Schwartz boosts Hampton past Morgan State in Season Finale, 27-17

BALTIMORE, Maryland  --  Jeremiah Schwartz and Hampton capped the 2012 season with a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory Saturday afternoon at Morgan State. The Bears finished the season with six consecutive losses, all by a combined total of 31 points.

The Bears fall to a 3-8 overall record and finished 2-6 in the conference.

Schwartz, the MEAC's leading rusher, had a workmanlike effort for the Pirates by gaining a game-high 113 yards on 29 carries, including a pair of touchdowns.

The Pirates needed about every one of Schwartz's yards, because Hampton's passing game had all kinds of trouble against the Bears' defense.

Morgan State recorded a season-high eight sacks and racked up three interceptions, while holding the HU's quarterback duo of Travis Champion and Brian Swain to a combined 4 of 18 passing for just 42 yards.

Travis “Juice” Davidson watched from the sideline through most of the first half, but went to work after halftime.

Trailing 14-7, Davidson recorded 56 yards on just six carries in one quarter of work and had a 20-yard run to help setup a 35-yard field goal by Earvin Gonzalez that trimmed the Pirates lead to 20-17 at the end of the third quarter.

Davidson finished the day with 12 carries for 81 yards and became Morgan State's No. 9 leading rusher in school history with 1,690 yards for his career.

The Bears defense forced Hampton to punt on its next drive, and MSU took over deep in its own territory, but was held to a 3-and-out.

Hampton took advantage by chewing up the clock on the ground. On 4^th and 2, quarterback Brian Swain took the snap and faked a handoff to the fullback and pitched to the ball Christopher Dukes who raced 16 yards for a touchdown. Taurean Durham's extra point gave Hampton the 27-17 lead to all but seal the Bears longest losing streak since 1996.

A 2-yard run by Brian Mann made it 7-7 with 12:49 to go in the second quarter. It was Mann's third career touchdown and it marked the Bears first touchdown in eight quarters.

Morgan State collected three penalties late in the second quarter to help setup a 4-yard plunge for Schwartz's first TD of the day to give the Pirates a 14-7 advantage at halftime.

Robert Council completed a 33-yard play-action pass to Chris Flowers who was wide open in the endzone to knot the ball game at 14-14 with 9:38 to go in the third quarter.

Council completed 12 of 28 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown.

The Pirates responded with a 10 play, 51-yard drive that consumed just over 4 minutes. Schwartz scored from one-yard out. The ensuing point after attempt failed. Hampton led 20-14 at the 5:26 mark of the third quarter.

Bear Notes
The game originally was scheduled to be played at Yankee Stadium but was shifted back to Baltimore after problems from Hurricane Sandy.

Travis Davidson completes his collegiate career as the No. 9 leading rusher in Morgan State school history

Elandon Roberts recorded a season-high 19 tackles with a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss … the true freshman linebacker is currently on the Jerry Rice Watch List

Senior DL Bakari Smith recorded a career-high 12 tackles with a forced fumble

Morgan State posted 312 yards of total offense, while Hampton finished with 273

RB Brian Mann had 13 carries for 30 yards

Joe Rankin collected his fifth interception of the season and the 10^th of his career

The Bears had 12 penalties for 130 yards

The Bears defensive unit finished the season with 14 interceptions.


COURTESY MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Howard Comes From Behind To Capture Second Place

Washington, DC -- Howard University erupted for 35 unanswered point in the second half to come from behind and defeat Delaware State, 41-34 in a thrilling, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game at Greene Stadium.

With the win, the Bison (7-4, 6-2 in the MEAC) capture second place in the conference. Delaware State was tied with Howard coming into the game as was North Carolina Central, which lost to North Carolina A&T.

The two teams had a feeling out process to start the game before the Hornets (6-5, 5-3 in the MEAC) drew first blood with a 32-yard field goal at the 4:36 mark of the first quarter. The Bison were unable to get untracked, so the Hornets made good of the opportunity with their highly efficient offense. Quarterback Nick Elko engineered a nine-play, 70-yard drive that was capped off with an 18-yard pass to Justin Wilson.

Howard was able to finally get something going when John Fleck nailed a 41-yard field goal to make it 10-3. But Elko came right back when he finished off a drive with 3-yard toss to Wilson to give Delaware State a 17-3 halftime lead.

