RALEIGH, NC – The Shaw University football team will make its way to Livingstone College on Saturday, Oct. 15th in its third road game of the 2016 season. The two teams meet for the first time this season and 27th overall in history of the series. Last season, the Blue Bears pulled out a 41-22 win over the Bears at Durham County Memorial Stadium in an offensive affair.
The contest will be aired live on WSHA 88.9 FM with Eric Curry providing play-by-play commentary and Michael Rochelle as the color analyst. Gamenotes are available here and live stats will be available on www.shawbears.com.
Both teams enter Saturday's contest with a 0-3 mark in the CIAA and 0-1 in the Southern Division.
Shaw (0-6 overall) is coming off a 7-6 loss to Fayetteville State – a game that featured heavy winds and constant rainfall the entire way. The Bears led 6-0 up until the third quarter when FSU scored off of 41 yards and seven plays. Unlike SU, FSU's extra point was good as the Bears two attempts to win the game was halted by the Broncos, including the Bears second blocked field goal attempt at the end of the contest.
Offensively, sophomore running back Uriah Bethea (Upper Marlboro, MD) led on the ground with 17 carries for 84 yards and one touchdown, while freshman quarterback Timothy Abbott (Washington, DC) completed 6-for-14 passes for 75 yards in the rain soaked contest. Freshman linebacker Devon Hunt (Rockingham, NC) poured in a game-high 14 tackles, followed by senior's Keelan Jones (Kansas City, MO) and Dominique Hannibal (Chesapeake, VA) with 13 and 12 tackles, respectively. Freshman Rashad Mosely (Bessermer, AL) also aided 10 tackles in his debut at the free safety position for Shaw.
Similar to the Bears setback, Livingstone (1-5 overall) took a 37-31 lead to open the second overtime but the PAT was blocked as Saint Augustine's was able to capitalize on the Blue Bears miscue, scoring 10-yard touchdown and converting on the game-winning extra point.
Xavier Longerbeam completed 17-for-24 passes for 229 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Jarius Richardson picked up 49 yards on 19 carries on the ground, while Spencer Ludin caught six passes for 78 yards. DeMarcus Nolan had tallied a team-best 12 tackles and one sack, while Jarod Richardson finished with 10 tackles.
Shaw leads the all-time series 14-10-2 over Livingstone but the Bears have lost the last two meetings to the Blue Bears.
For the most up-to-date information on Shaw football and its 11 varsity sport teams, please visit shawbears.com.
