Courtesy of St. Paul's Athletics
Saturday the SPC Tigers won their first game of the season against The Livingstone College Bluebears, 24-6 in CIAA competition.
The Tigers quarterback Steffen Miller-Colon rushed for 77 yards, but the Tigers were called for holding. SPC made it up the field very swiftly with Miller-Colon completing a 19 yard pass to wide receiver Raymond Mack.
In the next play of the game, Emory Addison was forced a fumble by a host of Bluebears, however, Jason Davis of the Tigers recovered the fumble and ran for a first down.
Saint Paul's run was cut short when Livingstone's strong safety Jammal Acree intercepted Miller-Colon's attempt at a pass for a touchdown.
The Bluebears slowly began their drive start, but the Tigers defense brought heat to their offense. Tiger's strong safety Dominic Tolson blocked Bluebears Bryan Aycoth's punt.
Both teams went scoreless in the first quarter.
The Tigers began the second quarter strong by getting up the field in three and a half minutes, Miller-Colon threw an eight yard pass to Jason Davis in the end zone.
The Bluebears were not able to stay on offense for very long because of two big tackles made by Jarvis Stokes and one by Jason Athy.
The Tigers transitioned to offense swiftly.
Just as fast as offense took control, Albert Tinsley rushed 11 yards up the field for another Tiger touchdown.
Tigers defense set the tone for the second half by shutting The Bluebears down forcing them to call on Aycoth to on deliver a 27 yard punt to Addison who then returned it for a ten yard run.
Miller-Colon then was pressured by Livingstone's defense and was forced to make a quick play to Addison who successfully ran 66 yards into the end zone for another touchdown. Preston McCarthy third kick attempt good for the extra point.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Tigers backup quarterback Jay Kenney made some smart plays. Kenney rushed for ten yards. He also handed off a pass to Tinsley, offensive lineman Roman Pritt blocking, allowing Tinsley to run for another ten yards.
The Bluebears stepped up their defense, stopped the Tigers offense from scoring a touchdown, but could not block McCarthy's good field goal making the score 24-0.
On Livingstone's drive start, Tiger's defensive back, Brandon Patterson forced a fumble; the fumble was then recovered by Pritt on the 50 yardline.
The Tigers got within goal position but was called for holding and were pushed back to the 15 yardline. The Tigers could not seem to hold on to a pass in the end zone, so the offense settled for a good field goal by McCarthy.
Time wasn't on Livingstone's side.
The Bluebears fought hard down the field. Quarterback Levon Stanley threw a touchdown pass to Omar McFadden. Livingstone attempted the two-point conversion but Stanley's pass into the end zone was blocked by Tolson.
The Tigers offense attempted to score again, but ran out of time. The final score was Saint Paul's College 24, Livingstone College 6.
The Tigers will travel to Elizabeth City, NC next Saturday to head up against the Vikings of Elizabeth City State University at 1 p.m.
The Tigers play against the Bowie State University in the 11th annual Western Virginia Education Classic Saturday, October 9 at 1 p.m. The game will be held at William Fleming High School in Roanoke, VA.