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Showing posts with label NCAA FCS Division Football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NCAA FCS Division Football. Show all posts
Edmonton, AB Canada - The Edmonton Eskimos have acquired import offensive lineman Junius Coston from the Calgary Stampeders in exchange for future considerations.
Coston (6-4, 325 lbs) was a fifth round selection by Green Bay in the 2005 NFL Draft. The North Carolina A&T State University Aggies product played 16 games for the Packers from 2005 – 2007. He also had stints with Detroit and Oakland. He most recently played with Omaha in the UFL in 2010.
#72 WR Patrick Brown, first year free agent player from Bethune-Cookman catches first TD of 2011 pre-season for Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The versatile Coston played guard, centre and tackle during his collegiate career and was invited to play in the 2005 Senior Bowl. He signed as a free agent with Calgary on May 18, 2011.
Junius Coston
OL
North Carolina A&T
(Import)
Height 6.04 Weight 325 lbs
Born: November 5, 1983, Framingham, MA
Yrs Esks: 1st
Yrs CFL: 1st
Baton Rouge, LA - Last summer, when Stump Mitchell boldly predicted his Southern football team could go undefeated, he didn’t exactly win over rival coaches. When his team fell disastrously short, finishing 2-9 ... well, he obviously didn’t win over the Jaguar Nation.
Still, as this summer begins and Mitchell prepares for his second year at SU, you have to feel a little sympathy. No, seriously.
Thursday afternoon, Southwestern Athletic Conference presidents and chancellors voted to keep SU and Jackson State from participating in the league’s championship football game, essentially expanding a one-year postseason ban handed down by the NCAA. Now, some three months before the season begins, Mitchell has to find a way to motivate his 18-to-23-year-old players — to give them reasons to keep fighting on every down, in a season that can’t possibly end with a title.
ABOUT THE GAME WHERE: Ormond Beach Sports Complex WHEN: Today, 4 p.m. ADMISSION: $5 ($1 students with ID); parking
1. Quarterbacks
This could be the last chance for Jackie Wilson or David Blackwell to get a leg up heading into summer drills in the battle to replace 2010 MEAC player of the year Matt Johnson. Head coach Brian Jenkins calls the two QBs mirror images of each other. Will Wilson have an advantage playing with the maroon squad and the first-team O-line? In the summer, the position battle could heat up even more when freshman Quentin Williams, Florida's Mr. Football winner, arrives.
2. Running backs
This could be a chance for someone to break out of a crowded pack. Three of last season's top four rushers (excluding quarterbacks) return: Isidore Jackson (514 yards, 4.4 yards per carry, eight TDs), Johnathan Moment (257 yards, 4.4 ypc, three TDs) and Andronicus Lovette (261 yards, 6.7 ypc, six TDs). Throw into the mix...
Videographer: madie1898; BCU Symphonic Band, Spring Concert 2011, "Someone"
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –- What was the difference between the Bethune-Cookman University football team’s spring game player draft and those drafts you’re accustomed to watching on television? Well, Mel Kiper Jr. would have been completely clueless for one thing.
Part actual draft, part brokering session and part deal-making that you expect to find in smoke-filled rooms – in this case, without the smoke – as the evening progressed, the Wildcats gathered Thursday night in the football coaches office and labored until the wee hours of the morning hammering out the line-ups for Saturday’s game at Ormond Beach Sports Complex.
There were players practicing to be agents and the ever-looming threat of a “blockbuster trade” at the 11th hour, but the most important thing for B-CU Head Coach Brian Jenkins was seeing a lot of enthusiasm and camaraderie among the coaching staff and players.
Stump Mitchell’s new office overlooks the playing field at A.W. Mumford Stadium, but his first game as Southern’s new football coach won’t happen there. It’ll be 798 miles away. Mitchell and the Jaguars will kick off their season at Orlando, Fla., in the MEAC-SWAC Challenge — the first of six games on the road in 2010, according to the schedule released by the university Thursday. Athletic Director Greg LaFleur confirmed that Southern had been tabbed as the SWAC’s representative for months. The MEAChasn’t officially settled on its participant, though LaFleur expects the announcement will come by the end of this month. Attempts to reach Patricia Porter, media relations director for the MEAC, were unsuccessful.
BATON ROUGE, La. - Nine Southwestern Athletic conference games, six games inside the state and the first meeting with Arkansas-Monticello highlight Southern's 2010 football schedule, which all adds up to what should be another exciting year of Southern Jaguar Football.