The Hornets upped the margin to 24-3 when Nick Williams returned a pass 79 yards for a TD.



Then Howard woke up and began to change the flow of the game. First Terrence Leffall capped off a short dive with a 9-yard run to get to within 24-10 at the 10-minute mark

Following a Delaware State turnover, the Bison cashed in again, going 22 yards in three plays. McGhee connected with Matthew Colvin from 20 yards to narrow the deficit to 24-17 at 8:12 of the third quarter.

Howard got the ball back and scored again on an 18-yard McGhee to Stewart Hartman touchdown pass, tying the score at 24-all, going into the fourth quarter.

McGhee gave the Bison their first lead of the game when he engineered an 11-play, 80-yard drive that was finished off with a three-yard run by Leffall.

On the Hornets' ensuing possession, Howard scored again when senior All-American linebacker Keith Pough returned a fumble 36 yards for a TD to up the margin to 38-24 to start the fourth quarter.

"We made some adjustments at halftime," explained Howard second year head coach Gary Harrell, a strong candidate for MEAC Coach of the Year. "We wanted to make sure that we got Greg McGhee back into the form that we saw from him last week. Terrence Leffall did a great job of running hard for us and our defense did a good job of bending but not breaking. Our tempo in the second half created problems for Delaware State and they couldn't adjust to Leffall on the ground and McGhee and his plays with his arm and his running."

Leffall managed only 38 yards on 12 carries but in the second half, he amassed 215 yards and two TDs. McGhee was equally effective. After completing only 4 of 7 for 38 yards, the talented sophomore completed 14 of 21 for 141 yards and two TDs to go along with his 58 yards rushing in the second half.

"The offensive line did an outstanding job today as they have all season," said Leffall, who played in only eight games this season but still managed to gain more than 1,000 yards. "We came out in the second half and played with more energy. Once we got the momentum, things changed. This is a big win for this program." Leffall's totals placed him in second place all time for rushing yards in a game to Harvey Reed (260 in 1987).

Added McGhee, "I had to tell the team at halftime to keep their heads up and keep fighting. "We knew we had to correct the things we were doing in the first half and play with more energy."

The Hornets forced a turnover on Howard's next possession and Elko and Travis Tarpley made quick work of the opportunity when they teamed up for a three-yard TD pass with plenty of time left.

Howard temporarily stopped the Hornets' momentum with a 37-yard Fleck field goal to make it a two-possession game at 41-31 with 4:18 left on the clock.

The Hornets were able to put together a 72-yard drive, but the Howard defense held and forced a 20-yard Mitchell Ward field goal at the 2:02 mark

Then came another of a series of game-changing plays when Delaware State recovered an onside kick at the Howard 42-yard line with time still left on the clock. But the Hornets hopes of a game-tying TD was thwarted when Howard cornerback Ademola Olatunji picked off an Elko pass, allowing the Bison to run out the clock and finish with the most victories since the 1998 season.

The Bison, who were picked to finish eighth in the pre-season, recorded their best record since the 1998 season.

"In year one, we wanted to be competitive and in Year Two and Three to be contending for a MEAC championship," said Harrell. "We want to keep climbing. Not winning the championship this season is a disappointment. We just have to keep recruiting and continue to build this program."

GAME NOTES: The Bison piled up a season-high 526 yards of total offense…the 347 yards rushing marked the first time this season that Howard has reached that plateau…Colvin, one of two freshman starting receivers, grabbed a career-high six catches for 60 yards and his first career TD…Keith Pough had his best game in several weeks, recording 12 tackles and returning a fumble 36 yards for the first TD of his career…Damon Greshman Chisholm continues to show why he is the top candidate for MEAC Rookie of the Year…the freshman from Covington, GA, had four tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks and a recovered fumble.

COURTESY HOWARD UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

SC State End Season With Win Over Savannah State Tigers

ORANGEBURG, SC  --  The South Carolina State Bulldogs (5-6 overall, 4-4 MEAC) close out the regular season with a, 27-13 victory over Savannah State (1-10, 0-8 MEAC) Saturday at Dawson Stadium/Jeffries Field.

South Carolina State saluted and honored 17 seniors who played their final home game against Savannah State on the day.
    

