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TYLER, Texas -- Although the Charles Moss era at Texas College did not start off with a win, there were some good signs for the Steers football program.
Lane College held off a young TC squad, 40-20, on a very hot and sunny afternoon on Saturday at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.
The contest was much closer than last year’s 44-6 loss to the Dragons in Jackson, Tennessee.
“I saw some positives and several things we can correct,” Moss said. “We had some breakdowns, but there were some encouraging signs.”
Some of those signs included quarterback Sean Stell, a senior from Fresno, California, hitting on 16 of 27 pass attempts for 112 yards with two TD passes (21 yards to Myles Hill and 4 yards to Cory Sherman). Stell also scored on a 1-yard dash.
The rushing attack totaled 136 yards, led by Jude St. Julian (10-63) and Carlos Mosby (19-59). St. Julian is a senior from St. Martinsville, Louisiana, while Mosby is a sophomore from Lake Providence, Georgia.
Hill, a junior from Atlanta, Georgia, added three catches for 34 yards. Sherman is a senior from Marlin. Marcus Holiday II led the Dragons with 148 yards and a TD on 19 carries. CONTINUE READING
JACKSON, Tennessee -- It was announced Monday that Whitney Richardson, former Lane College defensive end, signed a free-agent contract with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Richardson, the 2016 NCAA Division II Player of the Year, recorded 17.5 sacks and 32.5 tackles for loss during the 2016 season.
Dorsett Davis, Lane College defensive line coach said he's extremely proud of Richardson, especially considering the uncertainty about what position Richardson wanted to play initially.
"I remember when he was in between positions coming out of high school," Davis said. "He really didn't know what [position] he wanted to play.
"For him to take pride and be dedicated to a position and excel in it, that says a lot and I'm proud of him for sticking with it."
Richardson's best performance as a Dragon in 2016 came on October 8 against Benedict College during the Lane College homecoming game, when he recorded 15 tackles (14 solo), five for total loss and three sacks in a 19-18 win over the Tigers at Lane Field.
WILBERFORCE, OHIO – A dominating second half from the Elizabeth City State University football team, gifted them a 34-23 victory over Central State University in McPherson Memorial Stadium, Saturday afternoon in its season opener.
Elizabeth City State opened up the flood gates in the second half, recording two quick scores. Freshman quarterback Navarro Price came into the game after senior quarterback Dequan Neal had to set out for a play because of the helmet rule and hooked up with junior receiver Sayquan Holder for a 34-yard touchdown bomb that tighten the ballgame at 16-14, CSU.
An interception in the next series by sophomore defensive back BJ Harrington gave ECSU a boost and the ball at Central State’s 17 yard line. ECSU marched the ball down the field 78-yards in seven plays to record its second score in the third quarter off a junior receiver Brandon Flint 21-yard touchdown scamper from Neal. Final Stats
A second interception from ECSU’s Harrington in CSU’s end zone, led to another ECSU touchdown. Neal connected with junior wide out Deon Yarborough on a five-yard touchdown pass, but the extra point was blocked, gifting the Vikings a 27-16 lead over Central State.
A two-yard scamper from Neal gave ECSU a commanding 34-16 lead over the Marauders. Central State scored again but it wasn’t enough to come back from an eleven-point deficit, 34-23. Harrington sealed the deal for ECSU with his third and record-setting interception on the day with 1:09 remaining in the contest.
ECSU fell behind quick in the first half, 14-0 before junior running back Gregory Bryan took a 64-yard run to the house for his first ECSU career touchdown with 6:58 remaining in the second quarter. Neal went 8-for-18 passing with one interception in the half.
Bryan finished the half with 86 yards in two rushes. Junior linebacker Vincent Thomas led the defensive charge going into the half with seven total tackles, including one for a loss.
Bryan led ECSU’s running game with 106 yards on four carries and a touchdown, while junior linebacker Miacah Cooper, III led the defense with 12 tackles, including a sack and a tackle for a loss. Neal finished the game with 231 yards on 20-for-35 passing, including an interception, two touchdowns passing and one rushing. Holder led all receivers with 98 yards and a score; while Yarborough added 78 yards on six catches and a score.
The Vikings will return home for its season home opener next week, hosting UNC-Pembroke for its Military/ECSU Alumni NFL Day. Game time is slated for 1 p.m.
Follow Elizabeth City State Athletics via its official website at: www.ecsuvikings.com to get pre and post-game stories and updates. Also follow us on twitter at: @ECSUVikings and on Instagram: @ecsusports
ELIZABETH CITY STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
LORMAN, Mississippi -- To kick-off the 25th season at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium, the Alcorn State University football program scored six touchdowns en route to a 50-21 win over Miles College on Saturday evening in the season opener for both teams.
