WILBERFORCE — The Central State Marauders gave up 31 points in the fourth quarter in a 41-20 home loss to Miles College Oct. 7 at McPherson Stadium.
Terraris Saffold delivered big plays for the homecoming crowd of more than 7,000. He opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 44-yard run as CSU took a 7-0 lead at the 9:50 mark.
On the next drive, Miles responded with a Nick Christiansen field goal from 25 yards out and then took the lead when Antonio Lee grabbed a deflected pass and returned it 64 yards to give MC a 10-7 lead with 5:05 remaining in the first half.
CSU quarterback Trent Mays engineered a five-play, 78-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard pass to Lavon Meeks with 16 seconds left in the first half and gave CSU a 14-10 lead at halftime. CSU added to its lead with a 21-yard field goal from Trevor Teel at the 7:50 mark of the third quarter.
In the decisive fourth quarter, CSU was outscored, 31-3, as Miles scored on Justin Hardy runs of 22, 81, and 66 yards. The Golden Bears also returned a block punt for a touchdown to turn what was a competitive game into a blowout.
“We played a great 50 minutes,” Coach Cedric Pearl said. “As we all know, football games are won with 60 minutes of constant effort and execution. We missed our opportunities and it cost us again this week.”
The loss dropped CSU’s record to 0-6 overall and 0-3 in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference competition. MC improved to 3-3 with a 2-1 record in conference play.
Saffold led CSU with a career-best 197 rushing yards, one score and 213 all-purpose yards.
Freshman Mikey’ion Hunter led CSU in tackles for the third straight game with 12.
The Marauders will prepare for a long road trip to play NCAA Div. I opponent Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which is a Football Championship Subdivision team, at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14.
“We are going to go back to work again on Monday,” Pearl said. “The only thing we can do is continue to come back and continue to correct our mistakes. Our guys just have to keep working and prepare for success.”