Red-shirt junior quarterback Richard Cue (6-1, 180) finished with 214 yards pass throwing 14-of-33-2 for two touchdowns in the victory. Freshman Tamarrick Hemingway (6-5, 210) led the receiving corps with five catches for 81 yards.
 

       

The Bulldogs defense was spearheaded by senior linebacker Cortney Ingram (5-10, 190) with 10 tackles to close out his career. Sophomore's Andrew Carter (6-1, 240) and Justin Hughes (6-1, 220) each added 10 tackles, two sacks, and two tackles for loss on the day.
       

"First I would like to thank those seniors who played their heart out for SC State, this football team, and our coaches and me," said SC State head coach Buddy Pough. "We when thru some things this year that we are not accustomed to, but we made it thru the storm."

  

READ MORE
        

Tennessee StateTigers comeback falls just short at UT Martin, 35-26

MARTIN, Tennessee  --  A three touchdown fourth quarter got Tennessee State back into the game at UT Martin, but the Tigers comeback just fell short in the final game of the season as they lost to the Skyhawks 35-26 on Saturday.

Trailing 28-6 heading into the fourth quarter, TSU (8-3, 4-3 OVC) scored touchdowns on its first three possessions of the quarter and was a two-point conversion away from tying the game.

It all started when Vernon Frett blocked a 44-yard field goal that was returned to the TSU 38 by Greg Barksdale. Michael German hit A.C. Leonard on the next play for a touchdown to cut the Skyhawks lead to 15.

German finished with career-highs with 28 completions, 44 attempts and 355 yards, along with three touchdowns.

TSU turned UT Martin (8-3, 6-2 OVC) over on downs when they couldn't convert a fourth-and-27 on the TSU 34. The Tigers took advantage going 66 yards on seven plays in just 1:36. Joe Bowens caught a German pass from four yards out as UTM led 28-20 with 6:42 remaining.

The Tiger defense force a three-and-out to put the ball right back in the hands of its red hot offense. German extended the eventual scoring drive running for 10 yards on a fourth-and-four. Leonard grabbed his second score of the game from German in the right side of the end zone from four yards out.

Leonard had seven catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns. He finished the season with 51 catches for a team best 733 yards and six touchdowns.



With TSU needing to go for two trailing 28-26 with two minutes left, German was sacked. UTM recovered the onside kick and had the ball at the TSU 41 with 1:55 left and the Tigers only have one timeout remaining. The Skyhawks had an illegal block penalty and a run out-of-bounds to stop the clock twice. It came down to a fourth-and-two with just over a minute left.

The Skyhawks elected to go for it and it paid off as quarterback Derek Carr threw a 33-yard touchdown to Quentin Sims, their third scoring hookup of the game, to put the Tigers away 35-26.

Carr finished 21-for-40 with three touchdowns and an interception. Sims had eight catches for a game best 176 yards and three scores.

The Tigers first possession of the game ended with a 10-yard Jamin Godfrey punt that was shanked to the left, out of bounds at the Martin 32-yard line. The Skyhawks scored the very next play as quarterback Derek Carr hooked up with Quentin Sims for the 7-0 lead.
Carr and Sims had similar results less than four minutes later as the senior connected for a 50-yard score as Sims streaked up the right sideline for the two touchdown advantage midway through the first quarter.

On its third possession, the Tigers finally got the offense rolling as three straight third down conversions resulted in a 29-yard field goal from Godfrey. Trabis Ward had two of the third down conversions rushing for 20 yards on a third-and-seven at the UTM 43 and for nine yards on a third-and-eight at the UTM 21. Ward had 106 yards on 24 carries.

With 8:01 remaining in the first half, Jason McNair extended the Skyhawks lead to 21-3 with a 75-yard punt return.

TSU responded with three straight completions to Travis James for 32 total yards, before a Leonard six-yard reception ended with a fumble caused by Julius McNair at the UTM 18.

James had a game-high nine catches for 139 yards.

UTM turned the ball over on its next possession as Ronn Vinson caught a floater from Carr at the UTM 43 and returned it 18 yards. The Tigers couldn't punch it in the end zone and settled for another Godfrey field goal, this one from 22 yards out to go into the locker room down 21-6.

German found James in the middle of the field for a 68-yard reception down to the UTM 17 on the first play of the second half. The drive ended on a missed Godfrey field goal from the 29-yard line that was wide left.

