Seton Hill opened their season with a road trip to Bowie State on Saturday afternoon.  The Griffins were able to come away with a wild 50-48 victory over the Bulldogs in a game that featured many big plays by both teams.  The 50 points are the second most points scored in a game in Seton Hill history.  SHU scored 56 points in the season finale against Cheyney in 2014.
 
Bowie State opened the scoring on their second possession.  The Bulldogs were pinned on their own two yard line after a 72 yard punt by William Hodge was downed at the two.  That did not stop Bowie as they took the next play and ran 98 yards for the game's opening touchdown.  The Griffins tied the score at seven on a 14 yard touchdown pass from Christian Strong to Ardell Brown with 1:59 left in the first quarter.  The Bulldogs did not take long to respond as they went 75 yards on four plays in just 51 seconds to take a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter.
 
The Griffins took advantage of a short field on their first possession of the second quarter.  They covered the 53 yards in just 8 plays, capped off by a Jarvis McClam four yard touchdown run to tie the score at 14.  The SHU defense then forced a punt with the snap going over the Bowie punter's head giving SHU the ball at the BSU 15 yard line.  It took the Griffins just 4 plays to take the lead on a five yard TD run by Khalil Howard.  SHU led 21-14 midway thru the second quarter.  It did not take Bowie long to score as they hit another big play, this time a 59 yard touchdown pass.  The PAT failed and SHU led 21-20.  The Griffins fumbled on their next possession and Bowie took advantage of the turnover to take the lead.  BSU connected on a 37 yard TD pass to retake a 27-21 lead with 3:17 to play in the first half.  It only took two plays for the Griffins to be back in the lead.  After an incompletion on their first play of the drive, Strong found Malik Scott with a 65 yard bomb to put SHU back in the lead at 28-27 with 2:45 to play in the half.  BSU ran the kickoff back to the SHU 6 yard line and scored three plays later to take a 34-28 lead with 1:52 to play. 
 
SHU received the opening kick of the second half but was forced to punt.  Bowie then put together one of its longest drives of the game, going 82 yards in 9 plays to extend their lead to 41-28 early in the second half.  Brown made a diving catch on a 46 yard reception to open the next Griffin drive.  That play set up a 17 yard TD pass from Strong to Norman Darden that trimmed the BSU lead to 41-35 with 7:05 to go in the third quarter.  Again a bad snap on a punt hit the Bowie special teams.  This time it went out of the end zone for a safety, cutting the lead to 41-37.  McClam returned the free kick 47 yards to the BSU 17 yard line.  That return set up a 17 yard TD pass from Strong to McClam giving the Griffins the lead 44-41 with just over five minutes left in the third quarter.  The Griffin defense then stepped up and made a big stop late in the third quarter.  SHU turned the ball over on an interception, giving BSU the ball at the Griffin 31 yard line.  The defense only gave up two yards and Bowie missed a 46 yard field goal with 28 seconds left in the quarter.
 
Bowie retook the lead for the final time on their first possession of the fourth quarter.  They traveled 70 yards in 6 plays, capped by a 26 yard TD pass to take a 48-44 lead with 11:41 left in the game.  The Griffin offense responded right back with a touchdown drive of their own.  Strong hit Scott for 11 yards and 30 yards on the drive and ended the drive with a 37 yard TD pass to Darden. The PAT was missed and SHU led 50-48 with 9:42 to play.  The SHU defense forced Bowie to go three and out on their final two drives and the offense was able to convert a fourth and three that allowed them to run the clock out and preserve the win.
 
Christian Strong was 28-44 for 447 yards and 5 touchdowns.  The 5 touchdowns tie a SHU single game record.  Ardell Brown had 9 catches for 157 yards and a TD.  Malik Scott finished with 4 catches for 131 yards and a TD.  Norman Darden added 5 catches for 81 yards and 2 TDs.  Fardan Allen had a strong game defensively.  He led the team with 8 tackles and added an interception, forced fumble, tackle for loss and pass break up.  Tim Johnson and Alex Attia each added 7 tackles.
 
Seton Hill racked up 26 first downs to just 16 for Bowie State.  Bowie outgained the Griffins 523-508. 
 
The Griffins will look to make it two in a row when they travel to Millersville next Saturday for a 4 PM kickoff.