SWAC Soccer tourney has big impact

The Mississippi Valley State University soccer team wasn’t the only winner this weekend at the SWAC women’s tournament. The Valley campus and Greenwood’s economy took home victories as well. “It’s been great,” said Kelly Brooks, associate commissioner of the SWAC. “Valley did an incredible job of preparing for the arrival of the tournament. Their facility is beautiful.”

The Delta Devilettes ably defended their upgraded home turf, defeating Jackson State 2-1 in the final Sunday for their second SWAC title. The benefits to the local economy could be seen before even getting out of the parking lot to the stadium. License plates from California, Canada, Colorado and Florida clearly demonstrated the tournament’s draw. Moira Barnes, Debbie Johnston and Donna Gregory made the 17-hour drive from London, Ontario to watch their daughters play.

“It’s nice to get down to see our girls,” Barnes said. Her only complaint about the tournament was one common to many sporting parents: The refereeing could have been better. The Canadians arrived Wednesday and were scheduled to leave today.

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UAPB Golden Lions take a step back in defeat

UAPB Head Football Coach Monte Coleman has had a difficult first season with the Golden Lions.

Forget the step forward the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions seemed to be taking the past two weeks. In losing to Grambling State 28-7 Saturday before a crowd of 15,500 at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium, the Golden Lions did an about-face and marched squarely in the wrong direction. UAPB fumbled the ball four times, with three of those fumbles being recovered by Grambling State. Golden Lions quarterbacks Gvona Turner and Jonathan Moore had three interceptions combined while completing only 8 of 23 passes.

This two weeks after the Golden Lions scored 42 points against Division II Lincoln in their first victory of the season and one week after UAPB took Southwestern Athletic Conference power Southern University of Baton Rouge to overtime in a 31-24 loss. “We had opportunities to win this game. We’ve been jinxed with that bug all year, turning the football over with fumbles and interceptions,” said UAPB’s Monte Coleman, who has yet to win a SWAC game in his first season as head coach.

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Grambling, first-year coach Donnita Drain have a winning debut

(L) Head Coach Donnita Drain; (R) Sophomore forward Secrett Anderson, a transfer from Florida A&M 2006-07 team, was the game high scorer.

First-year women's basketball coach Donnita Drain made a successful debut as the Grambling State University Lady Tigers captured a 91-63 exhibition win over Huston-Tillotson on Sunday afternoon in the Assembly Center. With eight newcomers receiving extensive action in the first half, it took some time for the Lady Tigers to establish an offensive rhythm as Huston-Tillotson managed to claim an early 16-15 lead at the 10:36 mark. However, the tide of the contest began to change as Grambling went on a 13-0 run that was sparked by newcomers Rachele Dobbins and Secrett Anderson. From that point, Grambling never looked back as they closed out the first half ahead 47-37.

Huston-Tillotson drew to within eight points on several occasions early in the second half but never could get over the hump as the Lady Tigers managed to stop several of their runs with defensive stops. As a result, Grambling eventually secured control of the contest midway through the second half with an 18-1 surge that featured five points and four rebounds from senior Gabrielle Fleming.

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SSU player proposes on football field

SSU senior lineman, Roland Jackson

Savannah State University football player Roland Jackson did not have a post-game surprise after the Tigers played Edward Waters College on Saturday, but he certainly did the previous Saturday. After SSU's 23-7 homecoming victory over Concordia-Selma on Nov. 1, the senior stunned his girlfriend, Janika Davis, by proposing marriage to her on the field at T.A. Wright Stadium.

"She said yes," Jackson said, grinning. "She was really shocked."

After the game, a sweat-and-grass-covered Jackson sprinted to the locker room and showered. "I was going to (propose) in uniform, but I knew that the moment was going to get deep, and I didn't want to be hugging on her smelling like that," he said. Davis, an SSU senior from Riverdale, waited at midfield along with her family, Jackson's family and their friends.

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LAST GAME: Edward Waters 26, Savannah State 21 (4-6 record) at Gilman Stadium, Kingsland, GA. Attendance: 3,117.

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Everything falls apart for ASU; Jackson State smothers Hornets

Photo Gallery: ASU loses to Jackson State

Three weeks ago, the Alabama State football team changed its offensive approach, going from a pass-heavy game plan to one that relied more on the running game. After two games in which the offense was clearly improving, the Hornets thought they had found the answer. They thought their severe struggles were behind them. They thought wrong.