A German interception late in the third quarter gave the Skyhawks a short field at the TSU 36 and set up their fourth touchdown on the day, a one-yard run from D.J. McNeil, to put UTM up 28-6 with 2:47 left in the third quarter.

Martin converted a fourth-and-two with a 33-yard touchdown from Carr to Sims, their third TD's of the game.

The eight wins for Tennessee State are the most since finishing 8-4 during the 2008 season. The last time TSU won more than eight games in an 11 game regular season was 1999.




GAME NOTES:
 Travis James ends his career with 1,698 receiving yards, fifth most all-time in TSU history. He finished the season with a team best 55 catches for 730 yards ... Trabis Ward had 309 carries for 1,422 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns on the season ... German threw for 2,751 yards as a sophomore, the fourth most in a single season for the Tigers. Brian Ransom, Shannon Harris and Leon Murray are the only QB's to throw for more yards in a single-season. He now has 4,640 yards in his career, sixth best in school history.




COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Griffins give Gold Nuggets a rare home defeat

The 2012-13 Xavier University of Louisiana women's basketball team.
(Click on Photo to Enlarge)

ROSTER
 COACHES 

NEW ORLEANS -- Cydney Tibbits scored 21 points Saturday to lead Westminster (Utah) to a 62-50 victory against Xavier University of Louisiana in a matchup of a ranked NAIA Division I women's basketball teams.

The Griffins (4-1), ranked fifth, gave the No. 11 Gold Nuggets (2-1) their first loss in three games in their new Convocation Center. Xavier entered with 124 victories in its past 132 home games and an active home streak of 12 straight.

Westminster has won four in a row.

Tibbits, who played all 40 minutes, was 7-of-10 from the floor, made 2-of-3 3-pointers and 5-of-5 free throws. She grabbed a game-high seven rebounds and had three assists.

Nicole Yazzie had 11 points, five rebounds and six assists for the Griffins, who outshot the Gold Nuggets 52.5 to 39.2 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 32-20. Both teams shot free throws well, but Westminster made 13-of-15 to Xavier's 7-of-8.

Andraquay Quinnine and Whitney Gaston-Loyd scored 12 points apiece for Xavier, and Danielle Tucker had 10. SiMon Franklin, who scored a career-best 18 points Tuesday against Spring Hill, had six points and was 3-of-12 from the floor.

Yazzie's 3-pointer at 15:41 of the first half put Westminster ahead to stay at 5-4. The Griffins built the lead to 26-10 before Xavier cut the margin to 29-24 at halftime.

But Westminster scored the first seven points of the second half, led 47-29 after Amy Krommenhoek's basket, then scored the game's final nine points after Carmen Holcombe's two free throws at 1:54 reduced the lead to 53-50.

Tucker's basket at 18:03 of the first half gave Xavier its only lead, 4-2.

Westminster committed 23 turnovers, eight more than Xavier, but was credited with assists on all 21 of its field goals.

Xavier, in a stretch of three consecutive games against ranked opponents, will play NAIA No. 19 LSU-Shreveport at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Convocation Center.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUSIANA
XULAATHLETICS

XU Gold Rush are 6-0 after overtime victory against Wiley

 

The 2012-13 Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball team.

(Click on Photo to Enlarge)

ROSTER 

COACHES

 

NEW ORLEANS -- Anthony Simmons scored 18 points and grabbed a career-high-tying 13 rebounds Saturday to lead NAIA No. 19 Xavier University of Louisiana to an 82-77 men's basketball victory in overtime against Wiley at the Convocation Center.

The Gold Rush are 6-0 for the fourth time in six seasons, including five victories on their first-year home court.

Simmons, a two-time All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference forward, recorded his first double-double of the season and the seventh of his career. Teammate Denzell Erves had his fourth double-double of the season -- 16 points and 11 rebounds -- the 11th of his career.

Wanto Joseph had 17 points, a career-high eight rebounds and five assists for Xavier, and Nick Haywood -- scoreless for the first 29 minutes -- finished with 11 points.

Karlos Gary scored 15 points for Wiley (4-1), and Tayler Jacobs had 12 points and nine assists.

The Wildcats spent just 18 seconds with the lead -- after Gary's 3-point play at 2:56 of overtime gave them a 75-73 lead. Xavier outscored Wiley 5-0 in the final 1:08, and Haywood passed to Erves for a basket with put Xavier ahead to stay, 79-77, with 35 seconds remaining.

