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Linebacker Brenan Gordon recorded his first career interception return for a touchdown when his 79-yard runback sealed a 21-6 victory for Prairie View A&M over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Thursday in Pine Bluff, Ark.
UAPB took advantage of an early Prairie View fumble and claimed a 3-0 lead as kicker Chris Ewald nailed a 45-yard field goal for the only score of the half. SWAC: UAPB offense struggles in loss
Arkansas-Pine Bluff was handed a pair of second-half gifts Thursday night, but the Golden Lions couldn’t do anything with them. Trailing by one point, Prairie View A&M fumbled first on the Golden Lions’ 2 and later at its own 43.
But both of UAPB’s breaks ended with punts and what had been a dynamic UAPB offense was largely silent in a 21-6 loss to the defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champions at Golden Lion Stadium.
“They were basically giving us the football game,” UAPB quarterback Josh Boudreaux said. “Whenever teams turn the ball over like that, we’ve got to take advantage of it as an offense.”
A Michigan boy more used to snow flurries than sunburns, Casey Therriault had a lot to learn when he arrived in the Deep South just a few months ago. So, cut the Jackson State quarterback some slack if he didn't know the magnitude of the Alabama A&M-Jackson State game until a few days ago.
The important thing? He knows now. "Whoever wins goes to the SWAC championship," Therriault said Tuesday while walking off the practice field.
Anthony Jones won't act like it's not an issue. It is. "When you get a chance to rest and get an extra week to prepare, it's an advantage," the Alabama A&M coach said.
The Bulldogs (2-3, 1-2 SWAC) travel to Jackson this weekend for a 4 p.m. meeting Saturday with Jackson State (3-1, 1-1). And they do so with - to use a cliche - the deck stacked against them.
In the nutty, keep-you-on-your-toes Southwestern Athletic Conference, where this week’s contender is next week’s also-ran, no one yet knows how the Eastern Division race will play out.
Alabama State had the early lead, then dropped two straight games.
Jackson State’s hopes of reaching the SWAC championship game are on the line this weekend. The Tigers (3-1, 1-1) host Alabama A&M on Saturday in what’s considered an elimination game. The winner remains on pace with Alcorn State to win the East Division title and the loser faces an uphill climb.
Jackson State, coming off an open date, unexpectedly has one of Division I-AA’s top quarterbacks in Casey Therriault. The junior college transfer has produced three 300-yard passing games this season.
DURHAM, N.C. -- After N.C. Central coach Mose Rison enjoyed a rare weekend without football, he and his team have turned their attention to the matchup with Hampton on Saturday. Hampton played Delaware State on Thursday night, but Rison, who was on the recruiting trail in Charlotte, said he watched the game on television.
That turned out to be a fortunate coincidence since the teams were not able to trade their latest films. "It was in a driving rainstorm," Rison said. "They ran the ball extremely well in the rain. Give Hampton credit for being resilient and not getting away from their game plan. "
NATCHEZ, MS — Beau Pré Country Club has seen its fair share of golf tournaments over the years, but this week marked the first time it hosted a college tournament.
The Alcorn State River City Invitational took place at Beau Pré Monday and Tuesday, with six teams participating: Alcorn State, Texas Southern, Prairie View A&M, Alabama A&M, Mississippi Valley State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
The Braves men finished fourth, shooting 805 as a team. Alabama A&M placed first with a score of 613, followed by Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 643 and Prairie View A&M with 673.
Coach Todd Bozeman looks forward to another MEAC championship in 2010-11 and NCAA berth.
Morgan State junior forward Kevin Thompson (Walbrook) was voted the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year and the Bears were ranked first in the preseason poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
Morgan sophomore swingman Dewayne Jackson also was voted to the All-MEAC preseason first team. The Bears received 20 of 22 first-place votes and 474 points; South Carolina State was second with 378. UMES was seventh with 242 and placed junior guard Hillary Haley on the second team. Coppin State received 84points, tied for last with Florida A&M.
