NCCU: Saturday's scrimmage shows progress

An eager crowd of devoted fans braved 90-degree heat to "Meet the Eagles" on Saturday as the NCCU football team made its public debut. The 85-member team signed autographs and chatted with fans before entertaining the crowd with a 61-play scrimmage at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium in Durham.

Coach Mose Rison said he is pleased with the progress of the team. "I think it's been a good fall camp, and I know come the second of September it'll be a good turnout," Rison said of the Eagles' season-opener against Johnson C. Smith.

In limited action under center, junior quarterback Michael Johnson completed 2 of 7 passes for 70 yards. Winston-Salem State transfer Jordan Reid took a majority of the snaps, collecting 176 yards on 8-of-16 passing. Junior Keon Johnson was 3-for-8 with 56 yards passing and 22 yards rushing.

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Rison's NCCU Eagles ready to soar‎

Mose Rison has made no secret of the fact that he believes 2010 is the year of the Eagle. Rison, entering his fourth year as N.C. Central's head football coach, has been bubbling over with enthusiasm since spring football.

Redshirt junior quarterback Michael Johnson says Rison's confidence is genuine. For the first time since the university left the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association - after back-to-back conference championships - NCCU is starting to see the light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel. "The atmosphere is great, and it's going good right now just for the simple fact that we have a lot of guys returning this year," said Johnson, a Tulsa transfer and Hillside High graduate.



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Defense shines in NCCU Maroon-Gray game

DURHAM, N.C. - North Carolina Central University Coach Mose Rison put his N.C. Central football team on display for the public in its annual Maroon & Gray game, and the defense probably won. But the big news of the day was the addition of another game for this fall. The Eagles have added an 11th game — and a seventh home game — on Nov. 20 against Old Dominion, a team that is in its second season of football. NCCU, which has gone 4-7 each of the past two seasons as it transitions into NCAA Division I, has never played seven home games in the same season. NCCU was one of the better teams on the schedule last season for the Monarchs (9-2), who won their first meeting in Norfolk 42-28. “This is huge for this football program,” Rison said. “Our kids really enjoy playing in front of our fans and we play well at home.”

Incumbent starting quarterback Michael Johnson completed six of 15 passes for 74 yards and led one touchdown drive, which ended in a 1-yard scoring plunge by Justin Campbell. “We were just starting to click toward the end of spring ball, so I wish it had gone on a little bit longer,” Johnson said. “Overall it was pretty good. I’m more comfortable coming to the line and seeing everything. Last year I knew my plays and what everyone had to do, but I had no clue what the defense was doing. Now my thought process is much better and I’m seeing the field way better.”

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Robert H. Jackson: 'Stonewall' was heart of NCCU football

Calgary, Canada - At Robert "Stonewall" Jackson's memorial service last week, many former NFL players made the trip to attend. So did doctors and lawyers and teachers and coaches, all players and students whose paths he helped shape during his 30-plus years at N.C. Central. "There were quite a few people there I hadn't seen in 20-some years," former NCCU defensive back Robert Massey said. "The unfortunate part about all of us coming together is it would have taken a guy like coach Jack to have brought us all back together. I don't know if any other coach would have been able to do that."

Trailblazer. Trendsetter. Teacher. Mentor. Witness to history. Jackson, who died earlier this month at 88, did it all. Jackson fought with Patton at the Battle of the Bulge. He was the first player from a historically black school drafted by the NFL. He touched countless lives as an assistant football coach, teacher and trainer at N.C. Central for 31 years, the touchstone of the football program for generations of players. "He was N.C. Central football," said Joe Simmons, the school's career rushing leader. "He was the first guy you meet on campus. He was one of the firmest guys you'll ever meet and probably the fairest guy you'll ever meet."

The nickname "Stonewall" was bestowed upon him in honour of his stout play at fullback by his high-school coach in Allentown, Pa. It would remain applicable for the rest of his life. After Jackson got home from the war -- he earned three bronze stars with the all-black 183rd Engineering Battalion, crossing the Rhine with General George Patton's Third Army -- he was a four-year starter for North Carolina A&T at fullback and linebacker. The New York Giants took him in the 16th round of the 1950 draft, one pick after the Washington Redskins picked North Carolina's Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice.

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Stonewall' Jackson was NCCU football

NCCU HALL OF FAME COACH ROBERT "STONEWALL" JACKSON PASSES AWAY ...