Bethune-Cookman hosted Edward Waters in their first home game of the season this past Saturday.
7,927 fans watched BCU thump their Duval brethren 35-9 and quite honestly, Daytona Stadium felt more alive than it has in quite some time.
Coach Woodie’s guys flashed the kind of explosiveness on offense and backbone on defense that fans have been longing for.
By night’s end, BCU racked up 437 yards on offense including 228 on the ground. Defensively, the Cats held EWU’s vaunted offense to just 9 points despite the Tigers scoring over 40 points per game in each of their first three contests.
True Freshman running back, Khamani Robinson, accounted for 114 yards on 12 carries. His 75 yard touchdown run early in the 3rd quarter broke the game wide open. Robinson was named SWAC Newcomer of the Week for his efforts.
Wide receiver Maleek Huggins promised to give the fans a show this season and he certainly did that on Saturday. Huggins racked up 177 yards receiving and two touchdowns. One of the touchdowns was a highlight-reel 82-yard score. It ended with a Michael Jackson inspired touchdown celebration. The senior from Bradenton also received conference honors this week being named Offensive Player of the Week.
Naim Lassiter added a defensive score with a 40 yard pick-six late in the 3rd.
Mini-homecoming spoiled
I’m not gonna lie, it was really cool seeing Brian Jenkins patrolling the sidelines in Daytona. It was also cool seeing Matt Johnson, Ryan Davis, Eddie Poole, and Brian Dorsey on the sidelines. Several other former Wildcats joined them. They took pictures and shared love with their former head coach. Brian Jenkins won 46 games in 5 years as BCU’s head coach so we knew he would have his team prepared and fired up for this game.
And that he did. Just about 9 minutes before kickoff, BCU’s public address announcer, welcomed Edward Waters to the field from the locker room. But there was one big problem, Jenkins wasn’t ready for his team to leave the locker room just yet. So he waited. And waited. And waited until Bethune was invited to take the field. It was only then that he decided it was time to run out.
It was a reminder of everything we love about Brian Jenkins and his teams. Make every contest a dog fight and find any advantage that you can.
Thankfully for Bethune, the pregame happenings had no impact on the outcome of the game. Neither did the FCS Reddit betting odds, which listed the Wildcats as 5.5 point underdogs against their D2 opponent.
Once the ball was kicked off, the bigger, stronger, faster, and better team won.
Relax Cookman Fans and enjoy the moment !
Relax Cookman Fans and enjoy the moment!
Jerry Bell – HailWildcats.com
Let’s be honest — Bethune-Cookman fans have been conditioned by the past few seasons to flinch, even in the presence of good things happening. Call it sports PTSD, call it phantom pains — call it whatever you want to label it, but the scars are real. Years of heartbreak have taught this fanbase to keep its guard up at all times.
We saw it again on Saturday. BCU dominated the first half. However, costly mistakes and a pesky Edward Waters reduced the Wildcats’ lead to just 14-6 at halftime. You could feel the anxiety of the crowd. There was the proverbial “here we go again” echoing around the stadium.
But the good guys rattled off 21 unanswered points in the third and showed their dominance with a 26 point win. Even still, some folks almost didn’t know how to react.
“Should we celebrate?”
“How would Saturday’s performance translate against SWAC competition?”
“Why didn’t the team score 40+ points?”
It was a weird phenomenon but here is what I say to all of this: Relax Cookman Fans and enjoy the moment.
Wins are hard to come by in college football, and when they do come, you’ve got to savor them. So let’s try to forget the scars and live in the moment.
Saturday was fun, and it’s okay to enjoy the moment.