Proud and productive, I’m a child of an HBCU – a 2006 graduate from Morgan State University, but you won’t catch me in any letter jackets or riding with personalized school license plates—I’m much too discreet for that. However, whenever prompted to state my affiliation, I reel off my origin with no hesitation. My graduate friends from bigger schools (i.e. the University of Maryland-College Park, Penn State and UCLA) never seem to understand my loyalty to the HBCU circle.
Coach Connell Maynor: “That’s what losers do, they complain,” Maynor said. “They make excuses, and we don’t make excuses — we take what we have and we keep going.”
Winston-Salem State has made quite an impact in its first football season back in the CIAA — compiling records of 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the league. Some opposing coaches say that some of that success can be tied to scholarship numbers.
Last season, in what was supposed to be the final year of transition to Division I, WSSU had 51 scholarship players and was on target to reach the Football Championship Subdivision limit of 63 this season. But school officials decided to change course, stopping the move and keeping WSSU in Division II.
Winston-Salem, NC - The Winston-Salem State Rams (6-0, 4-0 CIAA) continued their move up the NCAA Division II polls as the team moved into 17th-place in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) poll and make their debut in the D2Football.com top 25 in the 22nd slot.
After earning their first top 25 ranking since 2002 last week, the Rams followed up their effort with a 49-3 win at Johnson C. Smith. The effort boosted the Rams into the top 20 of the AFCA poll as the team earned a 17th-place ranking.
Wayne Angel told a group of reporters Tuesday that the sky is the limit for his track team, then made it clear that the potential that his Florida A&M men's track team is showing isn't because of some magic he worked in the short time that he's been at the helm.
He gave a lot of credit to women's coach Darlene Moore. Up until Angel was hired a little more than a month ago, Moore ran both the men's and women's teams simultaneously.
There was a beam in Martin Ukpai's eyes and his mannerism exuded optimism when he heard about coach Joe Taylor's suspicion that the players on South Carolina State's football team might have had a meeting of the minds before coming to Tallahassee last weekend.
Whether or not Taylor's hunch was right, the Florida A&M quarterback believes there might be something to getting the offensive unit together. He figures it might just help them find the answer for producing points.
FAMU backups work for some playing time » Linebacker Justin Davis would like to get a scholarship one day as a member of the Florida A&M football team. But for now, he has to prove he's deserving.
Davis, a redshirt freshman out of Florida High, is making a pretty good case as a walk-on. During Saturday's game against South Carolina State, he was on the field not only making plays on special teams, but trying to generate energy among his teammates — just like he has done in every other game.
After watching the film of Saturday's shutout loss to South Carolina State, coach Joe Taylor has decided that he's going back to basics with the Florida A&M football team in hopes of ending its two-game losing streak.
"We're going to play smash-mouth football," Taylor said Sunday. "That's what got me to where I am."
The *69-year old William "Billy" Joe ends his 36 season head coaching career with a record of 245-127-4 combined from Cheyney University (PA), Central State University (Ohio), Florida A&M University and Miles College. Joe is a graduate of Villanova University and won a Super Bowl with the New York Jets in 1968.
FAIRFIELD, Alabama, - Miles College Head football Coach William “Billy” Joe met with College administrators earlier this afternoon to tender his resignation immediately as Head Coach due to health issues. Assistant Offensive-line Coach, Patrick Peasant, will assume duties as interim Coach while a national search ensues.
Billy Joe stated, “It’s been a great and glorious three year ride. But health concerns are becoming too much of a challenge for me to continue in my current capacity.” Joe further states, “I’m still going to be around though to support the College and become the schools number one fan.” Miles President, Dr. George T. French, Jr., said of Joe, “Coach Billy Joe has been a tremendous service to our Athletic Program and to the Institution overall. His presence will be missed.”
