Successful homecoming for W.Virginia Wesleyan Jonas Jackson

NCAA Division II West Virginia Wesleyan College coach Jonas Jackson, a native of Boston, is the first African-American head coach in the history of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC). WVWC Director of Athletics Ken Tyler originally named Jackson the interim head coach this summer, and that part of the title was removed before the Bobcats (5-0) 37-26 win at Lincoln University of Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Buckhannon, West Virginia -- Jonas Jackson is a long way from home, in more ways than one.

A long way from Harwich Street in Dorchester, and his late grandmother, Sallie Jones. A long way from Hiawatha Road in Mattapan, and Elsie Jackson, his other grandmother, now 85. Two strong, caring women who raised the quiet boy on the tough streets of the city.

A long way from Lewenberg Middle School, the BNBL courts, and Simco’s on the Bridge. Those memories resonate in his soul.

Nor has he forgotten the countless individuals at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional who stepped forward, starting with football coach Tom Lopez, who saw promise in the Metco student, and gave Jackson a push and guidance. Line coach Gary Justason and his wife, Nancy, welcomed the wayward teen into their home when he had no place to live.

And that is why his trip back to the area, albeit on a bus that departed Buckhannon, W.Va., Thursday at midnight, means so much to the 32-year-old Jackson. The 1997 L-S graduate will return as the head coach of West Virginia Wesleyan College for today’s nonconference matchup at Bentley University (Waltham, Massachusetts), a pair of Division 2 football programs that lit up the scoreboard with 50-point efforts in their openers last week.

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Rally falls short as WVWC Bobcats down Lincoln (Pa.) Lions

West Grove, Pennsylvania - Despite a strong second half, the Lincoln University football team couldn't rally from a big first-half deficit as the Lions fell just short in their comeback attempt Saturday as West Virginia Wesleyan remained unbeaten with a 37-26 victory at Avon Grove High School.

“We started slow, but played hard in the second half,” Lincoln head coach O.J. Abanishe said. “We just have to put four quarters of football together.”

After both teams had slow starts in the opening quarter, the Bobcats (5-0) struck first with an 11-play, 51-yard drive as Adam Neugebauer, who was 32-of-45 passing for 345 yards and four touchdowns, connected with Brandon Hoffman for a 3-yard touchdown to give West Virginia Wesleyan a 7-0 lead with 1:09 left in the first quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Philip Jean-Juste, who finished with 82 yards on seven catches and two returns for 50 yards, returned the ball 36 yards to the 50 yard line and a penalty by West Virginia Wesleyan advanced the ball five more yards. After picking up four yards on first down, Doug Cook, who was 28 of 58 through the air for 350 yards and three touchdowns, connected with Jean-Juste down the left sideline for 40 yards, setting up the Lions at first-and-goal at the Bobcats' 1. Mason Colton punched it in from a yard out to cut the deficit to 7-6 as the extra point was blocked with four seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

The second quarter belonged to West Virginia Wesleyan as the Bobcats scored 20 unanswered points to take a 27-6 lead into the break.



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APSU holds off Tennessee State 37-34

Clarksville, Tennessee - Austin Peay beat Tennessee State 37-34 in an OVC and Sgt. York Trophy game at Governors Stadium Saturday night. With the win, the Govs are now 2-0 in the OVC for the first time since 1977. But it didn't look like things were going to go APSU's way after TSU returned to opening kick off 100 yards for a touchdown and sprinting out to a 27-6 lead with 4:10 left in the second quarter.

The Govs went on and outscored TSU 31-7 after that and sealed in on Stephen Stansell's 35-yard field goal with 10.1 seconds left in the game.

Jake Ryan's 300-yd passing game was first since Mark Cunningham threw for 308 on Oct. 28, 2006 against ...

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Austin Peay rallies to beat TSU, starts OVC play 2-0 for first time since 1977

It's usually easy to figure out how Austin Peay faired after it allowed the opening kickoff go for a touchdown and after it's fallen behind 27-6 with 4:10 left to go in the first half. That's usually, but so far the Govs aren't acting like teams in years past.

