It’s no surprise that Fayettevile State reached the CIAA championship game or even that they emerged from Durham as 21-10 victors over Bowie State. What is surprising is that a quarterback who hadn’t played in the second half of the season came into the second-half of the game to lead the Broncos to victory.
There are a few ways you can describe Kenny Phillips’ decision to bring in junior Benjamin Williams for the second half of the championship game after benching him for the entire second half of the regular season. Nonsensical, sporadic and unexpected are a few the ones that immediately come to mind.
But in the end, Williams’ six completions, 87 yards and one touchdown pass validated Phillips’ move, and gave the Broncos a spark against a vaunted Bowie State defense. The Bulldog offense, which had ground out so many close victories over the course of the season, was ineffective in the second half, and gave away two turnovers that led to two second half touchdowns.
Now for the big question: who will Phillips start at quarterback in the playoffs, where the Broncos will face the California (Pa.) in the opening round of the Division II playoffs?