Southern will open the 2010 season in the sixth annual MEAC/SWAC Challenge in Orlando, Florida on September 4th. The SWAC earned its first and only MEAC/SWAC Challenge trophy in 2007 when the Southern Jags defeated Florida A&M, 33-27. SU will return home the following week to face the Boll Weevils of Arkansas-Monticello for the first time on September 11th. After the Jags first open week, Southern will then hit the road for Huntsville, Alabama to take on Alabama A&M on September 25th. The Bulldogs are back on the SU Jags schedule after a two-year hiatus.
Southern University 2010 Football Schedule
Sept. 4 SWAC/MEAC Challenge Orlando, Fla. TBA Sept. 11 Arkansas-Monticello Baton Rouge 6 p.m. Sept. 25 at Alabama A&M Huntsville, Ala. TBA Oct. 2 Arkansas-Pine Bluff Baton Rouge 6 p.m. Oct. 9 Mississippi Valley St. Baton Rouge 6 p.m. Oct. 16 at Jackson State Jackson, Miss. TBA Oct. 23 at Prairie View Houston TBA Oct. 30 at Alcorn St. Lorman, Miss. TBA Nov. 6 Texas Southern Baton Rouge 6 p.m. Nov. 13 Alabama St. Baton Rouge 5:30 p.m. Nov. 27 x-Grambling St. New Orleans 1 p.m. Dec. 11 SWAC Championship Birmingham, Ala. TBA
x-Bayou Classic Note: game times are subject to change
NOTE TO FANS:Here are some facts to limit Jaguar speculations on the MEAC opponent for the MEAC/SWAC Challenge...
Florida A&M opens its season on Thursday, Sept. 2 at the University of Miami (Sun Life Stadium) in a $600,000 money game. As much as Rattlers fans would love to steamroll the Jaguars, don't expect the Rattlers to walk away from the big money Miami is offering nor break its pact with Bethune-Cookman. Both agreed in principle to not complete against its own Florida Classic in Orlando's Citrus Bowl, the site of the MEAC/SWAC Challenge. Although attendance fell in 2009, the FAMU vs. Bethune-Cookman, Florida Classic was the highest attended HBCU game of the season with 59,418. Last year Challenge with Grambling State vs. South Carolina State drew only 21,367 to the same Citrus Bowl.
2-Time MEAC Champions South Carolina State Bulldogs are scheduled to play a money game with ACC Champions -Georgia Tech on Sept. 4 at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta. The payout for the Bulldogs is $400,000.
The Hampton Pirates will open their season at Central Michigan on Sept. 2 in another much needed money game in a down economy.
North Carolina A&T opens their season against arch-rival Winston-Salem State at Aggie Stadium on September 4. The question is will the Aggiesforego a home date with a hated rival with a guaranteed 21,000+ Rams/Aggie fans--for a little ESPNU television time? Not likely with the higher costs for travel and lodging.
Norfolk State is the best candidate for this game. The Spartans finished '09 in 3rd place at 7-4, behind S.C. State and FAMU. The others--Howard (2-9), Morgan State (6-5) and Delaware State (4-7) averaged less than 4,000 fans to home games last season. Delaware State is still in our doghouse for forfeiting a conference game with N.C. A&T last season, to play at Michigan on the same date. They are the very last team I would want representing the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. However, expect the ESPNU brass to select Morgan State--playing off the fact that Southern's new coach Stump Mitchell previously coached at Morgan State (1995-98). In Florida, who cares? Count this as just another Southern "home game" for the JaguarNation with 16,000 -20,000 in attendance to watch the Human Jukebox do their thing.
Either way-- Norfolk State or Morgan State will steamroll the Jaguars! The Howard Bison are not ready for prime time, although we love the Howard "Showtime" band.
Southern University senior wide receiver Juamorris Stewart might have said it best following the Jaguars 48-42 win over Alcorn State on Saturday night. “Anything can happen in the SWAC,” Stewart said. “We’ve got to come out every week and play our best.” Southern had just built a seemingly comfortable 20-point fourth-quarter lead only to have Alcorn State rally for three late scores. As things turned out, Southern couldn’t breathe easy until Evan Alexander recovered an onside kick with 19 seconds left.
The play put a cap on a wild finish that seemed improbable early on as both the Southern and Alcorn State offenses took their time heating up. “We had to find our rhythm and chemistry on the field,” Southern center Ramon Chinyoung said. “Of course, in the second half we made a lot of adjustments. We knew what we could and couldn’t do, and that’s how we were victorious in the second half.”
Southern University Coach Pete Richardson had to work to the last 10 seconds to pull-out the victory over Alcorn State.