Against an aggressive Jackson State defense determined to stop the run, the ASU offense was absolutely atrocious. The Hornets managed a meager 93 total yards, had only seven first downs and threatened to score just once. Jackson handed ASU its first shutout of the year, 20-0. "We just took a huge step back," ASU head coach Reggie Barlow said. "It was just a combination of everything. We couldn't run it. We couldn't throw it. We couldn't do anything."

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TSU inches closer to conference title

Heffner throws 4 TDs, runs for another in win

Photo Gallery: TSU vs. Eastern Illinois

Antonio Heffner is still hurting, but the Tennessee State quarterback inflicted plenty of pain Saturday on Eastern Illinois at LP Field. After missing last week's game with a rib injury, Heffner hobbled back onto the field and led the Football Championship Subdivision No. 22 Tigers to a 45-24 win. Heffner completed only seven passes, but four were touchdowns and he ran for another, helping TSU (8-2, 5-1 Ohio Valley Conference) finish with an undefeated home record for the first time since 1999 and stay on course to win the OVC title.

It could have been Heffner's final game at LP Field depending on whether the Tigers secure a playoff berth and whether the game is played at home. But if it was his last game, he was determined to go out in a big way no matter how badly he was hurting. "I am still in a little bit of pain but it was better this week than last week," Heffner said. "I came out from the first play in a pretty good groove because this was possibly my last game at LP Field. Knowing that, and with it being Senior Day, you just want to go out and play your best."

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Attendance: 6393 (9.3%) at LP Field, Nashville, Tennessee (Capacity: 68,800).

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Cal Poly Barden ties Rice’s consecutive TD record in 49-3 romp over NCCU

There was no sweating it out this week. Cal Poly receiver Ramses Barden was in the end zone on the first drive, and tied the FCS record for consecutive games catching a touchdown pass less than five minutes after Saturday’s kickoff of Cal Poly’s 49-3 win over North Carolina Central. He shares the record with Jerry Rice. It was a stark contrast to last week’s game, in which Barden had just one catch in the first 28 minutes and didn’t get a receiving touchdown until the third quarter.

People were left to wonder whether Barden’s streak of games with a touchdown catch was in jeopardy just one shy of reaching Rice’s mark. But he kept it alive last week against Idaho State and tied the Hall of Fame receiver with a touchdown grab in his 17th straight game Saturday against the Eagles. Barden caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jonathan Dally just 31⁄2 minutes into the game to put the Mustangs ahead 7-0.

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Attendance: 10,825 (108%) at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, San Luis Obispo, CA (Capacity: 10,000).

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University of Arkansas - Pine Bluff M4 Marching Band

Prairie View A&M University Marching Storm 2008

PVAMU Alma Mater

FAMU Marching 100 - Homecoming 2008 Show

MEAC's big boys up last as A&T seeks a strong finish

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- A winning season and conference championship are out of reach, and the coach has been fired. Yet, as they enter their final two football games of 2008, the N.C. A&T Aggies swear the search for significance isn't as tough as finding Sasquatch in Summerfield. "Florida A&M and South Carolina State: the big boys," interim coach George Ragsdale said. "And we're a big boy. We've got to get our place back."

Simply beating the Rattlers and Bulldogs won't immediately return A&T (3-7, 1-5 MEAC) to that status, but it might be a start. And at least the Aggies are done with travel for the year, having driven to the ends of the MEAC -- Delaware State and Bethune-Cookman -- during the past three weeks. Those journeys added up to approximately 1,934 round-trip miles, the rough equivalent of taking the bus one way from Greensboro to Moab, Utah. So what exactly is in it for the Aggies in the two games and one bye week to come?

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Comments by Hampton Pirates' coach annoy WSSU Rams

The rivalry that existed between Winston-Salem State and Hampton when both played in the CIAA is back in full swing. It was evident Saturday, after WSSU spoiled Hampton's homecoming with a 35-30 victory. Jerry Holmes, in his first season as the Pirates' coach, had a few choice words that didn't sit well with some of the Rams' coaches and players.

