Rodney Scott

BCU 2012 MEAC Champs

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SAVANNAH, Ga. — Quentin Williams threw two touchdown passes and ran for 121 of Bethune-Cookman’s 377 rushing yards as the Wildcats beat Savannah State 49-7 Saturday in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game.

BCU’s win coupled with North Carolina Central’s 22-21 loss to Florida A&M sealed the 2012 MEAC Championship for the Wildcats. Congratulations to the 2012 Wildcats for securing Bethune-Cookman’s 2nd MEAC title in 3 years and the Cat’s first outright title since 2002. 

Williams completed 9 of 12 passes for 103 yards and threw touchdown passes of 11 and 36 yards. His second touchdown, a strike to David Blackwell, gave Bethune-Cookman a 35-0 halftime lead.

Isidore Jackson finished with 100 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries for Bethune-Cookman (8-2, 7-0).  Jackson is needs just 82 yards to reach 1,000 rushing on the season.  Rodney Scott posted 51 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries and Brodrick Waters tallied 47 yards on six carries.

Savannah State (1-9, 0-7) got on the board midway through the third quarter when Cornel Weston recovered a fumble in the end zone. But Waters scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to create the final margin.

Bethune-Cookman smothered Savannah State quarterback Antonio Bostick all game, forcing three interceptions and recording four sacks.

BCU tops Hampton 38-26

/ J Bell / 1 Comment

Associated Press

HAMPTON, Va. — Bethune-Cookman forced seven turnovers — including a pair of interceptions by Nick Addison — to take a 38-26 decision from Hampton Saturday night in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference action.

The Wildcats (3-2, 2-0) picked off four Hampton (0-4, 0-2) passes and recovered three more forced fumbles. Of the Pirates’ final 10 possessions, six ended in turnovers, and another finished with a turnover on downs.

At one point, Hampton tossed interceptions on three consecutive drives, with Bethune-Cookman using those picks to rack up 17 consecutive points and take a 31-10 lead. Among those scores was a 90-yard interception return by Addison, the fourth longest in school history and the team’s first interception return for a score since 2010. On top of his two picks, Addison led the Wildcats with 11 tackles.

Jeremi Schwartz gained a sizable chunk of Hampton’s total offense, amassing 205 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.

Quentin Williams got the start at quarterback for the Wildcats and took all of the snaps under center until midway through the 4th quarter.  Williams finished the contest with 1 rushing touchdown and 1 passing touchdown going 9-for-12 for 96 yards in the process. 

Safety Nick Addison led the defense with 11 total tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 2 interceptions, including one he returned 90 yards for a BCU touchdown.

The win snapped a two game losing skid for BCU.

Team Stat Comparison

 
 

COOK
 

HAMP
1st Downs 21 30
Total Yards 320 536
Passing 118 279
Rushing 202 257
Penalties 20-181 17-152
3rd Down Conversions 4-12 6-14
4th Down Conversions 0-1 1-2
Turnovers 0 7
Possession 28:52 30:28
 

Passing Leaders

 
Bethune-Cookman C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT
Williams 9/12 96 8.0 1 0
 
Hampton C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT
Champion 20/33 208 6.3 1 3
 

Rushing Leaders

 
Bethune-Cookman CAR YDS AVG TD LG
Scott 12 82 6.8 1 46
Jackson 16 79 4.9 0 15
 
Hampton CAR YDS AVG TD LG
Schwartz 25 201 8.0 1 51
McCloude 5 56 11.2 0 26
 

Receiving Leaders

 
Bethune-Cookman REC YDS AVG TD LG
Harris 1 28 28.0 0 28
Jackson 2 23 11.5 1 13
 
Hampton REC YDS AVG TD LG
Griffin 6 99 16.5 1 28
Riddick 5 66 13.2 0 28

Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER COOK HAMP

 TD 10:46 Quentin Williams 5 Yd Run (Sven Hurd Kick)  7 0

 FG 08:12 Taurean Durham 30 Yd  7 3

 TD 00:19 Rodney Scott 1 Yd Run (Sven Hurd Kick)  14 3

SECOND QUARTER COOK HAMP

 TD 12:38 Andre Griffin 11 Yd Pass From Travis Champion (Taurean Durham Kick)  14 10

 FG 04:36 Sven Hurd 42 Yd  17 10

THIRD QUARTER COOK HAMP

 TD 11:40 Nick Addison 90 Yd Interception Return (Sven Hurd Kick)  24 10

 TD 07:22 Isidore Jackson 13 Yd Pass From Quentin Williams (Sven Hurd Kick)  31 10

FOURTH QUARTER COOK HAMP

 TD 08:16 Javaris Brown 25 Yd Pass From Jaylian Williamson (Taurean Durham Kick)  31 17

