Nic Cooper's three touchdowns lead Winston-Salem State over California (Pa.) 35-14 in Division II playoffs

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Clinton native Nic Cooper scored three touchdowns to help Winston-Salem State defeat California (Pa.) 35-28 on Saturday in the NCAA Division II playoffs. The 12-0 Rams built a 35-14 lead early in the second half. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter.

Cooper scored on a 6-yard run in the first quarter and on 1-yard runs in the second and third quarters. He carried the ball 20 times for 118 yards.

California quarterback Peter Lalich threw two touchdown passes to Lamont Smith in the third quarter after the Rams had taken the 35-14 lead. Lalich threw for 387 yards but also was intercepted three times.

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One down, three to go

Third-ranked Winston-Salem State was very comfortable in the Division II playoffs Saturday afternoon.  WSSU did what it needed to in a second-round game against 17th-ranked California (Pa.) and won 35-28 in front of nearly 8,000 at Bowman Gray Stadium. WSSU improved to 12-0 and advanced to a home quarterfinal next Saturday against New Haven.

"We're not finished," said running back Nic Cooper, who rushed for 118 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns. "We've got three more games to play."

The 12 wins are a school record for victories in a season, and the quarterfinal playoff berth is the first for a CIAA program. The Rams also snapped the CIAA's nine-game losing streak in the playoffs. Coach Connell Maynor's team had not faced much adversity in a season in which it set the school scoring record, but that changed Saturday.

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Cal comeback falls short

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Division II playoff run for California, Pa., ended Saturday as third-ranked Winston-Salem State held on for a 35-28 victory in the second round. The Vulcans finish their season 10-3 thanks to too many turnovers and not enough offense when it mattered most.

The Rams (12-0) were making their first playoff appearance in 20 years and carved out a 35-14 lead early in the third quarter. However, the Vulcans came roaring back behind quarterback Peter Lalich with two touchdowns in a span of three minutes.

"The biggest thing we are proud of is how hard we fought in the second half," said Cal offensive coordinator Mike Kellar. "We looked like we wouldn't be able to be stopped there in the third quarter, but in the fourth quarter we had some fluke things happen."

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Black colleges' survival hinges on unity and collaboration

CNN's Soledad O'Brien

New Orleans -- If historically black colleges are going to survive, they're going to have to step up their collaboration, not only with schools and communities but also with one another, a panel of educators and policymakers said Friday in New Orleans. Three of the four speakers emphasized the importance of working with high schools and community colleges to prepare students academically and to ease the transition to four-year colleges and universities.

While Grambling State University President Frank Pogue didn't disagree, he said that, in a climate of dwindling public appropriations and skepticism about the continuing value of historically black institutions of higher learning, no school can afford to be alone.

"We have to come together," he said. "That is our responsibility to our students and to our future students -- to keep them engaged."

The discussion, led by CNN's Soledad O'Brien, was one of a daylong series of roundtable talks at the Hyatt Regency Hotel leading up to today's Bayou Classic pitting Southern University against Grambling in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Schools such as Southern and Grambling, which are commonly known as HBCUs, were founded when segregation was the norm.

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Grambling defeats Southern for fourth Bayou Classic win in row

New Orleans, Louisiana -- Southern Coach Stump Mitchell vowed to give Jaguars fans something to remember in Saturday’s State Farm Bayou Classic. However, it turned out to be more of what they have been accustomed to seeing lately, as Grambling State pummeled the Jaguars 36-12 for its fourth consecutive Classic victory before 40,715 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Mitchell said his team would be ready for Grambling after upsetting Alabama State two weeks ago on the road. However, the Jaguars’ (4-7, 4-5) margin of defeat to Grambling (7-4, 6-3) was second only to a 30-3 setback in 1986.

Grambling continued its recent domination of the series. The Tigers’ average margin of victory in its past four wins is 19.5 points, including last season’s 38-17 thrashing. “They took our running game away, and we weren’t able to establish a passing game,’’ Mitchell said.

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Cliff Exama leads the way for Grambling defense

Grambling linebacker Cliff Exama wanted his final game against rival Southern in the State Farm Bayou Classic to be special.

And he delivered.  Exama had an interception, a sack and led the Tigers with seven tackles in Grambling’s dominating 36-12 victory Saturday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Grambling’s defense held Southern to minus 31-yards rushing and forced seven sacks.

Exama, in his final year of eligibility and listed on Grambling’s roster as a graduate student, is a returning All-SWAC selection and has been vital in the Tigers’ six-game winning streak after they started the season at 1-4. With Saturday’s win, Grambling clinched a berth to the Dec. 10 SWAC championship game against Alabama A&M in Birmingham, Ala.



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In the end, Norfolk State faced a killer foe: Itself

NORFOLK, Virginia -- Chris Walley never saw it coming. Neither did Norfolk State. The end of the Spartans' season was sealed on their first possession of the second half.  Trailing by 14, Norfolk State moved to the ODU 24. The Spartans found a mix of runs and passes that had been elusive. Walley, the quarterback, found his groove. The Monarchs helped out with a roughing-the-passer penalty.

Walley recognized Old Dominion's defense, and audibled accordingly. As he went up and down the line to deliver the call, center Michael Kay didn't realize the quarterback had moved. He snapped the ball while Walley's eyes were focused downfield.

The first-down snap rolled 22 yards into the backfield, where running back Randy Maynes fell on it. A blocked field goal followed, then an ODU touchdown and - after another half of football - the end of Norfolk State's best Division I season.

