Hampton U. thwarts Princeton's second-half surge for 28-23 victory

Hampton, Virginia -- Dyrri McCain had seen enough. Hampton's senior wide receiver and his Pirate teammates had watched an 11-point halftime lead evaporate after a pair of field goals and back-to-back safeties in less than six minutes, and they'd just escaped losing their suddenly slim edge altogether when Princeton missed a field goal.

It was time to get down to business.  HU mounted an 11-play, 80-yard drive, kept alive when a defender tipped a 15-yard pass on third-and-10 into Javaris Brown's arms, to take a 28-20 lead on McCain's 1-yard touchdown reception, then held off the Tigers 28-23 with a goal-line stand in the final two minutes.

"We didn't play the same type of football that we played in the first half," said McCain, who caught 123 of quarterback David Legree's 302 passing yards and both his passing TDs. "When it got down to where it was like, 'This is it, we have to make a play,' we drove it all the way down. Our tempo picked up. Everybody had it in their mind, 'We've got to turn this around. It's getting too out of hand. "

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North Carolina A&T Aggies surprise Bethune-Cookman

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- A good defense can make up for a lot of deficiencies. And, most importantly, it can win football games. N.C. A&T's defense held Bethune-Cookman to 5 yards on the ground and 108 yards of total offense, leading the Aggies to a 22-3 win over the Wildcats before a crowd of 10,352 at Aggie Stadium.

"Our No. 1 goal every week is to stop the run," A&T coach Rod Broadway said. "We were able to do that. We ganged up on them. If we can get you one-dimensional and throwing the ball, we think we'll have a pretty good chance of winning."

The defense had forced seven turnovers in the Aggies' first four games and came up with four more turnovers against a Bethune-Cookman offense that had more total yards than Miami in the Wildcats' loss to the Hurricanes a week earlier.

"We thought we could play with these guys," Broadway said. "I think we had four turnovers on four plays. We gave them one and then we took it right back. We gave them one and then we took it right back. That was huge. The kids came out ready to play today. That was probably the most physical game we have played all year."

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S.C. State Holds Off NCCU 49-38

ORANGEBURG, SC - Junior running back Asheton Jordan rushed for a career-high 226 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns to lead South Carolina State (3-3 overall, 3-1 MEAC) to a 49-38 victory over North Carolina Central (1-4, 0-2 MEAC) on Saturday at Oliver C. Dawson.

"First off, I didn't think our defense would give up 38 points, said SC State head coach Buddy Pough." "They took it to us and we were very lucky that they had the turnovers and we got a score off both."



Redshirt sophomore quarterback Richard Cue made the most of his first career start completing 15-of-22 for 171 yards and two touchdowns. He is also rushed 92 yards on 17 carries on the day. Cue replaced starting quarterback Derrick Wiley who suffered a knee injury against Norfolk State on last week.

Pough stated about Cue, "I was very proud of his poise ad demeanor today. He did a good job in holding things together and made some very big plays."

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FAMU lets huge lead slip away in the final minutes

Tallahassee, Florida - Not even Joe Taylor has seen anything like it in his more than 30 years of coaching. The 23,400 fans who showed up at Bragg Stadium sure weren't expecting it after Florida A&M had taken a three-touchdown lead on Howard University.

In stunning fashion, though, the Bison came back in the final 4 minutes and 26 seconds to pull out a dramatic 29-28 victory Saturday to hand Taylor his second homecoming loss as head coach at FAMU.

Howard converted two FAMU fumbles and the Rattlers could do nothing right in the meantime to avoid squandering it's the biggest lead it had taken on any opponent so far this season.

By the time the Bison lined up to kick the winning field goal ...

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HOWARD SCORES 29 FOURTH QUARTER POINTS IN WIN OVER FAMU

Tallahassee, FL -- Howard University erupted for 29 fourth quarter points--- including 15 in the last 1:23 to stun Florida A&M, 29-28 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference before a near capacity homecoming crowd at Bragg Stadium.

After trailing 21-0 at the half, the Bison (3-3 overall, 2-2 in the MEAC) rallied to cut the deficit to 21-13 with 10:23 left in the fourth quarter. The Rattlers (3-3 overall, 1-2 in the MEAC), who had won seven straight from the Bison, appeared to dash their comeback hopes when they capitalized on one of the Bison’s special team miscues and turned it into a 28-13 advantage with 8:23 remaining.

But the Bison had other ideas. Freshman quarterback Greg McGhee, who threw three interceptions, engineered a five-play, 71-yard drive that was capped off by a 10-yard scoring pass to Brandon Drayton. The Bison missed the PAT and trailed, 28-19 with just 1:27 left on the clock.