Vanderis Christie's basket for Wiley with 52 seconds remaining tied the score at 72 and forced overtime.

Xavier, winning for the 13th consecutiove time at home, outshot Wiley 45.3 to 40.3 percent from the floor and had a 46-36 rebound advantage. It was more of the same for the Gold Rush and Wildcats; nine of their last 11 meetings have been decided by six points or fewer, including three overtime decisions. Xavier has defeated Wiley 13 consecutive times at home since 1986.

Xavier made 21-of-31 first-half free throws and finished 29-of-44. Wiley made 13-of-26 free throws.

Xavier will play William Carey at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Convocation Center.

Box score

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

READ RELATED ARTICLES
11/19/2012: Live stats/William Carey at XU men's basketball, 7:30 p.m.
11/19/2012: Live stats/LSUS at XU women's basketball, 5:30 p.m.
11/17/2012: Gold Rush are 6-0 after overtime victory against Wiley
11/17/2012: Georgetown eliminates Nuggets in NAIA opening round
11/17/2012: Griffins give Gold Nuggets a rare home defeat
11/17/2012: Fakler leads Xavier at NAIA National Championships
11/16/2012: It'll be a busy Saturday for 5 XU teams, 3 in postseason
11/16/2012: XU's Pieri, Mead are Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes

Mississippi Valley Delta Devils close out season with best SWAC record since 2006

HOUSTON, Texas  --  A Mississippi Valley State season that began with a disappointing loss to Concordia College has turned into one to remember – in a good way.

The Delta Devils used its stingy defense and rejuvenated offense to defeat Texas Southern 34-3 at BBVA Compass Stadium to close out the 2012 season.

The win gives Valley (5-6, 5-4 SWAC) its best conference finish since 2006 when the Delta Devils also went 5-4 under Willie Totten. It also marked MVSU’s first three-game win streak since 2006 when they defeated Texas Southern, Prairie View and Alcorn State in a three-game span.

“I’m proud of our team,” said MVSU head coach. “It’s great that our seniors get to close out their career with a victory.”

MVSU wasted no time Saturday showing the Tigers (2-9, 2-7 SWAC) what they had to offer. Julian Stafford returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a score to give the Delta Devils an early 7-0 lead. But that wouldn’t get the last time TSU would hear from the sophomore standout.

He scored the game’s final TD on an 89-yard strike from Garrick Jones which gave the Delta Devils a demanding 34-7 lead.

Stafford finished the day with five catches for 160 yards and a TD. The Memphis native had a career-high 282 all-purpose yards.

While Stafford was the star of the MVSU, it was junior college transfer Kevin Eugene making a name for himself on defense.

The junior safety scored two second quarter TDs – the first on a 31-yard interception return and the final one on a 100-yard fumble return after TSU had drove to MVSU’s 2-yard line.

Eugene had two of Valley’s three interceptions.

His two defensive scores along with a 5-yard TD run by quarterback Garrick Jones gave the Delta Devils a commanding 27-3 halftime lead.

Then Stafford’s 89-yard TD catch with 7:54 left in the third quarter gashed TSU’s hopes of a comeback.
The win marked the second straight victory over the Tigers for MVSU.

Valley’s third-ranked FCS defense lived up to its reputation Saturday as well, sacking TSU quarterbacks six times and picking off three passes.

Keven Woods led MVSU’s defense with 10 tackles (2.5 for loss), 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble. Jeremy Langston added eight tackles (2 for loss) and a sack while Robert Simpson, who leads the FCS in tackles for loss, had six tackles (2 for loss) and 1.5 sacks.

Rico Shaw (1 sack), Marquez Floyd (0.5 sacks) and Javaris Fritz (0.5 sacks) also got to the quarterback.
MVSU senior cornerback Daanjeral Johnson had an interception.

The Delta Devils forced TSU to punt eight times throughout the game and limited to just 241 total yards. MVSU finished with 469 yards of total offense.

MVSU running back Brandon Stansell closed out his career with another remarkable game on the ground. He rushed for 102 yards on 14 carries while quarterback Garrick Jones added 89 and a TD on the ground.

Jones finished 10-of-21 through the air for 148 yards and a TD with a pair of interceptions.


COURTESY MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION