#21 Jordan Lewis Touchdown
MILES GOLDEN BEARS FALL JUST SHORT IN 2011 PIONEER BOWL XIII
COLUMBUS, GA – A Miles two-point conversion try at the end of the game failed, giving Johnson C. Smith University a 35-33 win in the Pioneer Bowl XIII on Saturday.
Miles (705) scored on a 21-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback
David Thomas to freshman wide receiver
Antonio Pitts with 2 seconds remaining in regulation, but the Golden Bears 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete.
Johnson c. Smith (6-5) had minus-3 yards of offense in the first half, but still trailed only 10-7 at the break thanks to a 3-yard touchdown run by quarterback Keahn Wallace with 3:18 to go in the second quarter.
Miles, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic conference champion playing in its first-ever bowl game, jumped out to a 10-0 lead on a 35-yard field goal by sophomore kicker
Patton Chambers and a 14-yard touchdown pass from Thomas to senior wide receiver
Vondragus Hudson.
The Golden Bulls, representing the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, forced a turnover on Miles's first possession of the second half and three plays later Wallace scored again, this time on a 5-yard run.
Wallace got his third rushing TD of the day on a 1-yard run late in the third quarter to make it 21-10 Golden Bulls.
A field goal got Miles back to within 21-13 on the first play of the fourth quarter, but a 23-yard touchdown run by Denzel Hartley pushed the Golden Bulls' lead back out to 28-13 with 14:10 to go.
Miles wouldn't go away quietly, though, getting a pair of touchdowns to trim the lead to 28-27 with 7:02 remaining. One score came on a 52-yard pass from Thomas to Pitts and the other was a 12-yard run by junior runningback
Jordan Lewis who finished with 53-yards on 19 carries.
“Our kids worked hard and we did what we needed to do to get back in the game,” said Miles' first year head coach,
Reginald Ruffin, whose team won seven games for the first time since 2004. “We fought hard to the end and that's all I can ask of them.”
Johns C. Smith came back with a 12-play, 72-yard drive that took 5:47 off the clock before Dedric Anderson scored on a 24-yard touchdown run, making it 35-27 with 1:22 left.
The Golden Bears promptly went 75-yards in 10-plays before Thomas touchdown pass to Pitts, setting up the game's dramatic conclusion.
Thomas was 16-for-27 for 267-yards and three touchdowns through the air and rushed 12 times for 103 yards to be named Miles' Player of the Game.