And every time Austin Peay and Tennessee State get together, a game coming down to the final moments is expected and Saturday's OVC and Sgt. York Trophy game was no different. Last year the Govs needed to score late to pull out a victory. Adrian Mines caught a touchdown pass with 40 seconds left to give APSU a 26-23 triumph.

This time, it was Stephen Stansell that provided the celebration, and his 35-yard field goal with 10.1 seconds left lifted the Govs to a 37-34 conference win over the Tigers.

The win was APSU's second straight, third consecutive over TSU, and more importantly made them 2-0 in the OVC for the first time since 1977; the same year of the football program's only conference championship.

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Not pretty, but Stillman will take it over Lane Dragons

Coach Teddy Keaton

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama | The Stillman Tigers rumbled, bumbled and fumbled their way to a 28-17 victory over the visiting Lane Dragons at Stillman Stadium. Turnovers defined the game, with Stillman giving the ball away four times, three on fumbles.

“This is the sloppiest we’ve played all season,” Stillman coach Teddy Keaton said. “I think we made too many mistakes, too much stuff that could take a good ballgame and take it away from you.”

Stillman (4-1, 3-0 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Confernce) played three different quarterbacks Saturday night, none of which was effective except in short spurts. The Tigers finished with 315 yards of offense, 165 of which came on the ground, with the quarterbacks going a combined 11-for-23 passing with two interceptions.

“I came out with the first touchdown, but there at the end, I slowed down,” sophomore quarterback Brandon Allen said. “I just have to do better.”

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Alabama A&M Bulldogs pull off improbable comeback over UAPB

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Vandrick Jackson did a few cartwheels across the field. Clarence Morris struck a pose near the scoreboard. Several other Alabama A&M players celebrated in their own way. Meanwhile, in all of the excitement, Alabama A&M coach Anthony Jones kneeled down to say thanks.

The Bulldogs had plenty of reasons to be thankful. Trailing by 20 points entering the fourth quarter, Alabama A&M put together a comeback for the ages.

Quarterback Deaunte Mason threw four touchdown passes to G'Alonzo Milton, including the game-winner with 57 seconds as A&M scored 21 unanswered points to pull off an improbable 28-27 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff before an announced crowd of 5,136 at Louis Crews Stadium.

"We played with a great sense of urgency in the fourth quarter," Jones said. "Sometimes you have to get punched in the face before you realize you're in a fight. We got punched in the face in the third quarter. The way our guys responded is darn near a miracle."

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Sharpe wants to be more active at Savannah State University

Savannah, Georgia - Shannon Sharpe led the Tiger Walk to renovated T.A. Wright Stadium on Saturday afternoon before Savannah State met Howard University in the school’s first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference home game.

He attended a luncheon earlier in the day and an induction ceremony for the school’s athletic hall of fame on Friday night. “I would like to become more active in the program,” said Sharpe while meeting with the media during some spare time Saturday.

Those are melodious words for a new administration at Savannah State, trying to start new traditions while embracing some of the old.



Sharpe, 43 and still in football shape, is part of the school’s good, old days — a local kid from nearby Glennville who came to Savannah State College in the ’80s when bigger school wouldn’t touch a Prop 48 player.

All Sharpe did was star for four years with the then-Division II Tigers before becoming an even bigger deal in the National Football League, earning his own induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame about two months ago.

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Howard Bison ends Savannah State University's celebration

Savannah, Georgia - A festive weekend for athletics on campus at Savannah State University ended on a sour note Saturday night at T.A. Wright Stadium. A crowd of 5,635 was treated to the amenities of the newly renovated stadium, but didn’t have much else to cheer about in a 34-14 loss to Howard, the first SSU football game on campus in nearly two years.

“We wanted to come out and please the fans. We didn’t get the job done,” said Tigers wide receiver Darren Hunter as fireworks were shot off after the game.



It was Savannah State’s first loss in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play and the Bison’s first win in league play since defeating Norfolk State 17-10 on Oct. 27, 2007. Howard (2-3, 1-1 MEAC) snapped a 29-game conference losing streak.

View Spotted® photos of the game

It ruined the party for the Tigers, who held a stadium dedication celebration on Thursday and their athletic hall of fame induction ceremony on Friday night. The school’s most famous alum, Shannon Sharpe, was in town for some of the festivities and gave the team a pre-game speech.

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