FSU Football Improves to 7-1 With Comeback Win Over Rowan

Coming off a major win over Christopher Newport on homecoming, the Frostburg State Bobcats rallied late in the game to beat the Rowan Profs 24-14 at Bobcat Stadium on a 70-degree Saturday afternoon on October 29.

The first score of the game came on FSU’s 2nd drive when quarterback Connor Cox scored a 60-yard rushing touchdown to put the Bobcats up 7-0. Later in the 1st quarter, Rowan drove down the field as running back Anthony Diorio scored a 1-yard TD to tie the game up at 7-7.

In the 2nd quarter, there were two scores that occurred, both from Frostburg; kicker Isaac Robinson nailed a 43-yard field goal and then a safety was scored as Rowan’s Gerwain Bragg was tackled in the end zone by the Bobcat junior defensive lineman Niles Scott. The halftime score was 12-7 Bobcats.

Everything changed in the 3rd quarter when the Profs rallied to take their first lead of the game. Rowan marched on a 69-yard seven-play drive down the field as quarterback Dante Hinckney dove into the end zone from the one as the Profs took a 14-12 lead.

The Bobcats’ first possession of the 4th quarter involved Cox finding his primary target Russell Neverdon on a 57-yard pass that landed them on the Profs’ 4-yard-line. The drive resulted in Isaac Robinson kicking a 22-yard field goal to put FSU back on top, 15-14.

After Frostburg forced a punt on Rowan’s next drive, the Bobcats started its longest drive of the game at their own 20. Sophomore running back Jamaal Morant was a key factor as runs of 27, 18, and 2 yards put the Bobcats in Rowan territory at their 35. Cox then found Neverdon over the middle with a 33-yard touchdown to put the Bobcats up 21-14, after Robinson missed the extra point.
After the missed extra point, Frostburg Coach DeLane Fitzgerald made a gutsy call with an onside kick attempt which would prove to be successful. After that, however, the Bobcats would turn it over with an interception which gave the Profs a chance to tie the ballgame.

But linebacker Dre’Quan Reed had other plans as he intercepted a Pinckney pass with 5:42 remaining. That INT led to Isaac Robinson’s 3rd made field goal of the game; this time from 30 yards as the final score would be 24-14.

Frostburg’s offense finished with 206 total yards on the ground on 44 carries behind Morant, who ran for 145 yards on 33 carries. Cox finished with 124 yards through the air on just five completions and he ran for another 61 yards on 10 carries and that score in the 1st.

Meanwhile, the defense stepped up once again as they held Rowan to a season-low 219 yards on offense. Dre’Quan Reed was recently selected as NJAC Defensive Player of the Week.
FSU improved to 7-1 overall and 6-1 in NJAC play, and is now in a three-way tie for first place in the league standings. The Bobcats are also on a six-game winning streak, the longest for this program since 1999 and the 7-1 start is the best since 1998 when the Bobcats opened at 8-1.

The Bobcats’ next game will be at Montclair State on November 5th and the next game after that will be against rival Salisbury at home for the 18th Annual Regents Cup on Saturday, November 12th.