The Bison executed a well-designed onside kick on the ensuing kickoff that was recovered by Theodore Graham, IV. It took the Bison five plays to go 45 yards as Andra Williams capped off the drive with a one-yard burst to narrow the gap to 28-26 with 26 ticks on the clock.

Howard attempted another onside kick, but this time the Rattlers were ready and recovered.

FAMU appeared poised to run out the clock, but Howard’s Corey Berry forced a Damien Fleming fumble that was recovered by Sackie Kerkulah at the Florida A&M 15.

In an attempt to position itself for a game-winning field, Howard ran Williams on first down and took the ball down to the FAMU 8-yard line.

That is when things really got interesting. With four seconds on the clock, the Bison lined up for what would be the potential game-winning field goal. Sophomore kicker Parker Munoz lined up and booted a 25-yard field goal that was signaled good by one official. But the Rattlers had called a timeout in an attempt to freeze Munoz.

The problem was that FAMU had already exhausted its allotment of timeouts.

After a brief discussion, the officials ruled that there would be a penalty on FAMU. They marked if off half the distance to the goal at the FAMU four-yard line, thus setting the stage for what would prove to the game-winning, 21-yards field goal by Munoz, the first game winner in his career.

“This team is growing up,” said Howard first year head coach Gary Harrell. “To be down like that and come back and win shows the character of this team. Mishaps are a part of football but what I am most proud of is that they never gave up.”

Much of the credit has to go to the staunch Bison defense, which continues to improve each week under defensive coordinator Ray Petty. After allowing drives of 80 yards and 72 yards in the first half, Howard limited the Rattlers to 21 yards total offense the second half.

The Bison forced three fumbles and picked up an interception to go along with 12 tackles for losses and three sacks. Senior defensive end Sackie Kerkulah, who is playing as well as anyone in the FCS, added two more tackles for losses to his total of 11.5 and two sacks to up his total to 7.5, ranking him among the nation’s leaders.

He received a lot of help from teammates Keith Pough (5 tackles, two for losses and a forced fumble), DeCarlos Knight (six tackles, a tackle for a loss, a fumble recovery), Kurt Mangum, II (4 tackles, 2 for losses), Julien David (8 tackles) and Cameron Alston (4 tackles, an interception).

Offensively, red-shirt sophomore running back Andra Williams and freshman Aquanius Freeman picked up the slack with the running game when leading rusher Terrance Leffall left the game with a concussion. Williams led all rushers with 76 yards on 11 carries and a TD. He also grabbed three passes for 37 yards.

Freeman, who has begun to come own, carried the ball nine times for 28 yards. Freshman quarterback Greg McGhee completed 20 of 47 passes for 233 yards and two TDs. He was picked off three times and and sacked three times, but he made the plays when the Bison needed them.

“Everyone played their role,” said Coach Harrell. “Coach Petty (defensive coordinator) and Ted White (offensive coordinator) made some great adjustments at halftime. And the players responded with a courageous effort.”

By Howard University Sports Information
VISIT: HOWARDBISON

XU Nuggets, Rush sweep UD titles; Zahri Jackson runs first

IRVING, Texas -- Xavier University of Louisiana won the women's and men's team championships of the University of Dallas Invitational cross country meet Saturday, and XU freshman Zahri Jackson was the women's individual champion.

Xavier University of Louisiana's 2011 Women's Cross Country Team
      From left: Anna D'Souza, Hali Yarmuth, Catherine Fakler, Darian Towns, Donye Coleman, Zahri Jackson, Paige Rochelle, Ashley Taylor.
(click photo to enlarge)

The Gold Nuggets and Gold Rush, both five-time defending Gulf Coast Athletic Conference champions, swept the team titles in a regular-season meet for the first time since the 2008 Mobile (Ala.) Rampage.

Jackson ran 6,000 meters in 25 minutes, 10.63 seconds to become the Nuggets' first individual champion since Ebony Harding won the 2009 GCAC title and the second female titlist during Joseph Moses' seven seasons as XU's coach. Jackson, who won't turn 18 until April, recorded her fourth top-10 finish in six collegiate meets and her third top-five.

Xavier University of Louisiana's 2011 Men's Cross Country Team
      From left: Charles Shaw, Jamaal Williams, Ray Walston, Kwame Jackson, Javon Mead, Matt Pieri. Not pictured is Emmanuel Detiege.
(click photo to enlarge)

All seven Gold Nuggets finished in the top 10 -- Hali Yarmush was second in 26:04.34, Anna D'Souza third in 26:31.85 and Catherine Fakler fourth in 26:34.62 -- and Xavier scored 16 points to win the team title by 40 points over runner-up Dallas. UD's Rachel Oleksiak placed fifth to deny the Nuggets a perfect team score.

