Sept. 12, 2009

Final Stats

LYNCHBURG, Va. - North Carolina Central University, in only its third season of NCAA Division I-FCS competition, held a halftime advantage against No. 24 Liberty University, but he nationally-ranked Flames rallied in the second half for a 35-10 victory in front of a school record crowd of 16,112 inside Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Va.

NCCU (0-2) jumped out to a 10-0 lead courtesy of a 6-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Michael Johnson to senior receiver Will Scott at 1:16 of the first quarter, followed by a 35-yard field goal by freshman Frankie Cardelle at 6:20 of the second quarter.

Liberty (1-1) brought a stunned capacity crowd back into the game just before the halftime break when back-up quarterback Mike Brown ran into the end zone from seven yards out with 28 seconds left before the intermission, making the visitors' halftime cushion 10-7.

The Flames stormed out of the locker room with a 10-play, 52-yard drive, capped by a 1-yard touchdown catch by Dominique Jones at 9:51 of the third quarter to take their first lead of the game.

Liberty went up two scores after recovering a Johnson fumble on a sack at the 1-yard line and punching it in on the next play to make the score 21-10 with 10 minutes remaining in the contest.

Liberty running back B.J. Hayes put the game on ice when he broke through the Eagle defensive line and raced 74 yards for a back-breaking touchdown at 7:57.

The NCCU defense held the Flames to just 32 total yards in the first quarter and a total of 113 yards at halftime. Liberty, however, posted 215 yards in the final two quarters to finish with 328 yards of total offense, averaging 6.2 yards per play.

The visiting Eagles finished with 213 total yards, including 170 through the air and 43 on the ground. Johnson completed 17-of-22 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown, but threw an interception, fumbled three times and was sacked four times in the loss.

Junior running back Tim Shankle had a career-high 26 carries for 81 tough yards to top the Eagle running game, while Scott caught a team-best six passes for 62 yards and a score.

The NCCU defense was sparked by junior linebacker Donald Laster with a game-high 12 tackles, including a tackle for a loss and a quarterback hurry. Fellow linebacker Eliezer Sandifer added seven stops with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

NCCU will play its first home game of the season on Sept. 19 when the Eagles host Morehead State University at 1:30 p.m.