"Any time we have that much talent, there's no way they should beat us," Holmes said after the game. "We've got speed, we've got guys up front -- there's no way. There's no way they should have beat us." Hampton also has 10 transfers from Bowl Subdivision teams to WSSU's two, but WSSU had a 100-yard return for a touchdown by David Irizarry after Hampton missed a field-goal attempt. Coach Kermit Blount of the Rams said he didn't take what Holmes said personally.

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Barack Obama elected 44th president

‘Change has come to America,’ first African-American leader tells country

Photo Gallery: View related photos



Barack Obama, a 47-year-old first-term senator from Illinois, shattered more than 200 years of history Tuesday night by winning election as the first African-American president of the United States. A crowd of 125,000 people jammed Grant Park in Chicago, where Obama addressed the nation for the first time as its president-elect at midnight ET. Hundreds of thousands more — Mayor Richard Daley said he would not be surprised if a million Chicagoans jammed the streets — watched on a large television screen outside the park.

“If there is anyone out there who doubts that America is a place where anything is possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,” Obama declared. “Young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled, Americans have sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of red states and blue states,” he said. “We have been and always will be the United States of America.



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Southern’s depth in secondary bodes well for ’09

Their starting left corner back missed last week’s home finale, and their starting free safety is on the shelf for good. But the Southern Jaguars’ black-and-blue secondary may have uncovered something over the last two months: silver lining. So many reserves have played in the secondary this season that their transition to starting roles might not be as rough next fall.

“I think it just shows the depth we have on our football team,” SU coach Pete Richardson said. “I think our assistants do an outstanding job of preparation and keeping the young ones focused — to make sure they’re focused on what they have to do. Anything can happen. When they got an opportunity to play, I think they stepped up and did that.”

Indeed. A pulled groin muscle forced left corner Mike Williams to sit out Saturday’s 31-24 double-overtime victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

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Attendance: 10354 (35%) @ Mumford Stadium, Baton Rouge, LA (Capacity: 28,400).

Backup powers TSU past Tech

No. 25 Tigers roll to remain in OVC race

After being derailed last week, Tennessee State settled back into the driver's seat of the Ohio Valley Conference by clobbering Tennessee Tech Saturday night 41-14. Not only did the No. 25 Tigers bounce back from a tough-to-stomach loss to Southeast Missouri, they did it with a backup quarterback making his first start. Dominic Grooms, a transfer from Missouri, stepped in for injured Antonio Heffner and in front of a homecoming crowd of 24,361, led the offense to its best performance of the year, according to Coach James Webster.

"This was as good of a game as we've played because we had no turnovers,'' Webster said. "If we don't turn the football over, we win." If TSU (7-2, 4-1 OVC) wins its remaining three games, it will win the conference championship and earn an automatic berth to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. The Tigers have defeated the other two teams with one conference loss, UT Martin and Eastern Kentucky.

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Attendance: 24,361 (35%) @ LP Field, Nashville, TN (Capacity: 68,798) vs. Tennessee Tech.

B-CU defense steps up

DAYTONA BEACH -- The bread and butter for Bethune-Cookman this season has been its rushing offense -- tops in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and 10th-best in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. But on Saturday at Municipal Stadium, the offense -- while it did produce enough points to hang a 24-14 defeat on North Carolina A&T -- had to let the defense take the most bows.

"I guess it was our turn," sophomore linebacker Josh Smiley said. "The offense has picked us up in some games, so maybe today we helped the offense and made their job a little easier." And how! Consider that B-CU defenders permitted the Aggies only eight first downs, only 2.9 yards per rushing attempt, only 163 total yards (103 rushing, 60 passing), only 47 offensive plays (22 less than B-CU), only 24 minutes of possession (about 11 less than B-CU), only two third-down conversions and only one "earned" touchdown.

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SSU QB has sprained shoulder

X-rays taken Monday afternoon of Savannah State starting quarterback Kurvin Curry's right (throwing) shoulder revealed no major damage, coach Robby Wells said. Curry, a 6-foot, 198-pound freshman from Hartwell, separated his right shoulder when he was tackled during a running play with 14 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in the second quarter of the Tigers' Homecoming game against Concordia-Selma.

"Nothing is broken. He's got a slight sprain," Wells said. "(The doctors and trainers) are telling me that he's going to be at least 80-85 percent this weekend. We're going to get him out there and let him do the mental reps in practice and just see how he progresses. I'll make a game-time decision."

