Davidson, NC – The Shaw Bears football team had the ball with a chance to go ahead with under thirty seconds left but saw their attempt fall just short on the road against the Davidson Wildcats 28-26 Saturday night at Richardson Stadium.

Shaw falls to 0-2 overall on the young season while Davidson jumps to 1-1 with the victory.

The Bears were able to pick up two first downs on their opening drive with quarterback Christian Peters getting his first career start. A holding penalty put a stop to a productive drive before Peters was sacked on third and long and fumbled giving Davidson the ball near the 40-yard line.

Davidson turned the turnover into points using their option offense to drive down the field scoring from one yard out on fourth and goal making the score 7-0 with 7:08 left in the first quarter.  Shaw was able to get the ball back and find a few first downs before punting away. The same result would follow with another scoring drive to go ahead 14-0 with just over a minute left in the quarter.

The Wildcats turned another drive into a threat before a fumble by the Davidson quarterback was recovered by Javari Burgess with 6:36 left in the half.  The Bears took the turnover and drove down the field which included big runs from Sidney Gibbs which set Shaw up with third and goal from the four-yard line where Peters found Ah'Shaan Belcher in the back of the endzone for the score. Devin Versteegen added the PAT to cut the Wildcats lead to 14-7 with 2:52 left before the break.  Neither team got anything going on offense with the score remaining 14-7 at the half.

Davidson received the opening kickoff and faced an early fourth down at their own 33-yard line. The Shaw defense rose to occasion stopping the Wildcats for no gain. On the next play, Peters found a streaking Jon Barnes down the sideline who caught the pass in the endzone. The PAT was no good as Shaw cut the Davidson lead to 14-13 with 13:05 on the clock in the third.

The Wildcats responded converting a fourth-down conversion followed by a third down conversion using a short running play to cap off an 83 yard, 11 play drive to push their lead to 21-13 with 8:26 to play in the third. Shaw had its second turnover as Peters was intercepted which resulted in a touchdown drive for Davidson to push their lead to 28-13 with 5:39 left in the third.

The Bears continued to battle as Shaw drove down the field converting on Peters third passing score of the night to a diving Cameron Richardson to cut the Wildcats lead to 28-20 early in the fourth. Davidson started another long drive that ended in a fumble and recovery by DeAngelo McMillian at the Shaw 29-yard line. Shaw turned the turnover into offense as Sidney Gibbs scored from one yard out. The two-point conversion attempt was no good as the Wildcats lead was trimmed to 28-26 with 4:36 left.

Davidson took the ensuing kickoff from the 25-yard line and converted a crucial third-down play with just under three minutes left. The Bears defense stepped up to the task to force a Davidson punt with 1:24 left. Shaw drove down to the 49-yard line but fell short on fourth and four to turn the ball over on downs allowing Davidson to knee out the clock escaping with the two-point victory.

Peters finished the evening 19-31 for 196 yards and three touchdowns. Belcher led in receiving with five catches for 69 yards and one touchdown. Gibbs paced the Bears in rushing with 110 yards in 15 carries and one touchdown. Devon Hunt led Shaw on defense with 16 total tackles, seven solo, and one tackle for loss. Three other Bears tallied 8 tackles each.

Shaw returns to action Saturday, September 18 for the home opener against Central State. Davidson heads into a bye week before facing San Diego on September 25.