So when Byron Williams darted up the right sideline, broke a tackle near midfield and broke loose for a 91-yard kickoff return that gave Southern a 20-point lead over Alcorn State in the fourth quarter Saturday night at A.W. Mumford Stadium, what, exactly, was he thinking? “I was like, ‘Yes, it really hurt ’em.’ But I didn’t really pay attention to the clock,” Williams said. “They had a lot of time to get the ball back and score.” And the Braves scored. A lot. As the final minutes came to a close in this Southwestern Athletic Conference opener, the Jaguars had to hold on for dear life as Alcorn erupted for four touchdowns in a rally that just fell short in a 48-42 thriller.
Alcorn State senior quarterback Timothy Buckley didn’t want to leave Southern’s campus with a loss. Neither did his offensive mates, or first-year coach Earnest Collins Jr. Don’t get this misunderstood. Though Alcorn was outscored 100-0 in its first two games, its opponents were Football Bowl Subdivision foes. On the road. Against fellow Football Championship Subdivision foe Southern (3-1, 1-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference), Alcorn (0-3, 0-1) put together a performance that would have made former quarterback Steve McNair proud. And if the Braves could have gotten another defensive stop or sustained another offensive drive, his five-touchdown performance may have been enough to win. Instead, his Braves fell 48-42 Saturday at A.W. Mumford Stadium.
First quarter
SOUTHERN — Juamorris Stewart 11 pass from Bryant Lee (Josh Duran kick) at :11. DRIVE: 6 plays, 40 yards, 1:55. KEY PLAYS: SU goes for it on fourth-and-6 at the Alcorn 25, converting when Lee hits Stewart on a stop route. One play later, Stewart gets a key block from wideout Corey Cushingberry and hops into the end zone. Southern 7, Alcorn 0.
After missing two games and sitting on the bench for the first half of Southern’s 48-42 victory over Alcorn State, strong safety Gary Chatman finally got back on the field. But he didn’t do it at strong safety. Chatman, a starter at drop linebacker the past two years, returned to his old position during the third quarter of Saturday’s wild game, and he did so out of necessity. SU’s linebacker corps was already thin heading into this game, thanks to a handful of minor injuries and a virus that spread through the unit.
Drop linebacker David Daye didn’t dress out because of flu-like symptoms. Then, during the game, linebackers Marcus Clark missed time because he was getting re-taped, and André Coleman stepped out with an apparent injury to his left arm. In stepped Chatman, who’s still recovering from a sprained ankle, which he suffered in the season opener at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Attendance: 16,940 at Mumford Stadium, Baton Rouge, LA
It was a classic comeback. In the 10th annual John Merritt Classic, Tennessee State spotted Southern an 11-point lead before Antonio Heffner led the furious rally for the Tigers, who claimed a 34-32 win over Southern. An LP Field crowd of 28,830, the second-largest ever to attend the John Merritt Classic, saw TSU's offense keep the Tigers in the game long enough for the defense to finally stall the Jaguars.
After Southern took an 18-7 lead midway into the third quarter, Antonio Heffner led TSU's comeback by tossing three touchdowns in the quarters. Heffner then gave running back Javarris Williams the ball and Williams ran for two fourth-quarter scores to give the Tigers 34 points in the second half.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Henderson State WHERE Carpenter-Haygood Stadium, Arkadelphia WHEN 6 p.m. today RECORDS Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0-1 (Div. I -FCS/SWAC) ; Henderson State 0-1 (Division II/GSC) COACHES Monte Coleman (0-1 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff ); Scott Maxfield (18-15 at Henderson State) SERIES Henderson State leads 10-3 RADIO KDEL-FM, 100. 9 (Arkadelphia ), KELDAM, 1400 (El Dorado ), KILX-FM, 104. 1 (Mena ), KUAP-FM, 89. 7 (Pine Bluff ) INTERNET BROADCAST/Live Audio, Live Stats:www.hsu.edu/athletics
PINE BLUFF, AK — First-year Arkansas-Pine Bluff Coach Monte Coleman said he wanted to raise the profile of his football program, and so far he’s getting his wish. People in Arkansas have been talking about the Golden Lions this week, albeit for all the wrong reasons.
While not quite on par with Arkansas State beating Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, UAPB’s season-opening 21-7 home loss to Division II Arkansas-Monticello grabbed its fair share of attention. This was a program two years removed from playing in its conference championship game and starting the season with optimism to spare, only to fall to a bottom-rung Gulf South Conference program that had won six games in the past three seasons.
So the loss qualified as a shock, one that still stings as the Golden Lions prepare for a much more highly touted Gulf South opponent in Henderson State.
UAPB Musical Marching Machine of the Mid-South (M4) and the Golden Girls dancers are ready for a great season of performances.