2008 marked the first season the Golden Bears played under Billy Joe and his 32nd year serving as a head coach. Joe leaves Miles as the second all-time winning Coach in HBCU history with over 240 wins, trailing only Grambling’s legendary Eddie Robinson. Billy Joe began his coaching career in 1971 as an assistant coach and later serving as the assistant running back coach for the Philadelphia Eagle’s before moving on to an illustrious career in Black College Football.
Joe was enshrined in 2007 into the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame, Florida A&M University Sports Hall of Fame and the MEAC Hall of Fame. Joe is also an active member of the American Football Coaches’ Association.
Miles College Press Release 10/4/10
*Coach Joe birth date is 10/14/1940; he was born in Aynor (Horry County) South Carolina--Population 640 based on July 2008 Census.
Raise your hand if there was an urge to chuckle after watching the closing part of the MEAC commercial aired during Saturday's tape-delayed showing of the South Carolina State-Florida A&M football game. You know, the part where Commissioner Dennis Thomas says "athletic excellence" about the MEAC?
When it comes to football, the only "excellent" part being exhibited is the 20-game conference-winning streak by the Bulldogs and Bethune-Cookman's dominating 4-0 start. Aside from those two developments, there's truly not much for Thomas...
Well, we have our favorite. South Carolina State was awfully impressive dispatching Florida A&M on the road 19-0. The Bulldogs did settle for four field goal attempts after moving the ball, but given the way they dominated, that’s being a little bit picky. Norfolk State’s likely happy about the result – SC State would have been a beast of a game if they’d had the loss to focus them – but the abilities the Bulldogs displayed are worrisome enough. A tall task awaits the Spartans this week. Also, Bethune is still looking awfully good and Hampton stays unbeaten.
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Maybe you saw the shark in the pool on "CSI:" the other night. Nothing a couple extra pounds of chlorine might solve. Or a 3-3-5 defense.
If a team is still sitting outside The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top 25, it probably will not be making a deep run into the playoffs later this fall. In fact, it would struggle just to make the 20-team field, which consists of 10 automatic bids to conference champions and 10 at-large bids. But that doesn't mean some teams outside the rankings won't make an impact on the playoffs. Whether they get in or not.
In the major FCS conferences, there are some sharks lurking...
Charles Brice rushed for a career-high 161 yards and three touchdowns to lead Howard University to a 28-14 win over Lincoln University on Oct. 2. The win snapped an 11-game losing skid for Howard.
After both teams failed to score in the first quarter, Howard (1-4) took advantage of good field position and drove 50 yards in seven plays, with Brice sprinting 34 yards for the score at the 11:52 mark of the second quarter. Howard never looked back after that.
Brice, a 5-foot-11-inch, 190-pound red-shirt sophomore from Columbia, S.C., was making his first start after coming off a career-best 96 yards on 13 carries in a loss to Morgan State on September 25.
Charles Brice ran for three second-quarter touchdowns, and Howard defeated Lincoln (Pa.), 28-14, on Saturday at Greene Stadium.
Brice, who finished with 161 yards on 31 carries, had scores of 34 and 12 yards before putting the Bison up 21-0 on a one-yard run with 20 seconds remaining until halftime.
The Division II Lions (1-4) answered with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Ivan Mitchell to Anthony Wilson at the end of the half.
It took almost the rest of the game, but Clark Atlanta found its offense as Ronald Thompson capped a 93-yard drive with a one-yard dive as the Panthers defeated Stillman 19-14 in CAU's home opener Saturday. The score was an exciting end to CAU's homecoming, but the excitement, unfortunately, did not end there for the fans.
Despite the touchdown, the Panthers (3-2, 3-1 SIAC) had to wait with baited breath as Stillman recovered a poor squib kick on the ensuing kick-off at Clark Atlanta's 38 yard line.
MURFREESBORO, N.C. - The Chowan University football team picked up their first win of season this afternoon after beating Virginia Union University 35-34 in CIAA gridiron action. Playing in their first-ever televised event, Chowan held on to the one point win despite a late surge by the Panthers.
