Jackson State blows out Alcorn Braves

Jackson, Mississippi -- The 2011 Capital City Classic turned out to be a completely one-sided game at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Jackson Saturday afternoon.

The Alcorn State Braves were on the wrong end of a record-breaking performance by Jackson State quarterback Casey Therriault. Therriault threw for 539 yards and four touchdowns en route to breaking the single-season record for passing yards and total yards at Jackson State. The explosive Tigers’ passing attack and a suffocating defense led to a 51-7 victory over Alcorn State.

“Therriault went to work tonight,” Alcorn State head coach Melvin Spears said. “This is an outstanding team, one of the best in the nation, and we have nothing to hang our heads about.”

Jackson State (9-2, 7-2) ended the game with 687 yards of total offense to Alcorn’s 209.

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Counting Ws and Ls, Braves' Spears is 'in the red'

Following Alcorn State's lopsided 51-7 loss to rival Jackson State on Saturday, Braves coach Melvin Spears didn't take long to answer the question.

"Do you think you'll be back as Alcorn's coach next season?" "Absolutely," said the first-year coach.

Alcorn President Christopher Brown, who said earlier in the week that it was a "50/50" chance Spears would return, didn't sound quite so certain.

"It's too early to say," said Brown. "I'm shocked by the score. But you don't just want to judge a coach just by wins and losses. We will look at the players grades' and look at the revenue for the season. This game definitely helps because Jackson State brought in a big crowd and we share revenue on this one, so that's good. But we had two poor performance games and two poor attendance games this year, so that's going to hurt the bottom line. I have to make sure he's in the black. Wins and losses, he's in the red. You can't change that."



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D'Souza, Kwame Jackson lead Xavier at national meet

VANCOUVER, Washington -- Anna D'Souza and Kwame Jackson were the fastest finishers for Xavier University of Louisiana on Saturday at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships.

D'Souza, a senior, ran 5,000 meters in 20 minutes, 26 seconds to place 238th out of 323 women. Her time is the Gold Nuggets' fastest at nationals, surpassing Katrina Davis' 20:40.9 in 2003, and D'Souza closed her XU career with her two fastest 5K times. She was fifth in 20:24.93 at the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championships four weeks earlier.

Jackson, a freshman, ran 8,000 meters in 27:40 to finish 275th out of 312 men. His time is second fastest by a Gold Rush runner at nationals.

Xavier's women finished 30th out of 32 teams, and the men finished 31st out of 32. It's the first time the Gold Nuggets finished ahead of two teams at nationals.

GCAC individual champion Zahri Jackson, Kwame's sister, was 259th in 20:42. Catherine Fakler was 265th in 20:50, Donyé Coleman was 287th in 21:18, Darian Towns was 299th in 21:36, Ashley Taylor was 312th in 21:59, and Hali Yarmush was 315th in 22:09.

In the men's race Xavier's Matt Pieri was 296th in 28:26. Javon Mead was 301st in 28:54, Emmanuel Deteige was 310th in a career-best 30:14, and Jamaal Williams was 312th in 31:37.

Cal State San Marcos won its third consecutive women's championship, and Grand View's Obsie Birru was the individual winner in 17:15. Oklahoma Christian won the men's championship, and Wayland Baptist's Kennedy Kithuka finished in 23:15 to repeat as individual winner.

It was the third time in four seasons that both XU teams competed at nationals.

Women's Individual | Team Results
Men's Individual | Team Results 

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

Arkansas-Pine Bluff Wins Home Finale 42-6 Over Texas Southern

PINE BLUFF, Arkansas – Senior Stephen Jones tallied 92 yards and two rushing touchdowns as Arkansas-Pine Bluff used a solid running game to defeat Texas Southern 42-6 on Saturday in the Golden Lions' regular-season finale.

Benjamin Anderson threw two touchdown passes completing a 27-yarder to Rontrell Bailey in the third quarter, and a 57-yarder to T.J. Shelton in the fourth. Adrian Moore added scoring rushes of 8 and 11 yards as Arkansas-Pine Bluff racked up 262 yards rushing on 48 attempts. With the win the Golden Lions stay alive in the race for a SWAC Championship berth.

