Bethune-Cookman has key talent returning

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida  --  Bethune-Cookman’s FCS playoff run didn’t last long, as Coastal Carolina won 24-14 in the first round on Saturday.

Although the Wildcats (9-3) would like to still be playing, they should be in good shape to defend their MEAC championship next season and make another trip back to the FCS playoffs.

B-CU head coach Brian Jenkins, the MEAC Coach of the Year, has a number of key players returning in 2013, including star running back Isidore Jackson and quarterback Quentin Williams.

Up front, B-CU is led by offensive lineman Terrance Hackney who does a magnificent job of opening holes for the running game and pass protecting. The 6-foot-6, 310-pound sophomore has great strength and can really move his feet.

Defensively, the Wildcats could be even stronger. LeBrandon Richardson is a great pass-rushing defensive end. Richardson recorded 8.5 sacks this season and also had 53 total tackles, including 31 solo.

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Young GSU Tigers have building blocks

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana  -- The 2012 football season mercifully came to end for Grambling on Saturday in a 38-33 loss to Southern in the Bayou Classic.

The Tigers (1-10, 0-9 Southwestern Athletic Conference) went winless in league play for the first time since joining the SWAC in 1958, but Grambling didn't leave the Mercedes-Benz Superdome empty-handed.

Although no GSU coach, player or alumni is accustomed to a season like this (it's the worst record in program history since at least 1941), Tiger fans did see a team that didn't quit in the season finale.

The Grambling defense forced two early turnovers, which the offense cashed in for a 14-0 lead.

The Tigers looked the best they had all season with the offense and defense producing at the same time, a rarity in 2012.

But Southern quarterback ...
 

 

 

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Defense shines in WSSU’s playoff win

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  Winston-Salem State made a serious statement Saturday afternoon in blowing out Shippensburg 37-14 in the second round of the Division II football playoffs.

The main talking point was about the defense.

The Rams were without injured starting quarterback Kam Smith, and although Anthony Carrothers more than held his own, the key was an aggressive defense that had the Red Raiders figured out.

Defensive coordinator Kienus Boulware didn’t do much that was different from the regular season, despite an opponent that had the most potent Division II offense in the country.

A four-man rush and occasional blitzes kept the pressure on quarterback Zach Zulli. The Rams sacked him just twice, but they funneled their coverage to force Zulli outside, and that’s where he had trouble.

“We just got pressure on him,” Coach Connell Maynor of WSSU said. “We said if we could rush four and get pressure on him, it would be a long day. That’s what we did, and we forced him to throw out routes instead of in the middle of the field.”



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B-CU vs. CCU Notebook: Wildcats' Jenkins says 'it has been a really good ride'

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida  --  An odd scene played out late in Bethune-Cookman coach Brian Jenkins' press conference Saturday night.

Responding to a question about his team's national relevance, Jenkins stated the reasons he felt his Wildcats were a “national level” team.

 

He ended by noting that building the program has been a “collective effort,” before saying, “It's been a really good ride. I've enjoyed it, and we will see what is next.”

 

When a reporter asked if that meant that Jenkins might be on the move, the coach insisted that is not what he said. Then he went on to not exactly close the door on the idea.

 

“My main thing is celebrating with my family and moving forward,” Jenkins said. “We all know opportunities present themselves. We all know that, and I'm not going to sit here and pretend like opportunities don't present themselves.

 

“All I can tell you is it is very hard for me to leave a university that loves me, and I love it. It's hard for me to love a team that I really, really love. I love my players. They love me. It's very, very hard.”

 

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Southern hangs on to beat Grambling in Bayou Classic

NEW ORLEANS — After a coaching change, a winning streak and a losing streak, at the end of the season that began with so much turmoil and ended Saturday with Southern’s best chance to win a Bayou Classic for the first time since 2007, linebacker Franchot West found himself in the middle of the field inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, scrambling with his teammates, barking above the noise, trying to stop Grambling one last time.

West and the Jaguars had taken a big lead, then nearly given all of it away. The archrival Tigers were driving for a potential game-winning score with less than a minute left.

