 Patriot League) took a 14-3 lead when Threatt threw his second touchdown pass of the first half, a two-yarder to Frank Trovato 13 seconds before halftime.

A 19-yard punt return by Trovato, plus a five-yard penalty by Georgetown (1-5, 0-3) set up the short four-play, 27-yard scoring drive.

Marques Thompson led Lehigh's second-half charge with two five-yard touchdown runs in the fourth quarter, which extended the lead to 28-3.

Georgetown's lone score came with 38 seconds left in the first quarter on a 36-yard field goal by David Corak, the first of his career.

Matt Bassuener, in just his second career start, struggled against Lehigh's nationally ranked pass defense, completing 11 of 18 passes for 49 yards and two interceptions. Ben Hostetler relieved Bassuener midway throughout the fourth quarter. He finished 1 for 4 for 39 yards.

The Mountain Hawk defense limited the Hoyas to 204 yards of total offense, their lowest output of the season.

· WASHINGTON & LEE 28, CATHOLIC 0: The Generals (4-1) had two sacks, forced two fumbles and held the host Cardinals (3-2) to minus-28 yards rushing.

· MAINE 28, TOWSON 7: Arel Gordon rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown, and Ron Whitcomb ran for two scores as the Black Bears routed the host Tigers.

Daren Stone returned a blocked punt for a touchdown and Maine (3-2) recorded nine sacks, two fumble recoveries and an interception.

Maine out-gained the Tigers on the ground, 255 yards to 41.