Was it a perfect game?…Well no. But were there big plays to celebrate, defensive swagger, 4 interceptions, 4 sacks, young guys stepping up?… Heck yeah there was and that’s the kind of football that’s worth celebrating. Who knows, if the Wildcats keep stacking performances like this together, Daytona Stadium can start feeling like the fortress it once was. Maybe then the fans can flex their muscles a little too! 💪
| Statistic | EWU | BCU |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | ||
| Total | 20 | 15 |
| Rushing | 7 | 11 |
| Passing | 10 | 4 |
| Penalty | 3 | 0 |
| Rushing | ||
| Total (Net) | 74 | 228 |
| Attempts | 30 | 41 |
| Avg. Per Rush | 2.5 | 5.6 |
| Rushing TDs | 0 | 1 |
| Yds. Gained | 137 | 250 |
| Yds. Lost | 63 | 22 |
| Passing | ||
| Total (Net) | 173 | 209 |
| Comp.-Att.-Int. | 19–40–4 | 13-23-1 |
| Avg. / Att. | 4.3 | 9.1 |
| Avg. / Comp. | 9.1 | 16.1 |
| TDs | 1 | 3 |
| Total Offense | ||
| Yards | 247 | 437 |
| Plays | 70 | 64 |
| Avg. / Play | 3.5 | 6.8 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Penalties – Yds. | 13–94 | 11-89 |
| Punting | ||
| Punts – Yds. | 7-230 | 5-231 |
| Avg. / Punt | 32.9 | 46.2 |
| Inside 20 | 3 | 2 |
| 50+ Yds. | 1 | 2 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 1 |
| Fair Catch | 3 | 0 |
| Kickoffs | ||
| Total – Yds. | 3-138 | 6–349 |
| Avg. Yds. / Kickoff | 46.0 | 58.2 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 3 |
| Returns | ||
| Punt: Total – Yds. – TDs | 2–12-0 | 1-10-0 |
| Punt: Avg. / Return | 6.0 | 10.0 |
| Kickoff: Total – Yds. – TDs | 3–59-0 | 1-8-0 |
| Kickoff: Avg. / Return | 19.7 | 8.0 |
| INT: Total – Yds. – TDs | 1-0-0 | 4–51–1 |
| Fumble: Total – Yds. – TDs | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Miscellaneous | ||
| Misc. Yards | 0 | 0 |
| Poss. Time | 30:49 | 29:11 |
| 3rd. Down Conv. | 4 of 15 | 6 of 13 |
| 4th. Down Conversions | 1 of 1 | 0 of 1 |
| Red-Zone: Scores – Chances | 1-1 | 2–4 |
| Sacks: Total – Yds. | 3-22 | 4–44 |
| PAT: Total – Made | 0-1 | 5–5 |
| 2PT Conversion: Total – Made | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Field Goals: Total – Made | 1-1 | 0-1 |
| Qtr | Time | Scoring Play | EWU | BCU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 03:07 | BCU – Huggins,Maleek 20 yd pass from Ransom,Cam’Ron (Dominguez,Juan kick) 5 plays, 25 yards, TOP 02:57 | 0 | 7 |
| 2nd | 03:13 | BCU – Scott Jr.,Alihaja 9 yd pass from Ransom,Cam’Ron (Dominguez,Juan kick) 3 plays, 45 yards, TOP 01:13 | 0 | 14 |
| 2nd | 01:13 | EWU – Lovett,Makai 23 yd pass from Bodden,Noah ( ) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:00 | 6 | 14 |
| 3rd | 09:27 | BCU – Robinson,Khamani 75 yd run (Dominguez,Juan kick), 3 plays, 84 yards, TOP 01:32 | 6 | 21 |
| 3rd | 04:44 | BCU – Huggins,Maleek 82 yd pass from Ransom,Cam’Ron (Dominguez,Juan kick) 5 plays, 92 yards, TOP 02:12 | 6 | 28 |
| 3rd | 03:14 | BCU – Lassiter,Naim 40 yd interception (Dominguez,Juan kick) | 6 | 35 |
| 4th | 06:04 | EWU – Gagne,Ryan 41 yd field goal 17 plays, 67 yards, TOP 09:16 | 9 | 35 |
| 9 | 35 |
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