South Carolina State pulls away late to beat Howard 35-28 at Greene Stadium

Howard dropped a 35-28 decision to South Carolina State on Saturday at Greene Stadium, falling to 4-6 after a second half that briefly made things interesting but ultimately wasn't enough.

The Bulldogs came in at 8-2 and played like it. South Carolina State controlled the first half with a pair of Jett Jackson field goals, a 49-yarder and a 34-yarder, before Keely Watson found Jahzae Kimbrough on a 14-yard pass to push the lead. Then Ronnie Robinson punched in a 3-yard run with 21 seconds left in the second quarter and tacked on a two-point conversion himself, giving SC State a 21-7 lead at the break.

Howard's lone first-half score came on a Se'Quan Osborne 38-yard run with just over two minutes left in the opening quarter. That was about all the Bison could manage before halftime.

The third quarter belonged to Isaiah Freeman. The Howard quarterback hit Antonio Hunter twice, an 11-yarder and then a 26-yarder, to pull the Bison within 21-21 heading into the fourth. Freeman finished 19 of 37 for 233 yards and three touchdowns, adding 62 rushing yards on 11 carries. Hunter was his go-to target all afternoon.

Then SC State running back Ricorian Brown took over. He scored on a 9-yard run at the 10:21 mark of the fourth to put the Bulldogs back in front, and when Freeman connected with CJ Neely on a 51-yard strike with 1:31 remaining to tie it at 28, Brown answered again. Nine yards, same result, 17 seconds on the clock. Ball game.

Brown ran 15 times for 143 yards and both his touchdowns. Watson was efficient all day, completing 21 of 29 passes for 241 yards. Malaqhi Jones hauled in nine catches for 107 yards to keep the chains moving.

Neely's two catches went for 64 yards and that late touchdown, the kind of play that made the final score closer than the game probably felt for most of the afternoon.