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Photos | Old Dominion takes on Norfolk State at Foreman Field


Several on ODU and NSU football teams are old friends

NORFOLK, VA -- Norfolk State and Old Dominion are meeting for the first time. Marcus Cooperwood and Reid Evans aren't.  After meeting at a high school all-star game five years ago, Norfolk State's Cooperwood, a cornerback from Bethel, and ODU's Evans, a receiver from Phoebus, met often at a small field in front of a church near Darling Stadium.

They ran routes against and have continued working out together ever since.
This year, they brought their teammates along. No. 10 ODU and No. 19 NSU, first-round opponents in the FCS playoffs, spent the summer in 7-on-7 competition, focused on improving each other and moving impromptu games between the two campuses.

"Obviously, we didn't see this happening," Cooperwood said of Saturday's game. "Me and Reid work out in the summer and do one-on-ones to fine-tune our games. We brought it up to our teams and both guys were good with it. There ain't no drama between us. It's all mutual love."

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ODU's first playoff win sends penalty-laden Norfolk State home

NORFOLK, VA — Even as he watched the 98-yard touchdown happen, Ronnie Cameron was forgetting about it.

"We always have a mentality of, 'Play the next play,' " said Cameron, Old Dominion's senior defensive tackle and the Colonial Athletic Association defensive player of the year. "Things happen. Things have happened all year. We've just got to bounce back from it. That's what a resilient team does. That's what a mature team does.

"Don't let one play define the rest of the game."

ODU took those words to heart in a major way on Saturday as the Monarchs squared off against Norfolk State in the first meeting of the crosstown opponents, which also happened to be both teams' first appearance in the FCS playoffs.

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Roaring success for first-ever Crosstown Showdown

NORFOLK, Virginia -- Gene Thomas II and three fellow Norfolk State football fans intended to join a Spartans tailgate party on the west side of Old Dominion's Foreman Field early Saturday afternoon. They were detained as they walked on the east side, however, by the kindness of strangers - a gaggle of ODU fans offering pregame food, drinks and good-natured banter.

And so loyal Spartans stayed put among proud Monarchs as time ticked toward the so-called Crosstown Showdown, an NCAA playoff game at the Football Championship Subdivision level.

"Sportsmanship has arrived in Norfolk," said Thomas, a former NSU marching band member and a music teacher at Portsmouth's I.C. Norcom High.

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Photo Gallery: View all 20 photos

Xavier's Haywood makes seven 3s, but Wiley wins by 11

MARSHALL, Texas — Christopher Tolbert scored nine of his 14 points in the final 10½ minutes Saturday to help Wiley pull away for a 78-67 men's basketball victory against NAIA No. 21 Xavier University of Louisiana.

The Wildcats (3-2) avenged a 64-60 loss at Xavier from one week ago and spoiled an outstanding performance by Gold Rush guard Nick Haywood, who made seven 3-pointers and scored 26 points

Xavier (4-1) never led after the second minute and trailed by 13 in the first half. The Gold Rush tied the score for the third and final time on Haywood's 3-pointer with 11:19 remaining — that made it 53-all — but Tolbert answered with three consecutive 3-pointers to give Wiley a 73-61 lead at 3:54. The Wildcats shut out Xavier in the final three minutes and defeated the Gold Rush for the fifth straight time at Alumni Gymnasium in six seasons.

Haywood, a junior in his first XU season after transferring from NCAA Division I Houston, was the only Gold Rush player to reach double figures. He scored eight points in the previous three games but had 14 by halftime. Haywood is the first to reach 25 points for Xavier since February 2010 and the first to make seven 3-pointers since Mark Stewart made a school-record-tying eight at Mobile in March 2008.

Cordell Hadnot had nine points and eight rebounds for Xavier, and Kevin Miller grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds. Xavier made a season-best 10 3-pointers in 22 attempts — Miller, Chris Iles and Wanto Joseph made the other treys — but Xavier made 23.5 percent of its 2-pointers and finished at a season-low 32.1 percent overall.

Graylin Smith had 13 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots for Wiley. Richard Simon scored 12 points, and Freddie Haynes had 10.

Smith's basket at 6:43 of the first half gave Wiley a 34-21 lead, but Xavier made 10-of-12 free throws to cut the Wildcats' advantage to 43-36 by halftime.

Wiley shot 51.8 percent from the floor against a Xavier team which ranked fourth in NAIA Division I in field-goal percentage defense. The Gold Rush limited the Wildcats to 37.5 percent one week ago.

It was the first time in 33 games that Xavier lost despite making more free throws than its opponent. The Gold Rush were 21-of-31, and Wiley was 14-of-27.

Xavier's next game will start at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at The Barn against city rival Loyola in a PSBlive.com webcast.

Box score

By Ed Cassiere, SID

VISIT: XULAATHLETICS

VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

What I learned on the field with the FAMU marching band

Editor’s note: Dereyck Moore is currently employed by NBA digital and previously worked for CNN Digital. Moore is a graduate of Florida A&M University. He was a member of the FAMU Marching 100 band from 1990 to 1994

By Dereyck Moore, Special to CNN

(CNN) - The tragic death of Robert Champion, drum major for the famed Florida A&M University marching band, weighs on me. I never knew Robert personally. I never shook his hand or carried on a conversation with this young man. But his death has touched me as if I had lost a member of my immediate family - because I have.

I was a member of the FAMU band 20 years ago, and the news of his death traveled among my band mates, through those who marched before me and long after I was gone. It’s sad and shocking to hear his death might be related to hazing by members of the band.

I have always looked upon my beloved FAMU Marching 100 band and many other historically black college and university - HBCU - marching bands with pride. That pride has been shaken to its core by the investigation into the death of a member of our family, my family - a young man just like me.


(Videographer: TheOProductions1907)

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