DURHAM, North Carolina --Fayetteville State got a 60-yard touchdown reception from to with :20 remaining in the ballgame, as Shaw lost 21-14 in heartbreaking fashion to the Broncos on Saturday afternoon at Durham County Memorial Stadium.

The Broncos improved to 7-2 on the year and 7-0 in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association play, while the Bears fell to 2-7 overall and 2-5 in conference matchups.

Sidney Gibbs paced the Bears rushing attack by accumulating 72 yards over the course of the game, averaging 4.2 yards per carry. Trey Thorpe also added 66 yards on the ground, averaging 5.5 yards per carry, as well as 55 receiving yards.

Shaw also got a significant contribution from Ah'shaan Belcher, who caught four passes for 52 yards and one score.

Jay Boyd showed out for the Shaw defense, totaling 10 tackles, one forced fumble, and one recovered fumble. Akeythio Carson added eight tackles, 1.0 TFL, and one interception and Jaden Clark had one interception in the loss.

The Bears won the turnover battle in Saturday's game, forcing three turnovers while avoiding any giveaways, with Shaw turning those takeaways into seven points. The Shaw offense did a good job prolonging drives, converting on 42.9 percent of third-down attempts.

Defensively, Shaw held up fairly well against the Fayetteville State rushing attack, holding the Broncos to 130 yards on the ground. In part because of that stellar defense, Shaw runners out-gained their Fayetteville State counterparts 142-130. The Bears defense disrupted the Fayetteville State passing game on the way to recording two interceptions and breaking up two Broncos passes.

After Fayetteville State took a 14-0 lead, Shaw put points on the scoreboard with 5:54 left in the second quarter to narrow the margin to 14-7.The Bears kept Fayetteville State off the scoreboard and followed with a touchdown to tie the game at 14-14. Shaw didn't score again in the game and Fayetteville State tacked on seven more points to finish off the scoring.

» Shaw won the turnover battle 3-0 after intercepting two passes and recovering one fumble.
» Shaw converted 6 of 14 third downs while Fayetteville State was successful on 3 of 8.
» The Bears had two players with more than eight tackles in the ballgame led by Boyd, who had 10.
» Shaw forced one red zone turnover in the contest.
» Shaw won the time of possession battle 31:45 to 28:15.
» Navian Hillard came off the bench for the Bears to help Shaw tie the game at 14-14 with his first career touchdown pass. 
 

Up Next

Shaw closes out the 2023 season against cross town rival St.Augustine's in the Raleigh Classic. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 PM inside the George Williams Complex.