SSU (4-5) will travel to Camden County on Saturday to play Edward Waters (2-7) at 5 p.m. at Gilman Stadium in Kingsland. If Curry is unable to start....

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S.C. State holds on for 23-17 victory over Delaware State

DOVER, Del. -– South Carolina State got a late last-minute stand from its defense to overcome two second-half turnovers and an overall lackluster performer to grab a 23-17 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference win over Delaware State Saturday at Alumni Stadium. The game was broadcast on a taped-delay basis on ESPNU Saturday night at 10:30 p.m.

With the victory, the Bulldogs remained perfect in the MEAC at 5-0 and improved their overall record to 7-2. Coach Buddy Pough’s team remained in first place in the league race and kept alive its hopes for S.C. State’s first outright conference crown since 1994. The win gave Pough, who is in his seventh season, 54 career victories, tying him with the late Bill Davis for second place on the S.C. State all-time football win list.

Sophomore quarterback Malcolm Long completed 18 of 30 attempts for 246 yards and two touchdowns with one interception for the Bulldogs. He had scoring tosses of six yards and 48 yards, both to tight end Octavius Darby, who finished with four catches for 97 yards.

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Attendance: 3,012 (43%) @ Alumni Stadium, Dover, DE (Capacity: 7,000).


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WSSU Dunston scores three touchdowns as coach ties…

HAMPTON, Va. - Winston-Salem built a 25-point third-quarter lead and then held off Hampton for a 35-30 victory on Saturday. Jarrett Dunston scored three touchdowns and the Rams (2-6) nearly tripled their scoring average of 12 points to give coach Kermit Blount his 89th win, tying him for most in school history. The Pirates (5-3) lost their second straight game.

David Irizarry returned a missed 50-yard field goal attempt 100 yards for a 14-3 first-quarter lead, then sealed the win with a fourth-quarter interception of Herb Bynes, who threw for 348 yards and two touchdowns. Those two touchdowns, both to Justin Brown, came less than five minutes apart in the fourth quarter as Hampton cut a 25-point deficit to 35-30.

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Attendance: 14,877 (87.5%) @Armstrong Stadium, Hampton, VA (Capacity: 17,000).

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NSU snaps its losing streak with 49-12 win over Howard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - After six weeks of futility, Norfolk State finally found a reason to celebrate, overwhelming Howard 49-12 on Saturday at Greene Stadium. Not only did the Spartans win their first game since Sept. 13, they halted a more miserable streak in producing their first victory over the Bison on the road since 1983.

Plenty of green and gold lined the visitors' bleachers on an unseasonably warm afternoon, and those fans enjoyed every kind of Spartans highlight imaginable. NSU (3-6, 2-4) scored on offense, defense and twice on special teams in breaking a five-game losing streak. The 49 points were the most by NSU this season. I'm going to keep this uniform on until next week," said revved-up Spartans quarterback Dennis Brown, who produced one touchdown with his legs and another with his arm. "We're a better team than our record shows. Now all we have to do is come out and run the table."

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Attendance: 2,086 (21%) at Wm. H. Greene Stadium, Washington, D.C. (Capacity: 10,000).

Rattlers show their youth, but also show their future

Photo Galleries:
FAMU Homecoming game
FAMU Homecoming: first half
FAMU Homecoming Pregame
FAMU Inaugural Gala
FAMU homecoming parade

Just before leaving Bragg Stadium during the third quarter, Eddie Jackson spoke a few words that he might be repeating a few times this week. Used to be that Jackson had to explain a lot about athletics at FAMU when he was sports information director. Somewhere someone would ask him what happened on FAMU's homecoming. "I think over the next couple years," Jackson said. "you're going to see a great Rattler football team."

Morgan State Bears offensive line could not be stopped by the Rattlers defense--even with the Bears 2nd and 3rd String QBs playing the majority of the second half, spoiling FAMU's Homecoming with a 13-10 victory.

Quite a few folks might have gone home with the same feeling, sir. Watching FAMU play from behind then falling 13-10 wasn't what the 16,205 fans came to see. They sure weren't expecting to see James Meade kick a 39-yard field goal then leave just 12 seconds for FAMU to do something. But it's what they got on a night when the youth of the Rattlers showed. They had their opportunities.

