FVSU rallies to knock off Lane

The Fort Valley State Wildcats improved to 8-1 overall and 7-1 in the SIAC with a 31-18 win over Lane on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats entered the fourth quarter trailing 18-14, but they dominated the final quarter, scoring the final 17 points against the winless Dragons.

With his team trailing in the final quarter, Tony Reid took over. He scored from 1 yard out with 14:15 left and added a 6-yarder with 12:03 left to give the Wildcats control of the game. FVSU’s Justin Rosenbaum made a 47-yard field goal with less than six minutes remaining to close the scoring.

Lane falls to Fort Valley

For three quarters, it was difficult to tell which team entered Saturday's game at Lane Field No. 3 in the nation and which team was winless. Looking for its first win of the season, Lane College (0-9, 0-8) took an 18-14 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats (No. 3, NCAA Division II, HBCUDigest.com poll) responded with 17 unanswered points, pulling out a 31-18 win.

The Wildcats' Tony Reid scored on a one-yard run on the second play of the fourth quarter after racing 53 yards in the wildcat formation that gave Fort Valley the lead for keeps in Lane's final home game of the season.

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Win slips through Lane's fingers late at home

Emotions overcame Lane College football coach Derrick Burroughs after the Dragons lost to Stillman College 26-25 on the final play Saturday. "I don't know, I don't know," Burroughs, with his hands on top of his head said. "What to say, I don't know." The last second loss mirrored Lane's 30-23 overtime loss to Benedict College, October 10.

Burroughs and Lane were stunned as Stillman came away with the win after Damien Ford took a lateral from Samuel Barry on a Hail Mary pass play that covered 65 yards. "I had just said a prayer on the sidelines," Ford said. "And (God) pulled us through."

Lane defensive back Jerell Alexander looked as if he had picked off Stillman quarterback Demarco Starks' desperation pass at the Lane 20, but fate found Stillman (1-7, 1-6) and heartbreak found Lane (0-8, 0-7).

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The shots heard around our world

Fred Lane Jr. beat the odds by rising from tiny Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee to become the NFL Carolina Panthers' career rushing leader(1997 to 2000) before being traded to the Indianapolis Colts in the Spring 2000.

The former Carolina Panther had just returned home from visiting relatives in Tennessee in July 2000, after training with his new team, when he was shot to death in the door of his Charlotte home, ambushed by his wife, Deidre Lane.

Fred Lane's killing 10 years ago created another shock to Charlotte pro sports.

Ten years ago today, Fred Lane died just inside his home in south Charlotte, shot twice by his own wife. Police found his body just inside the front door. His keys still hung in the door lock, a detail that haunts me a decade later. It was a horrifying moment in Charlotte's sports history. If you lived here then, you probably remember where you were when you heard of the shooting of Lane, a former Carolina Panthers starting running back. I certainly do - it was one of the oddest, saddest days of my journalism career.

Lane, 24, was killed by his estranged wife Deidra Lane at their South Charlotte home. She shot her husband twice at close range with a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun. The first blast struck his chest. The second hit the back of his head. Deidra Lane ultimately pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 2003 in connection with her husband's death. She was released from prison in 2009. Deidra and Fred Lane had a newborn daughter who was seven days old at the time of the shooting. That child had her 10th birthday last week.

Deidra Lane, the widow of slain former Carolina Panthers running back Fred Lane.

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