In the 8,000-meter men's race, Matt Pieri was third in 28:00.55, Kwame Jackson sixth in 29:14.97 and Ray Walston ninth in 29:49.38. The Gold Rush scored 41 points, followed by Arlington Baptist with 54 and Dallas with 65.

Pieri has 12 top-10s and eight top-fives in three seasons at Xavier, and Walston, a senior, has 13 top-10s. Kwame Jackson, a freshman and the brother of Zahri, has four top-10s.

Also in the top 10 for Xavier's women were Ashley Taylor (sixth, 27:22.45), Darian Towns (seventh, 27:33.94) and Donyé Coleman (10th, 28:18.94). Yarmush and Towns recorded their first top-10s as collegians. Fakler, a freshman, has four top-10s and two top-fives. D'Souza and Taylor, both seniors, recorded their first top-10s of the season.

Xavier has won 14 men's and 11 women's team championships during Moses' tenure.

This was the last regular-season meet for both XU teams. Next will be the GCAC Championships at Clinton, Miss., on Oct. 22.

Men    Women

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS

Stallings, Smith, Rencher step up in Gold Nuggets' victory

NEW ORLEANS — Of the seven freshmen on the Xavier University of Louisiana women's volleyball team, Morgan Stallings, Kia Smith and Alexandria Rencher were the only ones who had played fewer than half the sets this season. Yet all three played important roles Saturday in the Gold Nuggets' 25-13, 25-8, 25-15 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference victory against Edward Waters at Dillard's Dent Hall.

Stallings, who entered the match with six kills, equaled that number in the third set and finished with nine. Smith and Rencher combined for 32 of the Nuggets' 35 assists, with Smith collecting a season-best 19.
All three filled in capably for Chinedu Echebelem and Patrice Hightower, who missed the match because of injuries. But Xavier (14-4, 8-0) didn't miss a step and completed a two-day, three-match sweep against GCAC opponents at Dillard.

Xavier University of Louisiana's 2011 Women's Volleyball Team
      Front row, from left: Kia Smith, Chinedu Echebelem, Joyy Joseph, Celeste Poe, Patrice Hightower and Alexandria Rencher.
      Back row, from left: Morgan Stallings, Kerris Crier, Iva Bobkova, Moira Kirk, Jeanay Butler and Taylor Reuther.
(Click photo to enlarge)

The Gold Nuggets have won five of their last six matches and 13 of their last 15. Saturday's match was Xavier's fifth in four days.

"We expect all our players to be ready to go at any time," Xavier coach Christabell Hamilton said. "Morgan, Kia and Alex haven't played as much as the others, but they've continued to work hard in practice and improve their skills. It was nice to see them step up and play a part in this win."

Moira Kirk hit .421 and led Xavier with 10 kills and four aces. Sophomore Kerris Crier had eight kills and a .727 attack percentage — the first time she's topped .700 in 10 or more attempts and her first time this season with no attack errors. Taylor Reuther had seven kills, seven digs, three aces and hit .429.

Reuther had three kills and three aces during a 13-4 run which gave the Nuggets a 22-11 lead in the opening set. Xavier got four kills and two aces from Kirk and two aces from Iva Bobkova in an 18-2 second-set run. Stallings had three kills during an 8-0 run in the final set.

Xavier finished with 39 kills and hit .297. The Nuggets served 14 aces and finished with a 47-6 ace advantage in their three GCAC matches.

Edward Waters (3-19, 0-8) lost to Xavier for the second time this season.

The Nuggets won't play their next GCAC match until Oct. 29, when they visit second-place SUNO. In between there will be five non-conference matches, with the next one at 7 p.m. Thursday at city rival Loyola. That's a makeup of a Sept. 4 postponement due to Tropical Storm Lee.

Box score

Ed Cassiere

By Ed Cassiere,Sports Information Director
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS

Alabama A&M 37, Mississippi Valley State 14

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Inside linebacker Willie Fuller was reminded last week of Alabama A&M's embarrassing homecoming loss to Texas Southern six years ago. The Tigers, who entered the game riding a 16-game losing streak, stunned the Bulldogs 17-7.

Fuller and company made sure there would be no embarrassing homecoming loss Saturday to Mississippi Valley State, who like Texas Southern, entered the game riding a 16-game losing streak.

Defensive end Corey Hart returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown less than a minute into the game and A&M scored on its four offensive possessions as the Bulldogs extended the Delta Devils' losing streak to 17 in a row with a satisfying 37-14 Southwestern Athletic Conference victory before an announced crowd of 16,827 at Louis Crews Stadium.

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