Senior De'Lance Turner registered a pair of touchdowns for the Braves (1-0) including one in the air and one on the ground. He finished with 128 rushing yards and 38 receiving yards. Senior quarterback Lenorris Footman tallied two rushing touchdowns and one throwing. He recorded 241 passing yards and 92 rushing.
Eight different receivers caught a pass in the game for the Braves. Senior Norlando Veals led the way with 81 yards, while junior Marquis Warford hauled in 69. Warford also tallied a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Defensively, sophomore Solomon Muhammad stood out with 10 tackles and a forced fumble. Junior Leishaun Ealey also finished in double-figures with 10 tackles.
Miles (0-1), a Division II program from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), was led by running back Justin Hardy who notched 111 rushing yards and a touchdown.
On the opening drive of the game, the Alcorn defense forced a three-and-out. The Braves offense followed it up with an 11-play, 64-yard drive to leap in front 7-0. The series featured completions to Veals, Warford and junior Charles Hughes. The scoring play was a 14-yard run down the right side by Footman.
Later in the quarter, a punt by sophomore Corey McCullough pinned the Bears at the one-yard line. On the very next play, Muhammad forced a fumble and junior Trae Ferrell pounced on it at the 13-yard line. Alcorn's ensuing offensive drive resulted in Footman's second rushing touchdown, a six-yard spurt through the middle to go up 14-0.
Near the end of the first quarter, Miles' Hardy broke loose for an 83-yard touchdown rush through the right side to make it a 14-7 game with 2:00 left.
Midway through the second quarter, McCullough drilled a 45-yard field goal right down the middle to give Alcorn a 17-7 edge. The opportunity was setup after a 20-yard pass to Turner got the Braves into the Bears territory.
The Braves got the ball back at their own two-yard line with 4:06 left in the half. Completions to Warford and junior Jaquaveon Boles got them out near midfield, and a trio of rushes by Footman put them at the Miles 20-yard line. With four seconds left, Footman threw a screen pass to Turner as he maneuvered his way down the left sideline and into the end zone. Alcorn carried a 24-7 lead at the half.
Miles started the second half on a high note after N'Ktaviou Floyd returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 24-14.
The Braves quickly responded after Turner zig-zagged his way down the field for an 88-yard touchdown run. He weaved left and right to get past the defense and then outran the secondary for about 40-yards to push the advantage back up to 31-14 at the 14:10 mark.
Alcorn was on the move again mid-way through the quarter after a pair of rushes by Turner resulted in 35 yards to put the team in the red zone. The Braves settled for a 27-yard field goal which was good by McCullough as Alcorn led 34-14.
With 2:55 left in the third, the Bears punted it away to Warford who shook a couple defenders and was off to the races for a 72-yard punt return touchdown. It pushed the lead up to 40-14.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Bears scored on a 47-yard pass from Li'Jon Cordier to Leonard Tyree through the middle which changed the score to 40-21.
Alcorn quickly responded with a big play of its own as junior P.J. Simmons darted for a 64-yard touchdown run down the right side to go back up 47-21 with 13:43 left.
The Braves tacked on a 26-yard field goal by McCullough with 6:53 remaining. It wrapped up a nine-play, 31-yard drive which included a 15-yard pass to Warford and a 13-yard rush by Simmons.
Alcorn will play its first road game next Saturday when it travels to FIU for a 6:30 p.m. (CT) kickoff. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Braves and the Panthers.
NOTES
- Alcorn improved to 70-51 all-time at Spinks-Casem Stadium
- The Braves won their season opener for the second year in a row after defeating Alabama State 21-18 last year.
- Alcorn posted its fifth consecutive home opening victory. The Braves defeated Alabama State 21-18 last season, Mississippi Valley State 55-14 in 2015, Lynchburg 55-7 in 2014 and Edward Waters 63-12 in 2013.
- The contest marked the first-ever meeting between Alcorn and Miles College.
- The Braves dominated in total offense, 582-243 including a 279-76 edge in passing. Alcorn also won the time of possession battle 34:38-25:22.
- With 92 rushing yards, Footman moved up to No. 11 all-time in career rushing in school history with 1,603 yards, surpassing Smith Reed (1961-64). Footman is also No. 11 in career touchdown passes with 22 and 13th in career passing yards with 2,613.
- Turner was one rushing yard shy of his career-high 129 set at Jackson State last season. His 88-yard run in the third quarter marked a career-long, upping his previous best of 69 against Grambling State in the 2016 SWAC Championship game.