“Our players showed a lot of determination out there today,” said UAPB head coach Monte Coleman. “Our running game paved the way on offense and defensively we were able to limit their ability to score. I couldn't be happier for our seniors and our entire team because they truly deserved this victory.”



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Prairie View's SWAC title hopes dashed by Alabama A&M

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas -- Prairie View A&M's path to the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game was well in sight during the closing seconds against Alabama A&M. The Panthers had possession at their own 7-yard line and trailed by two with 1:23 remaining. A field goal would likely put them ahead for good and provide a dream ending.

But that dream died two plays later.

Freshman quarterback Jerry Lovelocke was sacked and had the ball stripped by Bulldogs defensive end Corey Hart, who recovered it at the Prairie View 7 to send the Panthers to a 17-15 season-ending loss before a homecoming crowd of 10,500 Saturday afternoon at Blackshear Stadium.

Prairie View (5-6, 5-4) fell one win short ...

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Alabama A&M defeats Prairie View to clinch SWAC East title

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas - With its Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game hopes on the line, and with its starting quarterback on the bench with a sprained left knee, Alabama A&M coach Anthony Jones turned to little-used David Isabelle on Saturday and asked him to lead the Bulldogs to Birmingham.

Isabelle, whose only appearance at quarterback this season was in a mop-up role against Mississippi Valley State on Oct. 8, delivered.

The former Johnson High School star threw two touchdown passes to G'Alonzo Milton, Kaderius Lacey rushed for 163 yards and the Bulldogs' defense forced a turnover with just more than a minute remaining as A&M turned back Prairie View 17-15 before an announced crowd of 10,500 at Blackshear Stadium.

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North Greenville wins first ever NCAA Division II Playoff Game with 63-14 blowout over Albany State (Ga.)

Tigerville, SC – 212 was the number North Greenville University senior linebacker Carl Dukes posted on Facebook the week before NGU’s first ever NCAA Division II football national championship playoff appearance against Albany State of Georgia. “212 is the boiling point of water and we want to be boiling all week,” Dukes said.

His prediction held true as the Crusaders set a school record for points scored for the second consecutive week by blowing out the Albany State Golden Rams (8-4) of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 63-14 at Younts Stadium. NGU (10-2) has outscored its last three opponents 179-21 and tied the school mark with eight straight victories. The Crusaders also amassed a school best 145 unanswered points dating back to the Wingate game three weeks ago. That streak was snapped in the second quarter when Albany scored. North Greenville, which leads the NCAA Division II in time of possession, held onto the ball for 36:25, to only 23:35 for Albany.

NGU advances to the second round of the Division II playoffs to face second seeded Mars Hill College on Saturday, Nov. 26 at noon in North Carolina. The last loss the Crusaders suffered this season was to Mars Hill 38-28 on September 24.

Box Score

The rout started early when the Crusaders’ Isaiah Johnson intercepted Albany’s Stanley Jennings pass on the second play of the Golden Rams’ first series. Idris Anderson put NGU on the board first on a nine yard run with 6:10 left in the first quarter. Justin Gravely’s extra point made it 7-0.

After forcing an Albany punt, senior quarterback Willy Korn guided NGU into the end zone quickly when Teryan Rucker went in from 15 yards out with 13:42 left in the second. Albany started a drive on its next possession, but had it end quickly when senior cornerback Jereme Green picked off the first of his two interceptions. He returned the ball to the Albany 14, and Willy Korn hit Sean Wright on a scrambling play with a 10 yard touchdown pass. Gravely’s point after made it 21-0. After Albany’s Australian punter Luke Jones kicked it away, Isaiah Johnson took the ball into the end zone for a 62 yard punt return touchdown. Albany’s Brandon Hamilton missed a 35 yard field goal attempt on the Rams’ next series, and Korn then marched NGU down the field on an 8 play 80 yard drive, culminated when Marcus Wilson scored on a 22 yard run that make it 35-0.

