A tough third quarter was too much to overcome as the Shaw University football team fell to rival St. Augustine's University 21-17 in the 2021 Raleigh Classic played at the George Williams Athletic Complex Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, Shaw sees its three-game winning streak come to an end finishing 6-4 overall on the season while SAU picked up their first win on the season finishing at 1-7 overall.

Shaw forced an SAU punt on their first offensive possession. Shaw wasted little time finding the endzone as Andre Brandon Jr scored from one yard out with 7:41 left in the quarter. The big play on the drive was a 44-yard pass completion from Torrin Campbell to Jon Barnes.  Devin Versteegen added the PAT making the score 7-0 in favor of the Bears.

The Shaw defense rose to occasion stopping SAU on fourth and one. The Bears would give the ball back to the Falcons as Campbell was intercepted on the first play of the next drive at the 21-yard line. SAU turned the turnover into points with the help of three third-down conversions with the last one resulting in a 19-yard touchdown pass tying the score at 7-7 with 12:43 left in the second quarter.

Shaw took the ensuing kickoff down to the SAU 21-yard line before turning the ball over on downs. Both teams traded punts before the Shaw defense came up with a big fourth-down stop as SAU went for it on their own 18-yard line. The Bears were kept out of the endzone but retook the lead with a 30-yard field goal from Versteegen making the score 10-7 in favor of Shaw at the break.

Both teams traded punts to start the half. On Shaw's second offensive drive, the Bears came were forced to punt yet again. That punt was blocked and returned for a touchdown putting SAU ahead 14-10 with 8:51 left in the third quarter. The Shaw offense continued to be stuck in a hole as Campbell fumbled while scrambling allowing SAU to scoop and score another touchdown with 1:22 left in the third making the score 21-10 as Shaw trailed.

The Shaw offense finally woke up with 9:25 left in the fourth as Gibbs took a handoff around the left side untouched for a 31-yard score. Versteegen added the PAT trimming the SAU lead to 21-17.  Shaw forced another SAU punt late giving the Bears one last chance for the comeback win but Shaw's hail mary attempt fell short ending the Bears season at 6-4.