November 22nd, 2025 5:00pm
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Frostburg State Football team began their NCAA Division II Super Region I run with a 21-7 victory on the road over Johnson C. Smith Saturday afternoon.
The matchup marked history for both teams, as FSU was making their first-ever appearance in the Division II tournament, having moved up from Division III in 2019. On the other side, JCSU had earned their first CIAA title since 1969 with a school-record 10 wins in the regular season.
FSU won the opening toss and deferred to the second half, giving the Golden Bulls the ball to start. The hosts' first play netted a 12-yard pass, however after a two-yard run, senior Wylan Harich made a great play on the ball for an interception to quickly give the Bobcats some momentum. Redshirt sophomore Jordan Brooks found JeVonn Gilyard and classmate Cruiz Paul-Umstead for gains of 10 and 23 yards, respectively, quickly getting into Golden Bull territory. After redshirt junior Owen Doyle had a seven-yard gain down to the 33, TyQueron Hines picked off Brooks to give his offense the ball back.
After a quick eight-yard run on the first play, junior Daquan Stevenson made a pair of solo stops to limit JCSU to just one yard on two carries to force a punt. It seemed as if Frostburg would face another turnover after gaining just five yards on three plays, however another interception was waved off by a penalty to keep the drive moving. A personal foul call put the Bobcats into the red zone, however a pair of incompletions on second and third down were followed by a missed field goal as the game remained scoreless.
The defensive battle continued once again on the resulting Johnson C. Smith drive, as after moving ahead 22 yards, senior Marquise Allsup came up with another FSU interception, starting the next Bobcat possession in Golden Bull territory. Brooks found redshirt sophomore Amirr Coles for a 13-yard gain on first down, then after a false start put the offense back five yards, redshirt sophomore KJ Smothers dashed through the middle for 41 yards the game's first score, as senior Brandon Keen knocked through the point-after for a 7-0 lead to end the first quarter.
A short run and an incompletion brought JCSU to 3rd-and-6, where junior Will Burns came rushing through on a cornerback blitz for a nine-yard sack and another punt. From second down, Brooks darted to sophomore Ray Adames across the middle for 40 yards down to the Johnson C. Smith two, where Smothers punched in on the next play for a 14-0 advantage. The Golden Bulls looked for a quick answer, as back-to-back passes netted 42 yards to get down to the FSU 39. Their drive would stall there, however, with an illegal formation followed by a pair of sacks by senior CT Taylor forcing another punt.
Frostburg took nearly five minutes off the clock on their possession, as Brooks converted a pair of third downs to junior Landon Alexander and Paul-Umstead. Getting into Johnson C. Smith territory, the Bobcats couldn't advance much further, as a penalty was followed by a three-yard loss, two incompletions, and a three-yard gain on 4th-and-9 giving the ball back to the hosts. Trying to run a two-minute drill, JCSU were able to convert an early third down and got just into FSU's side of the field, but another Taylor sack ended the half with the 14-point lead.
Receiving the second half kick-off, redshirt junior Austin Paul-Umstead gave Frostburg some decent field position, taking it back 37 yards, however a three-yard gain was followed by a sack and an incompletion. Redshirt sophomore Sam Dominguez did well to flip the field, as his booming punt went 57 yards down to the Golden Bull eight-yard line. The Bobcat defense stepped up again, forcing a quick three-and-out before JCSU did the same, getting the ball back with nine minutes in the period.
Johnson C. Smith got their first breath of life on offense, going 33 yards on the first play before back-to-back runs of 14 and 13 yards got them down to the FSU 15. After a 10-yard pass got them to within 3rd-and-3, Stevenson and Burns stuffed the next run for one yard, as instead of attempting a field goal, the Golden Bulls went for it, as Deandre Proctor caught a seven-yard slant for their first touchdown and halved the deficit to 14-7.
With just under five to go, Austin Paul-Umstead had another solid return, going 33 yards before Brooks found a swing pass to Smothers for another 20, getting into JCSU territory. Doyle then took the ball 10 yards for another first down, however a one-yard loss was followed by an incompletion and a sack, resulting in another punt. Dominguez stepped up again, perfectly placing the ball down the right side as it rolled to the one-yard line.
As the third quarter came to a close, JCSU got a 20-yard completion to get some breathing space, however a pair of incompletions and a three-yard run got FSU the ball back once more. Doyle took the first carry for 14 yards, but three consecutive incompletions gave it back to the Golden Bulls. A 41-yard strike got their momentum going, threatening to even the game by getting to the Bobcat 25, however a botched snap allowed senior Rainer Halveland to fall on the ball and gift Frostburg possession.
After a pair of runs netted just one yard, Brooks kept the drive moving with a strike through the middle to Cruiz Paul-Umstead, who scampered down the left sideline for 31 yards to convert on 3rd-and-9. Smothers and Doyle then mashed their way four times for 28 yards, getting down to the Johnson C. Smith 15. Frostburg couldn't get anything else going, as on 4th-and-6, decided again to go for it, with Brooks' pass falling incomplete for a turnover on downs, however with nearly six minutes getting taken off the clock.
A pair of runs got JCSU started with 12 yards to start their next drive before Taylor caused havoc once again, picking up his fourth sack of the day while redshirt sophomore Carter Mazalewski shut down a screen pass to force another punt. Seeking to either put the game away with a score or run the time down, Smothers helped ensure a little of both, going for three carries and 40 yards into Golden Bull territory. With a pair of runs going for no gain, Smothers then burst through the middle for 18 yards down to the five.
A couple of rushes forced Johnson C. Smith to use their timeouts, before Smothers netted his third score of the day on 3rd-and-goal from the five, with Keen making it a 21-7 game. In search of a miracle, JCSU chunked their way downfield to the Bobcat 25, spiking the ball twice in hopes of getting a late score. Their hopes were ended, however, as a botched play resulted in a fumble and the end of the game with FSU picking up their first-ever Division II Playoff victory.
Frostburg held the Golden Bulls to just 36 rushing yards, their lowest total since November 2 of 2024, outgaining the hosts by over 100 yards.
Smothers and Doyle drove the ground game to a combined 210 yards and the former's three scores. Brooks finished the day with 179 yards passing on nine completions, with Cruiz Paul-Umstead his favorite target on four catches and 92 yards. Taylor enjoyed a career day with four sacks and eight total tackles, while senior Josh McTier led all Bobcats with 10 tackles and a pair of pass breakups.
With the win, Frostburg improves to 10-2 on the year while Johnson C. Smith ends their campaign at 10-2. FSU will next face California (Pa.) in the second round of the tournament, with location and time to be determined. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.