By Ed Hill, Jr.
WASHINGTON – Redshirt sophomore Ja’Shawn Scroggins (Las Vegas) passed for a career-high 304 yards and four TDs and added another on a touchdown run to lead the Howard University football team to a 38-0 shutout win over Delaware State University (DSU) in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game at William H. Green Stadium.
Scroggins completed 24-of-41 and added another 50 on the ground as the Bison dominated in piling up a season-high 560 yards of total offense.
Howard (4-5 overall, 1-1 MEAC) set the tone early when it forced a three-and-out by the Hornets on its opening possession. Scroggins engineered an eight-play drive that covered 96 yards for the team’s longest drive of the season. The drive was capped off with a 26-yard strike from Scoggins to redshirt sophomore Breylin Smith (Winter Haven, Fla.) with seven minutes on the clock in the first quarter, 7-0.
The Bison defense again held Delaware State in check and forced a punt. Howard put together a mini drive, but it stalled and had to settle for 27-yard field goal from senior Dylan West (Akron, Ohio) at the 3:45 mark of the first stanza, 10-0.
The Bison offense again displayed another efficient drive, this time going 73 yards on 14 plays with fifth-year senior Kasey Hawthorne (Sebring, Fla.) grabbing the first of two of his TDs. The 15-yard play helped Howard to open a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The Bison added drives of 72 and 77 yards in their final three scores as they dominated Delaware State (1-8 overall, 0-2 MEAC).
The Bison, which controlled the time of possession with almost 40 minutes, got outstanding efforts from Jarett Hunter (Mineral, Va.) and Eden James (Indianapolis) in the run game and career days for Hawthorne (nine catches for 105 yards & 2 TDs), Smith (three catches for 60 yards & a TD) and senior Isiah Williams (six catches for 88 yards).
Defensively, Howard limited the Hornets to 116 yards of total offense, including 44 in the pass game. Senior Robert Jones III (Fairwood, Md.) led the way of shutting down the Hornets through the air as he picked off two passes and broke up two others.
NEXT UP: Howard closes out the home schedule Saturday (Nov. 9) when it hosts the Bulldogs of South Carolina State. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
