WILBERFORCE, Ohio - Saint Augustine's College needed a late defensive stand to edge Central State 21-14 Saturday in a non-conference football game at McPherson Stadium. With three regular-season games left, the Falcons (6-1 overall) are assured of their first winning season since 2005.
"It is a great feeling," Falcon Head Coach Michael Costa said. "Everybody is contributing. Offense has been our strength. Today, we came through defensively. "
After big wins over Fayetteville State and Winston-Salem State the previous two weeks, the Falcons had their hands full against Central State (1-6). The Marauders had first-and-goal at the Falcons' five-yard line late the fourth quarter, but the Falcons stopped them with 59 seconds left in the game. Steven Stanback (Sr./Temple Hills, Md.) of the Falcons made the key play, tackling Josh Anderson for a four-yard loss on third down. The Marauders threw an incomplete pass in the end zone on fourth down.
The tackle capped another outstanding effort from Stanback, who collected a game-high 13 tackles including three tackles for loss and one interception. Stanback led a defense which forced three turnovers and made several big plays in holding the Marauders to 268 total offensive yards. Mark Hall (Sr./Suitland, Md.) added nine tackles.
"The defense played well in the end," Costa said. "It did the things it had to do."
Tailback Walter Sanders was an offensive force for the Falcons. He rushed 27 times for 147 yards and a touchdown, marking his sixth consecutive game over 100 yards. Sanders. the CIAA's rushing leader, is only 31 yards away from becoming the school's first 1,000-yard rusher in the modern era.
The Falcons needed Sanders because they were without several offensive starters including injured quarterback Joaquin Green (Redshirt Soph./Pittsboro, N.C.) Without their key players, the Falcons gained 211 total offensive yards and committed two turnovers. Their four-game streak of scoring 30 or more points also ended.
The Marauders intercepted a pass on the game's second play, leading to a one-yard run by Josh Anderson for a surprising 7-0 lead. The Falcons turned to Sanders early in the second quarter and he responded with two long runs, the second one being a 31-yard jaunt for a touchdown which tied the score at 7-7.
Sanders' touchdown started a string of 21 unawswered points for the Falcons in the second quarter. Teddy Bacote (Redshirt Fr./Hampton, Va.), starting in place of Green, scored on a one-yard run and tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Tyron Laughinghouse (Soph./Greenville, N.C.) to put the Falcons ahead 21-7 at halftime. Dedrick Early's (Jr./Warner Robins, Ga.) long return off a blocked field goal led to Bacote's short scoring run, and Chris Tucker's (Sr./Hampton, Va.) fumble recovery set up Bacote's scoring pass to Laughinghouse.
The Marauders pulled within 21-14 on the opening series of the third quarter when Jeffrey Brooks threw a short pass to Anderson which he turned into a 41-yard touchdown. The Falcons ruined chances to extend the lead when they missed a field goal, and had a touchdown called back on a penalty. The Falcons also missed a second-quarter field goal attempt.
The Falcons didn't play their best game, but it was enough to defeat a hungry foe looking for an upset.
"When you think about two seasons ago, we are in every ball game but we couldn't get over the hump," Costa said. "Right now, we are doing the things we need to do to get over the hump which is important for us. What you also have to look at is we had two tough ball games back-to-back playing Fayetteville State and Winston-Salem State. A lot of teams don't rebound from that. Central State also came to play. As a team, our guys came together and stuck together."