 TD 05:37 David Blackwell 20 Yd Pass From Brodrick Waters (Sven Hurd Kick)  38 17

 SF 04:03 Ball Through End Zone  38 19

 TD 01:09 Jeremiah Schwartz 1 Yd Run (Taurean Durham Kick)  38 26

BCU vs SCSU Preview

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BCU Mascot

BCU Mascot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When Bethune-Cookman squares off against South Carolina State tomorrow night at 6:00, it could very well be a showdown of the two best teams in all of HBCU football.  Both teams enter the contest coming off of impressive victories.  The Bulldogs defeated Georgia State of the formidable CAA conference convincingly on the road.  The Dogs racked up 488 yards of offense on their way to a 33-6 victory over GSU.  Quarterback Richard Cue led SCSU with 300 yards passing and three touchdowns. Wide Receivers Caleb Davis and Lennel Elmore both eclipsed the 100 yard receiving mark in the contest.

The Wildcats started slowly in their Week 1 matchup and fell behind 21-0 against Alabama State.  But the Beach Cats found their form in the 2nd quarter and steamrolled to a 38-28 win in last week’s MEAC/SWAC Challenge.  Senior quarterback Brock Waters replaced Jackie Wilson midway through the second quarter and was responsible for three BCU touchdowns (2 passing and 1 rushing) in the contest.  Waters (100 yds) joined running backs Isidore Jackson (123 yds) and Rodney Scott (103 yds) as 100 yard rushers in last week’s contest.  BCU tallied 551 total yards of offense on the afternoon and will hope to carry that momentum into Oliver C Dawson Stadium where they have experienced a good deal of success recently.  In fact, the Wildcats have won 4 of their last 5 meetings on the Bulldog’s home field; the last of which was 14-0 shutout in 2010. 

The Wildcats and Bulldogs are eerily similar in terms of overall talent, team speed, and size but the similarities do not just stop there.

  • SCSU head coach Buddy Pough has never finished worse than 2nd in the MEAC’s final standings; but neither has BCU coach Brian Jenkins.
  • Bethune returns 9 starters on offense from 2011; and so do the Bulldogs. 
  • SCSU loss 7 starters from last season’s defense; BCU loss 6 starters from their 2011 defense.
  •  Both teams have dual threat quarterbacks (SCSU-Richard Cue; BCU-Brock Waters/Jackie Wilson) and a host of talented wide receivers.  The teams also have very experienced offensive lines and a plethora of new but talented starters on defense.
  • The teams are 8-7 in their last 15 head-to-head matchups with BCU holding the 1 game advantage during that span.
  • Bethune has won 4 of the last 5 games played in Orangeburg, while South Carolina State has won 3 straight in Daytona Beach.

 Advantages:

  • South Carolina State appears to have an advantage in special teams with dangerous return men, Lennel Elmore and Darius Drummond fielding punts and kickoffs.
  • Bethune seems to have a clear advantage in the rushing attack in running backs Isidore Jackson and Rodney Scott.  And if last week’s performance is any indication, Brock Waters is as valuable in the running game as any other player on BCU’s roster.

 3 keys to victory for BCU

1. Know who to block—BCU has a very experienced offensive line.  That experience will be put to the test against SCSU’s heavy blitzing, 3-4 defensive scheme.  BCU enjoyed a great deal of success running the ball right at the Bulldog defense last year. The Wildcats should have success running the ball again this year.  In the passing game, BCU’s offensive line and quarterback(s) must account for all rushers.  If that happens, BCU’s offense could have a huge night.

2. Connect in the passing game when called upon—The Wildcats boasted one of the best rushing attacks in the country in 2011.  They carried that trend into Week 1 where they racked up 367 yards on the ground.  The Cats will need to connect on enough throws in the passing game to keep the Bulldog defense from committing too many players to stop the run.  If/when SCSU commit those extra bodies against the run, the Wildcats will need to take advantage of the single coverage and connect on plays down the field in the passing game.

3. Don’t give up too much on special teams—Coach Jenkins cited Darius Drummond’s two punt returns that ended inside the 20 yard line as the key factors in his team’s 26-18 defeat to SCSU last season.  BCU cannot afford to have history repeat itself again this season if they hope to win.

Our prediction:

BCU wins impressively 34-17.

The game can be viewed live (6:00 P.M.) on WatchESPN or on ESPNU on tape delay beginning at 10:30 P.M.

BCU rushes pass ‘Bama State

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2012 MEAC/SWAC Challenge

Seventeen minutes into Sunday’s matchup against Alabama State, Bethune-Cookman fans were left gazing at the scoreboard and wondering if they would wind up on the wrong end of a one-sided MEAC/SWAC Challenge.

The Hornets opened the contest with a 12 play, 75 yard drive which ended with a 5 yard Greg Jenkins touchdown run.   ASU’s second and third scores were aided by a BCU fumble on a punt return and a missed field goal respectively.  With 13:45 remaining in the 2nd Quarter, ASU was defending a 21-0 lead and looking to run away with the contest. 

