MURFREESBORO, NC- The Chowan University football team lost a 35-31 decision on Saturday at the hands of the Bowie State Bulldogs.  The Hawks had a 31-28 lead over Bowie State with just 00:39 seconds left in the game, but it was Keith Brown's 57 yard touchdown rush that sealed the victory for the Bulldogs. 
 
Chowan collected 536 yards of offense in the loss in comparison to 442 by the Bulldogs.  Leading the way on Saturday for Chowan was Elliot Smalls, who tallied 127 rushing yards in the contest.  Cameron Stover connected with seven different Hawks' receivers in route to completing 22-33 passes and 311 passing yards on the evening.  Ryan Nolan caught nine passes from Stover for a total of 130 receiving yards.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, Dakorian DeSamme had eight tackles in the loss (five solo, three assisted).  William Griffith and TJ Batchelor chipped in with seven tackles each. 
 
Chowan failed to capitalize on a scoring opportunity in their first drive of the game as a result of a fumble on the Bowie State seven yard line.  The Bulldogs recovered the fumble before turning the ball back over to Chowan on downs. 
 
With 6:48 left in the first quarter and the ball on the Bowie State 10 yard line, Stover's interception picked by Antoine Young in the end zone shifted the momentum back to Bowie State. 
 
Chowan was able rally back later in the quarter.  With the drive starting on the Chowan 28 yard line, Elliot Smalls rushed four yards and two yards on the next two plays to set Stover up for a 22 yard pass to Antjuan Randall.  Nolan caught a 19 yard pass on the next play to take the ball to the Bowie State 18 yard line.  Stover rushed for nine yards on the next play, and Adrian Ferns rushed for one yard to get the first down for CU.  Stover held his composure after two incomplete passes with an eight yard rush into the end zone to put Chowan on the board.  Alex Noboa's point after attempt was good giving the Hawks a 7-0 lead with 1:20 left in the first quarter.
 
Noboa's kick-off to the Bulldogs resulted in a 25 yard return from Bowie State's Ridwan Cole.  Quarterback Jared Johnston connected with Jamal Chappell on a 20 yard pass to bring the ball to the CU 39 yard line.  Keith Brown rushed for 34 yards before being brought down by Jason Ampy, and the first quarter ended with the ball on the Chowan five. 
 
Bowie State wasted no time after the start of the second quarter.  Johnston's five yard pass to Khari Lee was complete resulting in a touchdown for the Bulldogs.  Mario Diaz-Aviles' point after attempt was good, tying the game 7-7.
 
Corwin Acker gave Bowie State's offense a spark after rushing for 24 and 46 yards on back to back plays.  Keith Brown rushed for four yards to score a touchdown for the Bulldogs giving them a 14-7 edge over Chowan. 
 
With 2:00 left in the half, Alex Noboa attempted a 30 yard field goal attempt, but missed far right.  Both teams failed to score in the remainder of the half, so Bowie State took a 14-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. 
 
The Bulldogs wasted no time pulling ahead even further in the third quarter.  Jamal Chappell's 24 yard kick return led to a first down for Bowie State.  Jared Johnson rushed for 49 yards on the next play to score for the Bulldogs, giving them a 21-7 lead. 
 
Alex Noboa made good on the field goal attempt at the 12:13 mark.  Bowie State answered back on the next drive with a touchdown rush by Jared Johnston to make the score 28-7 in favor of Bowie State.   
 
Chowan started the next drive with 5:53 left in the third quarter.  JR Williams returned Diaz-Aviles' kick-off for 11 yards.  Stover threw to Antjaun Randall on the next two plays with seven yard and 54 yard passes respectively.  An illegal block penalty brought the ball back to the Bowie State 15.  JR Williams rushed for 14 yards on the next play to bring the ball to the one year line.  Williams rushed one yard for the touchdown on the next play for the Hawks.  Chowan failed to convert on the two point conversion attempt. 
 
Down 28-16 at the start of the fourth quarter, Chowan inched closer to the Bulldogs with 13:53 remaining in the game.  Adrian Ferns' one yard touchdown rush combined with Noboa's successful point after attempt gave the Bulldogs a mere 28-23 lead. 
 
With Chowan's drive starting on the 10:45 mark in the fourth quarter, and facing fourth and 12, Stover fired a 26 yard pass to Antjuan Randall to give the Hawks the first down.  Two plays later, Stover through a seven yard pass to Damian Ellis in the endzone to allow the Hawks to pull ahead 29-28.  Stover then found Antjuan Randall to score the two-point conversion for the Hawks. 
 
With a 31-28 lead and 2:43 left in the game, the win for the Hawks seemed inevitable.  Bowie State had other plans though.  With 00:39 remaining, Bowie State's Keith Brown rushed for a 57 yard touchdown run giving the Bulldogs a 34-31 lead over Chowan.  Diaz-Aviles' point after attempt was good, securing the win for Bowie State. 
 
After the game, Head Coach Tim Place commented, “We didn't take advantage of some situations today.  We will learn from this.  If we want to be successful we need to take advantage of opportunities that are presented to us.  We still control our own destiny, but we didn't take control like we should have tonight.”
 
With the loss, Chowan moves to 3-3 on the season, and 2-1 in CIAA play.  The Bulldogs improve to 4-2 and 1-2 in the league.  The Hawks return to action next Saturday as they host Virginia Union host in a CIAA Northern Division match-up.  Kick-off with the Panthers is set for 6:00pm.