- Warford inked 190 all-purpose yards which bested his previous career-high of 186 at Grambling State last year.
- Muhammad's 10 tackles doubled his previous career-high of five at Alabama A&M last season.
- Alcorn's captains were Brooks, Footman and McCullough. Miles won the toss and elected to receive. Quoting Alcorn head coach Fred McNair
Opening Statement
"What can I say, Coach Ruffin brought a pretty good team here. I felt like they played a hard-fought ball game. On behalf of Braves football, we try and put a brand on what we do. I thought the first half we came out and executed somewhat well, we just had too many penalties. That's not what we teach here at Alcorn. That's not our brand of football and we're not going to tolerate that. It's kind of hurtful to get that many penalties in a ball game. Just think if we didn't get those penalties how the turnout would be. We're going to press that issue all week." On getting the job done in all aspects of the game
"That's a part of the game plan. Every week we strive to do that as far as passing, running, special teams and playing great defense. We try to do it to perfection every week. We just have to delete some of these penalties. We played a great ball game without those. If we execute the way we should without penalties the outcome would be even better. Though we are definitely happy about the win."
On Lenorris Footman
"He's come out as a leader. As he goes, this offense goes. He had two rushing TD's but in the end zone he has to protect the ball. On that interception, I wish he would have just held the ball and ran it. We would have gotten a lot more yards if he would have just ran. We talked about it as a coaching staff and the things he can do with the football are electrifying and we're going to keep pressing the issue."
On Turner making an extra effort to score right before the half
"That's a big 14-point swing we are talking about there. Before half time you get a chance to score, and after the half we receive the ball for another chance to score again. I think De'Lance did a great job on receiving the ball and that's a thing he does well. Being able to catch the ball out the backfield and what he can do with it after the catch just shows off his athleticism."
PINE BLUFF, Arkansas -- The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff didn't get off the fast start it was hoping for against Morehouse College on Saturday night, but the end result more than made up for it.
The Golden Lions scored 23 unanswered points in the second half to knock off the Maroon Tigers 23-10 in front of a spirited crowd at Golden Lion Stadium.
Running back KeShawn Williams ran 17 times for 125 yards and 1 touchdown for UAPB (1-0), which scored 17 points in the third quarter to erase a 10-point deficit and win its season opener for the first time since beating Langston 17-14 in 2012.
"I told the team earlier in the week that you can't get two victories until you get one," UAPB Coach Monte Coleman said. "We had some good plays on special team and had some stops on defense when we needed them. Of course, we've got some things that we need to shore up, but it was a great overall team victory for us, and it feels good to get that first one out the way."
The Golden Lions finished with 344 yards of offense, but they can thank their defense for leading the way in putting an end to an eight-game losing streak. Morehouse (0-1) moved the ball effectively in the opening half but was shut down over the final two quarters. The Maroon Tigers finished with 279 yards of offense but had just 74 after halftime. They crossed midfield just twice in the second half, and both were a result of a turnover.
"It got a lot tougher for us in the second half," Morehouse Coach Rich Freeman said. "We missed two field goals in the first half that should've given us six points. But we had two crucial personal fouls penalties in the second half that kept drives alive for [UAPB], and I think those ultimately changed the momentum of the game.
"But you've gotta give [UAPB] credit. They played well on defense, particularly in the second half, and did the things they needed to do to win."
UAPB had four sacks in the second half and forced two turnovers in the fourth quarter to put away a Maroon Tiger team that held their own for much of the game before slowly running out of steam midway through the third quarter. But Morehouse did waste two prime opportunities to jump on UAPB early.
The Maroon Tigers came up empty after Alex Gonzalez missed a 43-yard field following a 12-play, 43-yard drive on their first possession. Morehouse got the ball back on the very next play when Treyvon Lucky recovered a fumble by UAPB wide receiver Paris Mack but eventually turned it over on downs at the Golden Lions' 13-yard line.
The Maroon Tigers managed to cash in two possessions later, though, when Gonzalez nailed a 24-yard field goal with 7:09 left in the second quarter to finish off a 15-play, 67-yard drive. Morehouse had another chance to add on to its lead but had a 34-yard field goal blocked just before halftime.
UAPB, on the other hand, failed to generate much of anything offensively in the first half. The Golden Lions punted on four of their six possessions and turned the ball over on the other two, including an interception by quarterback Brandon Duncan on their final drive of the half. But UAPB's defense never allowed Morehouse to get into the end zone despite giving up chunks of yardage on several occasions.