From both sidelines, coaches and players screamed. The crowd of 45,980, though small, scattered and late-arriving, was certainly into it.

Moments before his fumble recovery preserved a thrilling 38-33 win in this matchup of two teams with disappointing records, West learned his responsibility: Spy on Grambling quarterback Frank Rivers, then make a play if the action comes your way.

West watched as defensive lineman Donald Phillips ...



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It’s business first for Massey and the WSSU Rams

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  College football is part business and part entertainment on any weekend, even Thanksgiving.

Winston-Salem State, burned in the NCAA semifinals last season, has re-calibrated the formula during a second run at the Division II title — more business, less entertainment.

The approach worked marvelously Saturday. WSSU, playing without injured quarterback Kameron Smith, overcame three first-half turnovers and pounded Shippensburg 37-14 at Bowman Gray Stadium.

Rams backup Anthony Carrothers, making his first start in two seasons, passed for 332 yards and three touchdowns. Jameze (pronounced J-Mez) Massey caught eight passes and hauled in two of those touchdowns, covering 69 and 33 yards with his elusive speed.

The plays came straight out of the replay vault from the CIAA title game. After Smith hurt his shoulder that afternoon, Carrothers rallied the offense, and Massey won the MVP award for his three touchdowns. Massey, a 5-8 senior from Monroe, figured Carrothers could do it again because he played for a 9-2 team before transferring from Grambling State.

“We just had to get him some confidence because he hasn’t been playing that much this year, and this was a big game,” Massey said. “He had a couple of mistakes — threw an interception for six (points) and fumbled down there — but when I looked in his eyes after that, he told me he was good. I took it from there. Because of the look in his eyes, I believed him.”




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Xavier's stellar shooting beats Wiley in Memphis HBCU Classic

MEMPHIS, Tennessee --  Denzell Erves scored a season-high 21 points Saturday to lead hot-shooting Xavier University of Louisiana to a 76-61 men's basketball victory against Wiley on the second and final day of the Memphis HBCU Classic at Southwest Tennessee Community College.

The Gold Rush (8-1) shot 71.1 percent from the floor, XU's best in nearly 200 games. Erves was 8-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the line. The accuracy was Xavier's best since a school-record 75.9 percent in a victory against Tougaloo at The Barn on Feb. 5, 2007.

Wanto Joseph had 16 points, six assists and three steals for Xavier, and Anthony Simmons had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double and third in four games. Reserve forward Olivier Siewe had season highs of seven points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard Gary Smith, starting for the second consecutive game, scored a season-high seven points and was 3-of-3 from the floor. Nick Haywood had a career-high-tying six assists.

Xavier led 16-6 after hitting 8-of-9 from the floor in the first seven minutes. The Gold Rush led 37-19 at halftime -- Xavier's largest halftime lead on the road since January 2008 -- and took a 43-21 lead on Simmons' two free throws with 17:57 remaining.

Wiley (5-2), losing to Xavier for the second time in eight days, never came closer than 11 points in the second half. Xavier protected its lead by going 4-of-4 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the line in the final four minutes.

The five XU starters -- Erves, Simmons, Joseph, Smith and Xavier Rogers -- shot a combined 77.4 percent (24-of-31) from the floor. The Gold Rush made 20-of-25 free throws and reached 80 percent for the third time this season.

Erves and Joseph have scored in double figures in every game this season.

Tayler Jacobs had 18 points, five assists and four steals for Wiley, and Dominic Jones scored 13 points. Wiley shot 38.6 percent from the floor and was outrebounded 36-18 -- the seventh time this season Xavier had a double-digit rebound advantage.

Turnovers were the only downer for the Gold Rush. Xavier committed 30, its most since the start of 2003-04. More extensive records before that season are not available.

Xavier, which defeated Concordia (Ala.) 75-61 in this event Friday, earned back-to-back victories at a neutral site for the first time since the Loyola Classic in November 2004 and for the first time at a neutral site outside of New Orleans since the Mobile Classic in December 2002.

Xavier is 8-1 or better though its first nine games for the seventh time in Dannton Jackson's 10 seasons as head coach.

Xavier will play Mobile (4-1) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at XU's Convocation Center.

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