FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Chowan Football team committed five turnovers and missed two field goals as the Hawks dropped their first CIAA contest of the year to Fayetteville State 13-10 on Thursday night on the road.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 10, Fayetteville State 13

RECORDS | Chowan 2-3 (2-1), Fayetteville State 3-2 (2-1)

LOCATION | Fayetteville, N.C. (Nick Jeralds Stadium)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Chowan outgained Fayetteville State 413-181 as the Hawks had 186 yards on the ground and 227 yards through the air.  The defense forced Fayetteville State to 1-13 on third down.

Nijere Peoples rushed for 94 yards on 23 carries.  Tyrek McNeil tallied 78 yards receiving and 57 yards rushing in the contest.  Malik Tobias hauled in four catches for 63 yards and a touchdown.

Nic Wilson returned a fumbled snap on a PAT for a defensive two-point conversion trekking 87 yards.  Raydarius Freeman led the Hawks with six tackles.  Montre Moore and Burnico Perofeta tallied five tackles each.

Fayetteville State punter, Jacob Young, flipped the field on several occasions with two punts over 50 yards and four inside the 20.

For the first time in program history, the Hawks scored an offensive and defensive two-point conversion in the same game.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Quarter:

Fayetteville State elected to receive the opening kick-off and quickly get the ball into Chowan territory after a strong return and a pair of runs.  The defense would settle in to force a pair of runs of no gain and a punt.  The Broncos would pin the Hawks deep inside their own five at the CU4.

The opening play of the drive for Chowan would result in a turnover as the Broncos forced a fumble.  FSU would take two plays to find the endzone to lead 7-0.

Caleb Pierce started the next drive with a completion to Tyrek McNeil before Nijere Peoples picked up a first down on a tough run.  A pair of negative plays and a strip-sack gave the Broncos the ball in the redzone.

The Chowan defense would hold for a field goal attempt.  Caleb Hester would partially block the attempt to keep the score at 7-0.  Nijere Peoples opened the drive with a pair of runs before Tyrek McNeil broke off an 18-yard rush to push the Hawks to midfield.  Peoples ripped off a 28 yards on the next three rushes to put the Hawks just outside of the redzone.  Caleb Pierce connected with Jordaan Bailey on a quick reception before Peoples moved the Hawks down to the FSU14.  The drive would stall inside the redzone as the 29-yard attempt would be missed.

The Broncos would use the ground attack to move the ball down the field before the end of the quarter.

Second Quarter:

After an opening completion in the quarter, the defense would force a turnover on downs at the CU31.  EJ Gatling would take the end-around for a first down run before Nijere Peoples picked up an eight-yard run.  Caleb Pierce found Laurence King for a 10-yard completion.  The drive would once again stall after a pair on incompletions.  Patric Talbot would punt the ball to the FSU16.

The Chowan defense continued their strong play in the half as Jordan Brown picked up a tackle for loss to force a punt.  NIjere Peoples opened the drive with a rush before Caleb Pierce picked up a first down on the 13 yard scamper.  Pierce found Tyrek McNeil for an 18-yard swing pass to move the ball to the FSU29. A sack on fourth down handed the ball back to the Broncos late in the quarter.

After a quick three-and-out, Demetrius Moore would return the punt for a moderate gain to start the drive at midfield with 2:45 remaining.  EJ Gatling took the jet sweep for a 17 yard strike before Caleb Pierce found Laurence King for a 23 yard completion to move into the redzone.  Nijere Peoples moved the ball to the FSU5 on three strong runs.  The turnover bug would bite again as a fumble at the FSU5 would allow the Broncos to take over.

Fayetteville State would take a 7-0 lead into the locker room.

Third Quarter:

On the opening kick-off of the half, Jakob Streeter returned the kick for 34 yards to set the Hawks up at the CU44.  Caleb Pierce found Malik Tobias for a 13-yard reception before Nijere Peoples added three yards on the ground before a sack on fourth-down ended the drive at the FSU43.

Fayetteville State would find the big play on third and medium that would find the endzone on a 52-yard touchdown pass to take a 13-0 lead.  The snap on the PAT would be fumbled allowing Nic Wilson to scoop up the fumble and follow the convoy for the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 13-2.

The offense could not build off the momentum by the defense as the Hawks had a quick three-and-out.  A personal foul call would stall the Broncos' drive following a pair of incompletions as Simeon Burns forced an errant throw.

Caleb Pierce connected on a 28-yard completion to Tyrek McNeil to move the ball to the FSU37.  McNeil picked up five yards on the ground.  On fourth down, Pierce found Malik Tobias on the tunnel screen before scampering untouched for 30 yards and the touchdown.  The Hawks would convert the two-point conversion to close the gap to 13-10.

J'Vin Farmer picked up a sack on the opening play of the drive from the weak side to put the Broncos behind the chains.  FSU would be forced to punt that was downed inside the Chowan 20.  A pair of incomplete passes and a sack ended the drive.

Raydarius Freeman picked up a sack on second down that would force another three-and-out.  Shavon Harkless started the drive with a 10 yard rush to get the Hawks away from their endzone to the CU25.  Tyrek McNeil tacked on a six yard run before a first-down completion for McNeil to end the quarter.

Fourth Quarter:

Caleb Pierce connected with Malik Tobias for a 15-yard completion before McNeil ripped off a 20 yard run to move the ball to the FSU28.  McNeil tallied nine more yards on the ground before giving way to Nijere Peoples for an eight yard carry to the FSU11.  Peoples added a six-yard rush before a penalty stalled the drive at the FSU14.  The 31-yard attempt would be missed to the left.

The Chowan defense continued their stellar play as the Broncos were forced to punt.  The Hawks would start the drive at the FSU47.  Caleb Pierce found Malik Tobias for a short gain prior to a false start that stalled another drive.  Patric Talbot would pin the Broncos at their own one-yard line as LeShaun Atchison downed the ball with 6:55 remaining.

FSU would move the ball slightly off the goal line with three straight runs before a punt.  Demetrius Moore returned the punt 19 yards to the FSU36.  The Hawks would hand the ball back to the Broncos as a fumble on the first play of the drive gave FSU the ball at the FSU41.

The defense would force a punt as the Broncos' punter would put the Hawks back at their own one-yard line.  Caleb Pierce found Jake Ray for a 30-yard completion to get out of the shadow of the goal line on a scramble play.  Pierce connected with Ray again before finding Tyrek McNeil for a first down.  The completion to McNeil would be aided by a penalty to move the ball to the FSU 37 on a face mask.

Caleb Pierce looked for Malik Tobias near the endzone would be overthrown and picked off to end the comeback.

FSU would move into victory formation to finish off the contest.

UP NEXT

Chowan continues their road trip as the Hawks travel to Lincoln to start CIAA Northern Division action on Saturday, October 8.