Chowan's Robert Holland hauled in 11 passes for 144 yards and three touchdowns to help propel his team to victory. The Hawks improve their overall record to 1-4 and their CIAA record to 1-1. The Panthers fall to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the league after today.
Chowan collected 345 yards of total offense in the game with 234 yards coming through the air. Chowan's Steven Carroll came in for relief of starter Cameron Stover to throw for 183 yards on 19 completions. Carroll also threw three of today's four touchdowns. Stover, still nursing a shoulder injury, left the game in the second quarter but completed six passes for 51 yards and hooked up with Holland to put Chowan on the board in the first quarter.
A furious Virginia Union University comeback in the waning seconds of a regionally televised football game fell just short as Chowan University escaped with a 35-34 win over the Panthers in Murfreesboro, N.C., on October 2.
Trailing 35-21 with less than three minutes left to play, backup quarterback Cheston Hickman, playing in place of the injured Aris McGlone-English, led a seven-play 60-yard drive to pull the Panthers to within 35-28. Hickman capped the drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Andre Winston with 1:22 left to play. Union then recovered the ensuing onside kick at their own 36-yard line.
Prairie View A&M University Department of Athletics has entered into a two-year agreement with the City of Shreveport and State Fair of Louisiana to bring to the city one football game each during the 2010 and 2011 seasons at Independence Stadium.
Prairie View's first contest in Shreveport will take place on October 23rd, 2010 versus Southern University and A&M College (Baton Rouge). The gridiron matchup will be a reunion of sorts as both teams met in Independence Stadium during the 2003 campaign.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Even though Preston Brown is one of the top running backs in the Football Championship Subdivision, he's always concerned each week about losing his starting spot. Dante' Thomas showed why.
With Brown slowed in practice by a groin injury, Thomas took over the starting spot Saturday, rushing for a career-high 186 yards and two touchdowns in Tennessee State's 37-7 victory over North Carolina A&T in the Circle City Classic at Lucas Oil Stadium. Brown might not have been himself, but he was still pretty good. The second-leading rusher in the FCS added 145 yards, nine shy of his average.
INDIANAPOLIS -- The N.C. A&T football team ran out of luck at the Circle City Classic. The Aggies, who brought a 3-0 record at the event into Saturday's showdown against Tennessee State, couldn't draw from past success, dropping a 37-7 decision to the Tigers at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Aggies, with previous victories over Southern (1994) and Tennessee State (1997 and 2005), were the only undefeated team in Classic history with at least three appearances. The game, which was established to showcase Historically Black Colleges and Universities, has been played each year since 1984.
GREENVILLE, MS - Quarterback K.J. Black threw a pair of touchdown passes to Shaun Stephens in a 1:30 span of the third quarter Saturday to help Prairie View (2-3, 2-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) subdue Mississippi Valley State in the Delta Devils' home away from home at Greenville High.
Adrian Martin pulled the Delta Devils (0-5, 0-4) within 14 points in the fourth quarter, catching TD passes of 19 and 52 yards from Oliver Hughes. Prairie View's Donald Babers rushed for 151 yards and two TDs on 26 carries. Black completed 22 of 37 passes for 230 yards.
GREENVILLE, Miss. — Shaun Stephens caught two touchdown passes from K.J. Black in a 1-minute, 30-second span of the third quarter to lift Prairie View A&M over Mississippi Valley State 34-13 on Saturday.
Stephens’ first touchdown — a 25-yarder — gave the Panthers (2-3, 2-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) a 17-0 lead. Two plays later, Jarvis Wilson recovered a fumble at the Delta Devils’ 15, and Black then found Stephens for a 15-yard score.
