Raymond Woodie was all smiles after collecting his first career win on Saturday night against Savannah State. 

The normally stoic Woodie couldn’t quite hide the huge grin on his face in the postgame presser after Bethune’s commanding 31-6 triumph over SSU. Yet, staying true to his humble nature, he deflected the limelight onto his squad when asked to describe the emotions of his first collegiate victory as a head coach. 

“It feels good, especially to get the first win at home (but) I am happy for the players. It is all about the players” he remarked. 

While the night ended in warm fuzzies for Woodie and the maroon and gold faithful, it certainly did not begin that way.  The Wildcats got off to a sluggish start managing to register no points and only 2 first downs through the first quarter and a half of the contest. With the score still locked at 0-0, Woodie  made the decision to pull starting quarterback Walter Simmons and replace him with Luke Spraugue. The Wildcats looked like a completely different team after that tactical change.

Sprauge, who led the National JUCO Association in yards and completions last season, directed the BCU offense on 5 scoring drives on the team’s next 6 possessions. BCU opened the game’s scoring on a 12 play, 80 yard drive which ended in a 13 yard Jouvensly Bazil touchdown run. 

Savannah State scored a pair of field goals on the last possession of the first half and the first possession of the second half to cut the lead to 7-6. Those two field goals would be the Tiger’s only and last points of the contest as Bethune would score 24 unanswered from that point forward.

Bazil scored his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon on a 22 yard scamper to push the lead to 14-6 early in the third quarter. Sprague found Dacarri Allen-Johnson in the back of the south end zone at the 1:44 mark in the third to stretch the lead to 21-6. And after a 45 yard Cade Hechter field goal in the final frame, Sprague connected with Allen-Johnson for the game’s final score, this time in the back of the north end zone. 

For those keeping score at home, that’s 2 passing touchdowns for Sprague, 2 rushing touchdowns for Bazil, and 2 receiving touchdowns for Allen-Johnson.  Sprague’s final stat line was 23 for 29 for 223 yards.

Linebacker Dearis Thomas led the way defensively with 9 total tackles and 1 sack. 

Woodie and the Wildcats won’t have very long to celebrate this win as they travel south on I-95 to take on the University of Miami this Thursday night. 

Team Stats

1st Downs	15	25
3rd down efficiency	1-12	5-10
4th down efficiency	1-2	0-0
Total Yards	273	387
Passing	193	262
Comp-Att	17-31	25-35
Yards per pass	6.2	7.5
Interceptions thrown	0	1
Rushing	80	125
Rushing Attempts	27	29
Yards per rush	3.0	4.3
Penalties	9-95	3-20
Turnovers	1	2
Fumbles lost	1	1
Interceptions thrown	0	1
Possession	29:13	30:47