If only they could have stood up.

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Attendance: 16,205 (63.5%) @ Bragg Memorial Stadium, Tallahassee, FL (Capacity: 25,500).

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Taylors getting accustomed to life in Rattler Country

Beverly Taylor wasn't properly dressed when she showed up at one of the early FAMU meet-and-greet events with her husband, head coach Joe Taylor. Nope, she wasn't wearing orange and green. A few folks politely let her know she has an obligation to show a little more Rattler pride in her attire. She came away "Rattlertized," she said. "Their passion, their love for the school, their eagerness to help — they are taking pride in the school," she said. "They wear their orange and green proudly. I don't care where it is, they let it be known that 'I'm a Rattler.'"

Today FAMU's first lady of football gets her first taste of homecoming, which she's come to realize is like none of the others that she's seen in six previous moves with her husband. The gathering at her home won't be as huge as some she's hosted for up to 150 family and friends. Many of the regulars couldn't get flights or find hotel rooms.

In the midst of all the preparations, Beverly Taylor is juggling her normal life — involvement at her church, teaching a middle school class, and of course, being the one to calm the coach's nerves as he takes his team through a pivotal stretch of games in pursuit of the MEAC title.

VIEW TODAY'S HOMECOMING GAME ON FAMCAST, CLICK HERE: http://www.famu.edu/famcast/famusports

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Savannah State athletics on the rise

It's homecoming week at Savannah State. For years... The athletic programs have floundered in mediocrity. But with new leadership from President Dr. Earl Yarbrough and athletic director Bart Bellairs... There is hope for the future. "There have been some amazing things happen," said Bellairs. "The transformation of this campus is just beautiful."

The Savannah State athletic department is trying to pull itself out of the hole that was created by years of neglect. If nothing else, Bellairs can feel the excitement of growth. "Our football staff works tremendously hard at getting good. The players are feeling it, the campus is feeling it."

Basketball is just around the corner and Coach Horace Broadnax had helped the team gain respectability. "We're very excited. We just signed a deal with Georgetown that we'll go to Georgetown in men's basketball and they will come back in here the following year," said Bellairs. "Our women's team is already playing a huge schedule, they've got Georgia Tech coming in. We're hoping that everyone will get behind Savannah State athletics as we try to improve our competition and we have our quest to win championships."

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'Cats take over WSSU homecoming

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- It took a little more than nine minutes for Bethune-Cookman to turn a tightly contested Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game against Winston-Salem State into a blowout. B-CU delivered the knock-out punch in the fourth quarter, and the result was a 27-6 victory at Bowman-Gray Stadium on Saturday. The Wildcats left town with the added satisfaction of knowing they put a serious damper on WSSU's homecoming celebration.

"We really wanted to flip the script, and that's just what we did," B-CU coach Alvin Wyatt said. "Last year, we were 2-4 and we lost to them and fell to 2-5. This year, we come in and beat them, and now we're 5-2 for the first time in three years. "We made some adjustments with our blocking schemes, and that helped open things up when we ran the option (in the second half)."

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Coach Rags starts N.C. A&T four-game season with a bang

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- George Ragsdale walked onto the field early Saturday wearing a floppy rain hat and a rumpled look. He looked like he'd been doing it all his life, and he had in a sense. Ragsdale looked like he was part of the furniture at Aggie Stadium. The soft rain shrouded the field like gauze, making for a gloomy ambience for the first game of the rest of the season for N.C. A&T. Ragsdale was smiling.

A&T held off Howard 21-20 Saturday afternoon to win its first conference game in three years and set off a wild celebration among players and fans and one happy interim coach. "Coach Rags didn't play a down," he said. "Not one down did coach Ragsdale play. What I did was try to motivate and encourage them to play every down."

He meant the players and the fans and the alumni and everyone else who walked into the stadium unsure of what was about to happen. As it turned out, they needed everybody and every down to win the kind of game A&T has been losing for the past three seasons. The game came at the end of a long week for the Aggies and at the beginning of what Ragsdale and the athletics community here declared the beginning of a brand-new, four-game season. Lee Fobbs, the third-year head coach at A&T, was fired Monday morning after the worst era in school history. He was fired after six straight losses, a losing streak that gave him a three-year record of 2-28 that demoralized the team and its fans.

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