"Part of our defensive philosophy is to bend but don't break," Coleman said. "It could have been devastating had they punched those scores in. We held them to one field goal out of the times they got into the red zone. That was huge for us because turnovers put us in bad spots at times."
The Golden Lions' defense found themselves on their heels again almost immediately after halftime. Morehouse was forced to punt on the first series in the third quarter but got the ball right back after UAPB fumbled the punt on its own 10-yard line. The Maroon Tigers scored three plays later on quarterback Kivon Taylor's eight-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Aurelius Smith to push their lead to 10-0.
UAPB finally got going on its ensuing series to get back in the game. Duncan threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jaelen Collins to polish off a six-play, 68-yard with 10:18 left in the quarter.
Jamie Gillan pushed UAPB's lead to 17-10 with a 39-yard field goal with 1:11 remaining in the period. The Golden Lions struck again quickly on its next possession to grab their first lead of the game.
After forcing Morehouse into a three-and-out, Williams sprinted 37 yards for a touchdown on the next play to put UAPB ahead 14-10. Running back Christian Jordon added a 10-yard run with 3:58 left in the game to pad the Golden Lions' lead to 23-10. Morehouse threatened to inch closer late in the fourth quarter after defensive end Voris Bryant returned a fumble 88 yards before being caught from behind at UAPB's eight-yard line, but the Maroon Tigers failed to score on four consecutive plays.
The Golden Lions will be on the road next weekend Saturday Sept. 9, in Arkron, Ohio against Akron Zips at 6:30 PM.
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS PINE BLUFF SPORTS INFORMATION
INSTITUTE, West Virginia -- The Yellow Jacket football fans attending Saturday's season opener will probably not even remember the wet and gloomy weather.
To them the day could not have been any better.
In his first game as a Head Coach John Pennington gave WVSU faithful something they had not experienced before - a home victory over rival University of Charleston.
And not just a win but a dominating 51-28 performance.
"You just can't really draw it up any better," Pennington said of the start to his head coaching career.
"It's just a dream come true."
For the Golden Eagles it was more of a nightmare. One that began shortly after they kicked off.
The Yellow Jackets took that opening kick and needed just three plays and 1:29 to go 60 yards and take a 7-0 lead.
Senior quarterback Matt Kinnick hit Quinton Gray across the middle about 20 yards downfield and the speedy senior took it the rest of the way for a 59-yard touchdown.
That completion made Kinnick State's all-time leader in passing yards. He would later throw three more scoring passes tying him with former Jacket Kevin O'Brien for the program mark of 51 career touchdown passes.
Kinnick now holds four WVSU career records after setting the marks for total yards and completions last season.
The Yellow Jackets scored on their next two possessions with Kinnink throwing a 32-yard strike to Dionta Brown and a deflected 12-yard toss to Gray, to move ahead 20-0
While the St. Clairsville, Ohio, native was sharp in hitting 22-of-27 pass attempts for 311 yards. He also ran his streak of not throwing an interception to three games and 98 passes going back to last season.
"Considering how bad the conditions were he deserves a lot of credit," Pennington said. "And I don't think we had a ball dropped either."
After the field absorbed a daylong downpour Friday it dried a little as the rain stopped overnight. But a light rain began to fall around game time and turned heavier at the half making for wet footballs and muddy running.
When WVSU went to its ground game though neither the mud nor the Golden Eagles could stop red-shirt freshman Calil Wilkins.
The tough 5-foot-7, 200-pound back out of Maryland started his first college game with his family watching from the stands and he put on a show.
He carried the ball 24 times for 191 yards and a touchdown
"Just watching him in practice and seeing his mindset this year we knew it was just a matter of time," Pennington said. "He has a lot of talent and Coach (Quincy) Wilson has worked a lot with him and done a great job."
While the offensive fireworks were drawing everyone's attention the WVSU defense was turning in a solid performance.
"They did a great job of getting us the ball in good position several times," Pennington said.
Junior defensive back Khave Konte paced the unit with 13 tackles, 12 of them solo, while junior Moises Valcarcel added 12 including one for a 23-yard loss and junior Rob Branch picked off a UC pass.
Throw in a good outing by the special teams including kicker Aaron Ball, punter Kole Patterson, and long-snapper Dakota Booth and fans cannot help but be excited about the coming weeks.
"When all three phases play like that you are going to win," Pennington summed up.
Gray finished the day with six catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns while Zach Pate pulled in five passes for 77 yards.
The win earned WVSU the Kanawha Valley Classic trophy for the first time in its four years of existence.
"It feels good," Pennington said. "Down on the field it was just an incredible feeling."
So how long was he planning to take to enjoy the victory?