As dominant as ASU appeared over the first seventeen minutes, BCU was equally dominant over the final forty-three minutes of the contest.  Like ASU, BCU’s first scoring drive consumed 12 plays, 75 yards and ended with a rushing touchdown (Andronicus Lovette, 2 yards).  Sven Hurd added a 20 yard field goal just before halftime to bring the deficit to 21-10.

The Wildcat offense started to steamroll in the second half scoring touchdowns on their second (24 yd pass from Brock Waters to Jhomo Gordon), third (6 yd run by Waters), and fourth (47 yd pass from Waters to Eddie Poole) possessions after the half.  Both teams tacked on an additional touchdown before the final whistle.

Coach Brian Jenkins was quick to sing the praises of his squad.  “Alabama State is a championship caliber team; don’t let the score fool you”.  “We knew they had a high octane offense but there was no doubt in our mind that we would end up victorious.  You saw a team today that believes in the philosophy that we’re teaching (stay in the moment and play every play).  It’s just a tremendous thing to see the fight that our guys showed today”.

Thank God for the backup quarterback

Coach Jenkins revealed in his postgame interview that quarterback Jackie Wilson was unable to continue in Sunday’s contest because of conditioning/heat related issues.  Louisiana Tech transfer Brodrick Waters (who prefers to go by Brock) relieved Wilson midway through the 2nd quarter.  Waters inherited a 21-7 deficit, but led the Wildcats to 31 unanswered points.  Waters ended the afternoon with 100 yards rushing on 11 attempts (1 rushing td) and 6 of 9 passing for 110 yards with 2 touchdowns.  The second of Water’s TD passes was a beautiful 47 yard hookup on a post route to Eddie Poole on 3rd and 21.   The result of the play pushed BCU to a comfortable 31-21 lead.

Waters, who played with the message ‘RIP’— ‘TD 22’ written on his eye black, combined with Isidore Jackson (123 yards) and Rodney Scott (103, 1 td) to make BCU history as the first trio of rushers to eclipse the 100 yard rushing mark in the same game.  When asked about the significance of his Tebowesque eye black message, Waters explained that he was honoring his former La Tech teammate Tyrone Duplessis.  The 21-year old Duplessis died in his sleep in February of this year.  “He was someone that I looked up to” Waters stated.  “I decided to dedicate this game to him as well as my first touchdown.  They told me that I almost got one (touchdown) called back (for excessive celebration) because I showed some emotion towards him and that probably wasn’t the best thing to do”.

BCU finished the game with 383 yards rushing on 60 attempts for a 6.1 yard average.  Eddie Poole (102 yards, 1 td) eclipsed the 100 yard receiving mark on the afternoon and pushed his consecutive games with a catch streak to 24.  In total, the Wildcat offense racked 551 yards of offense.

Jarkevis Fields led the defensive charge with 10 tackles, 1 sack and 2 tackles for loss.  The Wildcat “D” held ASU running back Isaiah Crowell to 18 yards rushing on 9 attempts.  Crowell (formerly of the University of Georgia) is the 2011 SEC Offensive Freshmen of the Year recipient.

The Wildcats travel to Orangeburg next Saturday for an early season showdown with MEAC powerhouse South Carolina State.  Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 P.M..

Team Stat Comparison

  ALST COOK
1st Downs 22 25
Total Yards 351 551
Passing 253 184
Rushing 98 367
Penalties 3-30 15-111
3rd Down Conversions 8-15 8-16
4th Down Conversions 0-1 1-1
Turnovers 2 1
Possession 25:05 34:55

Passing Leaders

 
Alabama State C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT
Jenkins 19/29 196 6.8 0 1
 
Bethune-Cookman C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT
Waters 6/9 110 12.2 2 0