HUNTSVILLE, AL. -- When Jomarcus Savage decided to transfer from Auburn, he briefly considered Alabama A&M. "My parents were in my ear," he admitted. Naturally so, since his father Joe Savage played for A&M and since Jomarcus played at Johnson High. Alas, Alabama A&M was "too close to home," Jomarcus said.
Grambling State was apparently the right fit. On Saturday afternoon, as A&M held homecoming, so did Savage. For the first time since he was a 9-year-old linebacker in Pop Warner football, he was back at Louis Crews Stadium, this time for Grambling's 25-22 win over A&M.
HUNTSVILLE, AL. -- The prettiest girl. The most spectacular day. The greatest food. Every day should be homecoming. They just need to turn out differently than this one.
In a luxury box above Louis Crews Stadium, Alabama A&M president Dr. Andrew Hugine Jr. was following the frantic final seconds. "If we can just get close enough to kick a field goal," he was saying as the Bulldogs gained a late first down, then stopped the clock.
Peering over rows of his guests in theater seats, Hugine watched Deaunte Mason throw his 31st pass of the game. If ... If ...
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Alabama A&M, with a chance to prove it is one of the elite teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference on Saturday, failed to deliver. The Bulldogs, who have struggled against Grambling since joining the conference, had the Tigers on the ropes, but could not land the punch to knock them out.
Frank Warren ran roughshod through A&M's vaunted defense, and the Tigers also got an 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that proved to be the difference as Grambling hung on for a 25-22 victory before an announced crowd of 12,328 on homecoming at Louis Crews Stadium.
Waving their hands toward the sky, running toward the west sideline at A.W. Mumford Stadium after halftime Saturday night, Southern football players felt the way they wanted to feel.
At the time, they were tied with visiting Arkansas-Pine Bluff. In the first half, they had showed passion, emotion and a stronger game plan, and they felt confident that their first Southwestern Athletic Conference win in the Stump Mitchell era was a mere 30 minutes away.
They were wrong. The Golden Lions used a dominant third quarter to pull away for a 41-23 victory, burning the beleaguered SU defense for big play after big play.
Saturday night in A.W. Mumford Stadium, for the second consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference game, the Southern football team was left to lament all the times it turned the football over, all the times it committed a game-changing penalty, all the little things it failed to do.
Saturday night, all those mistakes helped Arkansas-Pine Bluff leave town with a 41-23 victory, handing SU its third straight loss in the process. The Jaguars had four turnovers, nine penalties and a handful of hiccups on special teams.
Receiver Curry Allen sat down at a table after Saturday night’s 41-23 loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, trying to put in words what went wrong and even more importantly, how the Southern offense can recover. His answer was simple: stop trying so hard.
“We’ve been playing uptight, not really playing our game,” said Curry, a redshirt senior. “We have to relax and go out there and have fun.
There were plenty of mistakes to go around during Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s 41-23 SWAC win over Southern University Saturday night, but most came in the first half for the Golden Lions.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff helped set up an early Southern field goal with a punt interference penalty. Another Southern field goal was set up when wide receiver Raymond Webber lost a fumble deep in UAPB territory, and quarterback Josh Boudreaux later tossed an interception.
But it all came together in the second half as Boudreaux and Webber led the UAPB rally that saw it outscore the Jaguars 28-10 after a halftime tie.
Charlotte, N.C. -- Make it six in a row for Winston-Salem State. The Rams crushed CIAA rival Johnson C. Smith 49-3 at Memorial Stadium last night to improve their record to 6-0, 4-0 in league play.
The defense sparkled early, turning back two early Golden Bulls drives in the shadow of the Rams’ end zone. The offense then kicked into gear, scoring 21 second-quarter points to take a 28-0 halftime lead that put the game out of reach.
“They got off on a good start,” said defensive lineman Juan Corders, who led WSSU with 11 tackles, including 3½ for losses, and a sack. “They played us quite well, but the defense stuck in there and got adjusted to fight them off.” Bulls fail to convert while Rams pile it on
Winston-Salem State's return to Division II and the CIAA still is perfect.