"Right now all I can think about is UVa-Wise," he said. "It's a short week, we play them on Thursday so we have to get ready."
That contest kicks off at 7 p.m. at Wise. The Cavaliers won 41-29 at Glenville State Thursday night.
CHEYNEY, Pennsylvania – Senior QB Dominick Trautz accounted for a school record six touchdowns, five passing and one rushing to lead the Cheyney Wolves to a 56-0 first half lead en route to a 56-28 victory over the Lincoln Lions in the Battle of the First on a soggy Saturday afternoon inside O'Shields-Stevenson Stadium.
The Wolves (1-0) jumped out to a 35-0 lead after the first quarter with Trautz opening the scoring with a 9-yard run and connecting on a 12-yard pass to Jr. TE Kyle Berlin and two more scoring tosses to R-Fr. WR Brandon Joyner for 20 and to Sr. WR Nigel Wiley for 37 yards, sandwiched around a 1 yard TD run by Fr. RB Damon Williams.
The Lions (0-1) scored 28 second half points on a pair of touchdown runs from Ramese Owens a run from QB Vincent Espinoza and a 41-yard toss from Espinoza to Andre Price to close out the scoring.
Fr. Kicker Alexander Rummel converted all eight of his point after touchdown kicks to establish a new Cheyney mark in his first collegiate game.
Sr. RB Brandon French led all rushers with 79-yards and scored from a yard out to open the scoring in the second quarter.
Cheyney scored on its first six possessions of the game and could have made it seven, but a fumble at the one-yard line went through the endzone for a touchback.
After a Lincoln punt, Trautz connected with Sr. WR Yvesner Ferdinand for a 31-yard score and closed the scoring by finding Berlin again by taking advantage of the 6 foot 7 inch juniors' height with a dart over the middle.
Cheyney forced a three and out to start the game, The Wolves took over on its own 21, and Trautz opened the scoring by capping a 9 play 79 yard drive with a 9-yard run.
The Lions then returned the ensuing kickoff to the Cheyney 28 and a penalty put the ball on the Wolves 14.
On the next play, Sr. LB Jamiel Hines picked off a pass at his own 10 and returned it 82 yards to the Lions 8-yard line.
Two plays later Trautz scrambled and then found Berlin who made a diving catch for a 12-yard score to make it 14-0.
The Wolves defense then forced another three and out and Cheyney took over at the Lions 23-yard line following a 15-yard return by Ferdinand.
Williams, who rushed for over 3,300 yards and scored 32 times in two seasons at Boswell, HS in Fort Worth, Texas, took his first collegiate carry down to the one and scored his first CU touchdown on the following play, to put Cheyney ahead 21-0.
On the first play after the kickoff, Sr. Keyson Dingle recorded a sack and forced a fumble that was recovered by So. LB Phillip Harley at the Lincoln 32.
Three plays later Trautz connected with Joyner for his first career-touchdown from 20-yards out.
After the lions picked up their initial first down of the game, the wolves then forced a punt attempt, but the snap was bobbled and Dingle and Furbush tackled the punter at the Lincoln 37.
Cheyney wasted no-time converting as Trautz found Wiley down the right sideline for a 37-yard score, to make it 35-0 with 2:46 left in the first period.
The 35 points are the most by a Cheyney team ever against the Lions.
Another punt snap issue put the Wolves at the Lincoln 24, capped off by a French 1-yard run to the endzone to open the second quarter.
Trautz finished the day going 15-20 for 230 yards five touchdowns passing and rushed four times for 28 yards and one rushing score in three quarters of work.
Freshman Chad Palmer played quarterback in the fourth quarter, and completed his only attempt for two yards .
Joyner grabbed five passes for a team-high 57 yards and a score, Wiley pulled in three passes for 51 yards and a score, Berlin had three catches for 44 yards and two scores and Ferdinand made two catches for 41 yards and a TD.
Williams rushed 38 yards on eight carries and a TD, and R-Fr. Marcus Sullivan carried 10-times for 26 yards in the fourth.
The defense was led by So. DT Stephen Haynes who recorded seven solo and one assisted tackle including three tackles for loss. R-Fr. DB Terez Franklin was credited with six stops and a recovered fumble.
Sr. LB Chaplin Johnson-Davis recorded six tackles and Dingle made six stops, five for a loss. With two sacks and a forced fumble.
Cheyney is now on the road for three straight weeks, starting with a trip to California, Pa. next Saturday for a contest against the #6 ranked Vulcans at 1:00 p.m.
TYLER, Texas -- Although the Charles Moss era at Texas College did not start off with a win, there were some good signs for the Steers football program.