Rushing Leaders

 
Alabama State CAR YDS AVG TD LG
Jenkins 15 39 2.6 2 17
Crowell 9 18 2.0 1 11
 
Bethune-Cookman CAR YDS AVG TD LG
Jackson 21 123 5.9 0 25
Scott 13 103 7.9 1 38

Receiving Leaders

 
Alabama State REC YDS AVG TD LG
McWilliams 6 89 14.8 1 39
Neely 5 64 12.8 0 34
 
Bethune-Cookman REC YDS AVG TD LG
Poole 3 102 34.0 1 54
Stroud 4 39 9.8 0 15

Qtr Time Scoring Play

1st 11:06 ALST – Jenkins, Greg 5 yd run (Wenzig, Bobby kick), 12-75 3:54 7 – 0
04:28 ALST – Crowell, Isaiah 2 yd run, 2-20 0:43 14 – 0
2nd 13:45 ALST – Jenkins, Greg 3 yd run (Wenzig, Bobby kick), 8-72 2:15 21 – 0
09:18 BCU -LOVETTE,Andronicus 2 yd run , 12-75 4:21 21 -7
00:01 BCU – HURD,Sven 20 yd field goal, 12-77 3:02 21 – 10
3rd 05:53 BCU – GORDON,Jhomo 24 yd pass from WATERS,Brodrick (HURD,Sven kick), 5-70 3:04 21 – 17
04:28 BCU – WATERS,Brodrick 6 yd run (HURD,Sven kick), 4-20 1:19 21 – 24
4th 10:39 BCU – POOLE,Eddie 47 yd pass from WATERS,Brodrick, 11-91 5:36 21 – 31
06:59 BCU – SCOTT,Rodney 38 yd run, 2-39 0:53 21 – 38
03:53 ALST – McWilliams, T.C 39 yd pass from Duhart, Daniel (Wenzig, Bobby kick), 9-79 2:59 28 – 38

Quarterback, Running Back and Wide Receiver preview

/ J Bell / Leave a comment

There is an old adage in sports that states “defense wins championships”.  Perhaps that’s true, but the last I checked the team that scores the most points wins the game.  In this article we take a look at the units responsible for scoring touchdowns; the quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers.

Eddie Poole (pictured) scored 9 TDs in 2010.

Wide Receiver

Eddie Poole (Glades Central High School/Rutgers) is the most polished of BCU’s talented wide receivers.  He has good size at 6-3, 190 pounds, he runs good routes, but most importantly, he consistently wins in one-on-one situations.  Poole caught 33 passes for 550 yards and scored 9 touchdowns a year ago.  Poole’s former Rutgers teammate, Keith Stroud, is a welcomed addition to the receiving unit.  Stroud, a 4 star recruit (Fork Union Virginia Military Academy/Rutgers)  provides the Cats with another big, athletic target (6-4, 206 pounds) on the outside. http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/player-Keith-Stroud-72410

Maurice Francois and Courtney Keith are former Option quarterbacks who transitioned to wide receiver last season.  Keith and Francois’ athleticism and football instincts allow them to make up for their inexperience at the position.  They are dynamic playmakers who are electric with the ball in their hands.  Both players should progress in their 2nd year as wide receivers.  Randy James and speedster Preston Cleckly are also expected to see playing time at the position. Sophomore Jordan Murphy provides the Cats with a sure-handed target at the tight end position.

The depth and versatility of the receiving corp makes it the highest rated unit on the offensive side of the ball.  Grade: B

Running Backs

Isidore Jackson scores in the 2nd Quarter of the FL Classic

Despite being a backup last year, Isidore Jackson led the squad with 11 touchdowns and only Matt Johnson rushed for more yards.  The offseason signing of Ole Miss transfer, Rodney Scott, means Jackson will likely have to share carries again this season. 

Rodney Scott is an agile runner who possesses the type of speed and vision that makes him a scoring threat from anywhere on the field.  Andronicus Lovette and Jonathan Moment provide good depth at the position combining for 524 yards and 9 tds last year (Lovette 264 yards and 6 touchdowns, Moment 260 yards and 3 touchdowns).  Last year’s unit was a servicable bunch but the Cats will need to get better production and more explosion from the running back position if they wish to duplicate last year’s success.  Grade: C- 

Quarterbacks

Jr. QB Jackie Wilson (#5)

The success of Brian Jenkins’ second season as a head coach will depend heavily on his team’s quarterback play.  Gone is the reigning MEAC Offensive Player of the Year Matt Johnson.  Jackie Wilson, David Blackwell, and Quentin Williams will look to replace Johnson as the primary signal caller.

Jackie Wilson is the only one of the three that has taken a snap from center against FCS competition.  Last year Wilson completed just 47 percent of his passes throwing 3 TDs and 2 INTs in the process.  Blackwell played quarterback for Iowa Western Junior College in 2009 before redshirting at BCU in 2010.  Although Blackwell and Wilson both took snaps with the first team during spring drills, Coach Jenkins has yet to reveal which player enters fall camp atop the depth chart. 

True Freshman Quentin Williams, the 2010 Florida “Mr. Football” award recipient is already the most popular quarterback on campus.  Williams is the state of Florida’s all-time leader in TD passes (109) and passing yards (10,384).  Yet “major” FBS schools were slow to offer him a scholarship because of his height (6-0).  Williams is extremely poised, he has a very strong and accurate arm and he is a threat in the running game.  A source close to the Wildcat program has stated “Williams will have a chance to play quarterback on Sundays when his college career ends”.  Quentin Williams is certainly the future of Wildcat football but the immediate question is ‘is he ready to contribute right away’?  The Wildcat Quarterbacks are a talented but unproven bunch.   Our preseason grade is a D+.