MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The Chowan Football team continued to play tough down the final stretch as the Hawks fell short on Senior Day to regionally-ranked Virginia State on Saturday.
THE BASICS
FINAL | Chowan 21, Virginia State 28
RECORDS | Chowan 2-7 (1-5), Virginia State 7-2 (5-1)
LOCATION | Murfreesboro, N.C. (Garrison Stadium)
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Deshaun Wethington rushed for 117 yards on 20 carries to become the third Hawk to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season. Wethington would add a 65 yard receiving touchdown.
Bryce Witt threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns. Witt added 38 yards and a score on the ground.
Imeek Watkins would lead the team with three receptions for 74 yards and one score.
Raydarius Freeman and Marcus Devin led the Hawks defensively with 13 and 10 tackles respectively. Freeman added half a sack. Rafiq Abdul-Wahid recorded 2.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter:
Virginia State moved the ball on the opening drive, but the Hawks' defensive would step up as Rafiq Abdul-Wahid and JayVon Rush forced a fourth down. The Trojans' 49 yard field goal attempt would fall short.
Chowan's opening drive looked strong to start as Bryce Witt connected with Tyrell Freeman on passes of eight and 12 yards. Three unsuccessful plays would stall the drive and force a punt.
VSU would be forced to punt on their next drive as the Trojans would pin the Hawks inside the ten yardline.
Bryce Witt tried to spark the offense with a 14 yard run. Deshaun Wethington would add a 14 yard run, a penalty and an incomplete pass stalled the drive.
The defense continued to play strong for the Hawks forcing another punt.
Second Quarter:
Virginia State would open the scoring with their first drive of the quarter. A pass interference call would push the Trojans into the redzone. Two plays later, VSU would find the endzone to lead 7-0.
The next drive for the Hawks would move the ball via Imeek Watkins on a 10 yard reception and 10 yard rush. Bryce Witt found Ra'Cee Lucas on a 13 yard reception, but the drive would stall near midfield.
Chowan's defense would force another punt, but a muffed punt would allow the Trojans to continue their drive just outside the redzone. Despite a sack by Rafiq Abdul-Wahid and Antonio Hines, the Trojans used two intermediate passes and find the endzone to lead 14-0.
The Hawks would be able to find paydirt on their next drive as Deshaun Wethington started the drive with a pair of runs. CU would get the big play as Bryce Witt found Imeek Watkins for a 54 yard touchdown reception to cut the deficit to 14-7.
The final drive of the half for the Trojans would see VSU move the ball into the redzone. Coach Mark Hall would call back-to-back timeouts to "ice" the kicker. The kicker would miss the 30 yard attempt to end the half.
Third Quarter:
The opening drive of the half for the Hawks was abruptly ended as a fumble allowed the Trojans to take over near midfield.
VSU would strike three plays later on a big run. Antonio Hines blocked the PAT to keep the score 20-7.
Chowan would answer the score with one of their own as Bryce Witt found Deshaun Wethington on the throw back pass down the right side line for 65 yards.
The Chowan defense continued to play solid as the Hawks forced a fourth down. Rafiq Abdul-Wahid and Cameron Smith came up with the stop for a two yard loss.
Bryce Witt's pass would be intercepted on the next drive. VSU used the turnover and turned it into points with a 10 play, 61 yard drive to lead 28-14.
Fourth Quarter:
Deshaun Wethington would churn up yards on the next drive. VSU would get called for roughing the passer to continue the drive. Tyrell Freeman rushed the ball down to the VSU4. Bryce Witt called his own number for the score to trim the deficit to 28-21.
Raydarius Freemand and Rafiq Abdul-Wahid would team up for a sack to force a punt. The Trojans' punter would flip the field with a 63 yard punt.
The defense would step up once again as the Trojans looked to seal the game. The Trojans' kicker would miss his third field goal of the contest as his attempt missed left.
On the final drive of the contest for the Hawks, Bryce Witt connected with Brian Hopper Jr. for 13 yards. A personal foul penalty pushed the Hawks across midfield. Deshaun Wethington added 33 yards on three carries to move the ball into the redzone with 1:14 left.
The Hawks would start to move backwards on a holding penalty and a sack forced a 4th and 31. Imeek Watkins had a chance on fourth down to make a reception, but the attempt would be knocked away to end the rally.
UP NEXT
Chowan will wrap up their season as the Hawks travel to Lincoln (Pa.) for the regular season finale on Saturday, November 9.
