I-AA Playoff fever captures Bethune-Cookman football

DAYTONA BEACH, FL -- Author a successful season at the highest level of college football, you're rewarded with a bowl game. It's a trip that includes gift bags, fancy downtown dinners and, depending on the host city, anything from a cow-milking contest to a group hug with Minnie Mouse.

But outside of that marquee world -- where the Alabamas, Ohio States and Floridas reside -- the rest of college football rewards its best with a different type of post-season action, the type recognized by nearly every other sport at every level: Playoffs. Win and continue; lose and go home. Or, in Bethune-Cookman's case, lose and stay home.

Quarterback Matt Johnson still a question mark as Bethune-Cookman hosts New Hampshire today

There will be one anxious moment at Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium Saturday when the Bethune-Cookman offense first takes the field. Fans will be waiting to see if No. 13 runs onto the field to take his usual spot in the huddle.

Matt Johnson suffered a dislocation of his left, non-throwing shoulder two weeks ago in the Wildcats' loss to Florida A&M and B-CU coach Brian Jenkins has danced around questions about his senior signal caller's availability since then.

Saturday, however, will finally shed light on the mystery of Johnson, the MEAC offensive player of the year, when BCU takes on New Hampshire in the second round of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs at Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium. Game time is set for 1 p.m. and NCAA.com is supposed to have live coverage of the game.

New Hampshire (7-4) at Bethune-Cookman (10-1)
1 p.m. Saturday, Municipal Stadium, Daytona Beach, FL
Local Radio: WELE 1380-AM
LIVE GAME VIDEO BROADCAST VIA NCAA.COM - CLICK HERE

Eddie Poole helps lead Bethune-Cookman into NCAA Division I-AA playoffs

Eddie Poole has a steel rod in his left leg, the result of surgical procedures to support a broken fibula he suffered last year. One would figure, with the changing Central Florida weather this week, that the star Bethune-Cookman wide receiver might be having issues with his repaired leg. Of course, if he was hurting, as Wildcats' head coach Brian Jenkins has come to know, he wouldn't admit it.

"He'll just tell me, 'I ain't coming out, coach,' " said Jenkins, the first year coach who...

Dueling 'Cats face QB dilemmas: Bethune-Cookman, UNH ready for Saturday's battle

DURHAM, NH - Who will be playing quarterback? If it is the expected starters, how well will they be able to play through nagging injuries? Whether you're a University of New Hampshire Wildcat or a Bethune-Cookman Wildcat, those questions are being asked about your own QB and the other team's signal-caller. UNH senior R.J. Toman is nursing an ankle sprain. Bethune-Cookman run-pass threat Matt Johnson has an injured left (non-throwing) shoulder.

The two teams will meet for the first time Saturday in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. No. 13 Bethune-Cookman (10-1), champions of the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference is hosting No. 10/11 UNH (7-4), which finished third in the Colonial Athletic Association, at Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium. Game time is 1 p.m. The game will not be televised. It will be broadcast live on radio (WGIN-AM 930, WQSO-FM 96.7, WASR-AM 1420).

UNH, Jellison now have totake it one game at a time

Thanksgiving was a little bit different this year for Amherst’s Sean Jellison. He was able to spend it at home instead of with his University of New Hampshire football teammates. But the Wildcats reassembled last weekend in preparation for Saturday’s game in Daytona, Fla., against Bethune-Cookman.

It’s the seventh straight post-season appearance for the Wildcats, who recovered from a rocky start to finish 7-4 and gain one of the 20 playoff bids in the Football Championship Subdivision. Because the field was expanded to 20 teams and UNH drew a first-round bye, the Wildcats had Thanksgiving weekend off for the first time in a long time.

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