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Tuesday, November 11, 2008

A&T loses early lead, game to Florida A&M

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- For a while on Saturday afternoon at Aggie Stadium, it appeared as though N.C. A&T might steal a MEAC victory from conference rival Florida A&M. However, Florida A&M was able to overcome an early 7-0 deficit, as the Rattlers' defense held banged-up N.C. A&T (3-8, 1-6), to 56 net rushing yards, and forced four turnovers, to rally to a 45-7 blowout victory.

A&M junior linebacker Bryan Parker's nine tackles, two sacks, and two fumble recoveries, helped spark the Rattlers' (7-3, 3-3 MEAC) defense. Meanwhile, A&T is now 1-2 in interim head coach George Ragsdale's third game since taking over for the fired Lee Fobbs. "Their defense played lights out today," said Ragsdale. "We've got to meet their intensity on the other side of the ball. When we came out, we didn't have the energy that we've had the past two weeks."

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Attendance: 7,036 (32%) at Aggie Stadium, Greensboro, N.C. (Capacity: 22,000).

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ESPN GameDay coming to FAMU, Saturday

Watch out FAMU and MEAC! ESPN will be coming to FAMU on Saturday.

The multimedia giant will bring its popular GameDay show to the Florida A&M campus this weekend, the first time the show will broadcast from the campus of an historically black university. The two-hour live broadcast will begin at 10 a.m. and precedes the MEAC showdown between the Rattlers and Hampton scheduled for 1 p.m.

“It is an honor to be the first historically black university to host ESPN’s College GameDay,” FAMU president James H. Ammons said in a release on the MEAC website. “We look forward to having ESPN on our beautiful campus as we take on the Hampton Pirates.”

FAMU is 7-3 overall and 3-3 in the MEAC while Hampton is 5-4, 4-2 MEAC.

The FAMU versus. Hampton game will not be broadcast by ESPN family networks, but can be viewed over the Internet on Florida A&M University's FAMCast Video Streaming Network at: http://www.famu.edu/famcast/famusports/ (Click Link).

Late score lifts WSSU by Delaware State 27-26

Coach Kermit Blount breaks Willam "Bill" Hayes career record for wins at WSSU with his 90th career victory in defeat of the DSU Hornets.

DOVER, DE - Winston-Salem State rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Delaware State, the defending MEAC champion, 27-26 yesterday at Alumni Stadium. The Rams were down 26-21 with 10:12 to go, but put together a 13-play drive that covered 66 yards. Quarterback Jarrett Dunston scored on a 1-yard run on fourth and goal with 4:19 to play. Dunston's touchdown gave the Rams a 27-26 lead after the two-point conversion attempt failed.

The Hornets (3-6) got the ball back and drove to the Rams' 20, but on fourth and 1, instead of trying a 37-yard field-goal attempt, tried to go for it and were stopped short as the Rams took over with 38 seconds left. Coach Kermit Blount of the Rams won his 90th career game to become the all-time wins leader in school history. Blount, in his 16th season, passed Bill Hayes (currently Florida A&M's Athletic Director). Blount is 90-75-3 as the coach of his alma mater.

"This is very emotional for me; I didn't think I'd be this emotional, but my players really showed they loved me in this game," Blount said. "They really stuck to it in the second half, never let up, and we came away with the win."

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Attendance: 891 (13%) at Alumni Stadium, Dover, DE (Capacity: 6828).

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NSU defense scores 2 TDs, limits league’s top rusher in win

NORFOLK, VA - Morgan State might have the top-ranked defense in Division I-AA, but Norfolk State’s was better Saturday at Price Stadium. The Bears committed a season-high seven turnovers, and the Spartans dominated in a 35-9 rout. Don Carey, who picked off a pair of passes in front of a handful of NFL scouts in town to watch him, said the NSU defense got ticked off early and remained angry in holding the Bears to their fewest points this fall in a I-AA game.

“Rankings don’t mean a thing,” the Booker T. Washington High School graduate said. “The thing that got me is they tried to come out and jump on our logo. No matter who we’re playing, I’m always going to show respect.” Carey scored off his second pick, zooming 94 yards down the left sideline for the first touchdown of his career. That was NSU’s second defensive TD of the afternoon. Hasan Craig ran back Mario Melton’s fumble two plays before that.

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Attendance: 5,812 (19.4%) at Dick Price Stadium, Norfolk, VA (Capacity: 30,000).

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PVAMU Panthers steamroll AAMU 'dogs

Still not Dogs' day, PVAMU 24, AAMU 10

Quick start doesn't last as Prairie View beats Alabama A&M again. Alabama A&M's offense has been missing in action for much of the season. Quarterback Kevin Atkins and company have been anything but a well-oiled machine. However, the Bulldogs, seeking a fast start Saturday against Prairie View in an important Southwestern Athletic Conference game, got exactly what they wanted as Thomas Harris' 68-yard catch and run 17 seconds into the game gave them an early lead. It was 10-7 after Jeremy Licea's 23-yard field goal early in the second quarter.

But as it has done throughout the season, A&M struggled the rest of the way, and Prairie View went on to claim a 24-10 victory on Senior Day at Louis Crews Stadium before an announced crowd of 3,810. "We've done the same thing all year in these big games," A&M coach Anthony Jones said. "We haven't been able to make enough big plays, and when you play a good football team like we did today and you don't make big plays and you're not consistent, you're going to come up short, and that's what happened."

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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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