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Cal Vulcans blank ECSU Vikings in first round, 44-0

California, PA - Junior running back Lamont Smith (Penn Hills, Pa./Central Catholic) and senior wide receiver Thomas Mayo (Reston, Va./South Lakes) each scored three touchdowns and the defense registered a shutout on Saturday afternoon, as the No. 17 Vulcans cruised to a 44-0 victory over Elizabeth City State (N.C.) in the first round of NCAA Playoffs at Adamson Stadium.

With the win, the California University of Pennsylvania football team improves to 10-2 overall, marking its fifth-straight season with at least 10 victories. The Vulcans will now travel to face No. 3 Winston-Salem State (N.C.), who is undefeated (11-0), in the second round of the NCAA Playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 26, at 12 p.m. Meanwhile, the Vikings finish the year with an 8-4 record with all four losses coming against nationally-ranked opponents.

Redshirt junior quarterback Peter Lalich (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) posted his third 300-yard game of the season, finishing with 357 passing yards on 26-of-34 attempts with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He became only the third 3,000-yard quarterback in school history and now ranks second with 3,344 yards this season. Lalich is also only one touchdown shy of becoming the third quarterback with 30 touchdown passes in a single-season.

Mayo set a season high with three touchdown receptions (3, 12, 15) on eight catches for 89 yards. He now ranks second in single-season school history with 1,230 receiving yards and his 73 receptions rank as third-highest total in school history. Mayo also is now tied for 12th all-time in NCAA Division II history with 44 receiving touchdowns, including a career-high 16 this year.

Smith finished with 83 rushing yards on 11 attempts (7.5 yards/attempt) and three touchdowns (36, 5, 1) after posting only two rushing scores in the regular season. With his performance, he surpassed the 1,000-yard mark (1,078) and is one of four running backs in school history with 1,000-plus yards in back-to-back seasons.

 Box Score

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Spring Hill's strong start eliminates Xavier in NAIA opening round

MOBILE, Alabama -- Third-team All-American Yiting Cao had 16 kills, 12 digs and two aces Saturday to lead 16th-ranked Spring Hill to a 25-13, 25-11, 25-21 women's volleyball victory against Xavier University of Louisiana in the opening round of the NAIA National Championship.

The Badgers (39-1) snapped the school-record eight-match win streak of the Gold Nuggets (23-7) and advanced to pool play in the NAIA National Championship final site Nov. 29-Dec. 3 at Sioux City, Iowa.

Freshman Taylor Reuther had 14 kills and 12 digs in her Xavier-leading 12th kill-dig double-double. Iva Bobkova had six kills, and Patrice Hightower had 27 assists and nine digs for the Gold Nuggets.

Three Cassandra Marchand-Stewart kills keyed an 11-2 run which gave Spring Hill a 15-7 first-set lead. Two Cao kills and seven Xavier errors gave the Badgers a 10-1 lead in the second set.

There were 15 ties and nine lead changes in the third set before Spring Hill took advantage of four consecutive XU errors to emerge from a tie at 20. Jamie Hall's kill, her sixth, ended the match.

Spring Hill outhit Xavier .354 to .097 and had advantages of 38-31 in kills, 57-50 in digs, 5-2 in aces and 10-1 in blocks.

"We were nervous in the beginning, and the first two sets were a struggle for us," said Xavier first-year coach Christabell Hamilton. "We finally started to play Xavier ball in the third set, but it was too late. We waited too long to get settled in. Spring Hill is a very talented and solid team, and they took advantage of our slow start."

Xavier, the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament champion, set program records in its fourth season for victories, home victories, conference victories and victories on opponents' courts. Xavier was 11-26 a year ago.

"I'm so very proud of my team and how they came together and made history this year," Hamilton said. "No one ever thought we'd get this far. We will miss our four seniors, but we're very excited about getting better in spring practice, and we look forward to more improvement next season."

• Live Stats | Box Score

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