DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --   Bethune-Cookman's 2022 home opener saw the Wildcats drop their third consecutive loss to South Carolina State in a 33-9 decision before a Daytona Stadium crowd of 6,071 Saturday afternoon.

Kendrell Flowers rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns as the Bulldogs (1-1) jumped out to a 20-0 lead in a game delayed two hours by lightning.

Bethune-Cookman (0-2) closed to 20-9 on Jimmie Robinson III's five-yard run with 9:24 remaining.

South Carolina State regained control on an 87-yard catch-and-run from Corey Jacobs to Shaquan Davis on the next possession. The Bulldogs' defense added a pick six on their fourth interception of the game.

B-CU outgained South Carolina State 379-378, but misfired on one red zone possession while Flowers led a running game that grounded it out and averaged five yards a carry.

The Wildcats did register 191 yards, on the ground, 122 of those from the quarterbacks.

Jalon Jones rushed for 87 yards to lead the Wildcats.

Dylan Moghaddam got the Wildcats on the board with a 41-yard field goal with 2:39 remaining. The score capped off a drive that saw Jones hit Robert Simmons on a 32-yard completion and Jones scramble for 14 yards.

B-CU drove 87 yards for its lone touchdown of the game.

Jones had runs of 22- and 14- yards on the march and completed a 19-yarder to Reyan Blake on the possession.

South Carolina State led 10-0 at halftime.

The Wildcats had one scoring threat late in the half, as Walter Simmons III led a drive to the Bulldog 2. However, South Carolina State blocked a field goal that kept its lead at 10.

Jones completed eight of 23 for 127 yards.

Que'Shaun Byrd rushed for 45 yards, followed by Robinson with 25.

Dacarri Allen-Johnson had five catches for 43 yards, while Darryl Powell Jr. had two catches for 55.

Reginald Pearson had 1.5 sacks for the defense, who had seven tackles from Demetrius Hudson.

Bethune-Cookman is off next week and returns to action Sept. 24 at home against Grambling State in for its Southwestern Athletic Conference opener.

HEAD COACH TERRY SIMS

"We didn't execute well in all three phases. "You're not going to win me football games like that."

"We have to get cleaned up defensively. We have to do better with our linebacker play. We had opportunities to make plays today. We didn't offensively…we have to stop hurting ourselves with penalties."
 
QUARTERBACK JALON JONES
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"When you see all three of us playing, we're always coming our sideline asking the other ones what we saw or what we could do better in there. "I don't think it's harder to find a rhythm… when you're number's called, you just got to step up."

NOTE: Kemari Averett extended his B-CU pass catching streak to 13 games.