The Rams ripped off a 21-point second quarter on their way to a 49-3 league win against Johnson C. Smith at Memorial Stadium, their sixth to start the season. Winston-Salem State (6-0, 4-0), which rejoined the CIAA after four years in Division I, shook off an early challenge by J.C. Smith (1-4, 0-2 CIAA) to pull away by halftime.
ALBANY, GA — It’s good to be home. After three long road trips in four games to start the season, the Albany State football team returned to the Albany State University Coliseum on Saturday night, using a fourth-quarter surge to beat a pesky Lane team, 43-13, and improve to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the SIAC.
It wasn’t as easy as the Rams had hoped, however, as the Dragons (0-5, 0-4) used a blitz all game long that stumped ASU and quarterback Stanley Jennings until the final frame.
“We actually went into the game thinking we could run the ball a lot better than we did,” head coach Mike White said. “The passing game (ended up being) there, (because) they were throwing a lot of people down (at us). So we were able to get them for some big plays.”
FORT VALLEY, GA — About two-thirds of the way through the third quarter, running back Aaron Courtney was stopped at the line, but he disposed of the two Benedict tacklers who had him wrapped up and raced 22 yards for a touchdown.
That gave Fort Valley State a two-touchdown lead, and the Wildcats could breathe a little bit. Homecoming appeared to be saved, and the weekend would be a good one for FVSU. FVSU’s defense surrendered only a few big plays and the Wildcats blocked two punts and rolled past Benedict 41-13 on Saturday afternoon at Wildcat Stadium.
The crowd was announced at 12,455 watched FVSU improve to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in SIAC play. Benedict fell to 1-5 and 1-4.
Morgan State didn't need long Saturday to come to the realization it was in for a long day against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference power Bethune-Cookman. Sixteen seconds, to be exact.
That's how long it took for the Florida school to complete a 70-yard touchdown pass on its first play from scrimmage. It was only the beginning of a game to forget for the host Bears, who committed seven turnovers and allowed 640 yards of offense in a 69-32 loss.
"There wasn't an effort on either side of the ball — offensively or defensively," Morgan head coach Donald Hill-Eley said. "Anytime you turn the ball over seven, almost eight times, you can't beat a little league team like that. We have to do a better job of protecting the football, and we have to make some changes in some areas that we're making some crazy decisions."
BALTIMORE, MD -- Bethune-Cookman coach Brian Jenkins admitted he's not a numbers guy. "We're not into stats or records," Jenkins said. "We're just focused on running our offense." Following Saturday's 69-32 win over host Morgan State, however, the numbers were difficult to ignore.
The Wildcats racked up 640 yards of total offense, including 366 on the ground, and forced seven turnovers to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2003, as well as 2-0 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference for the first time since 2006.
What's more, B-CU scored its most points on the road since 1950, starting on the game's first offensive play, when quarterback Matt Johnson found wide receiver Eddie Poole wide open down the left sideline -- the result of badly blown coverage by Morgan State -- for a 70-yard touchdown.
CHARLIE BROWN PLAYED in a couple of Super Bowls with the Washington Redskins and has a pair of rings to show for it. He also had a 1,000-yard receiving season in the NFL during his six-year career.
Still, the one-time South Carolina State standout carries a couple of beefs with him. He believes his beloved Bulldogs were slighted in 1980 when they were not invited to play in the Division I-AA playoffs, and two of his fingers have never been fitted for the pair of national black college championships S.C. State won while he was there.
Brown can never rectify the 1980 NCAA ruling, but he will right the latter wrong Friday night when members of the 1976 and 1980 coaching staffs and players will be presented with national championship rings.
Linebacker Brenan Gordon recorded his first career interception return for a touchdown when his 79-yard runback sealed a 21-6 victory for Prairie View A&M over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Thursday in Pine Bluff, Ark.
