JSU gets scare, but holds off feisty Alcorn

Ernest Jones, the first-year Alcorn coach, promised a program-defining victory over Jackson State. He missed on the noun, but he just might have been correct on the adjective. Alcorn didn't get the victory, but the Braves might have defined their program before an announced crowd of 33,005 on an absolutely pristine day for football at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. Trailing 26-0 with five minutes to go in the third quarter, Alcorn scared the stripes off the JSU Tigers, losing 26-21 and throwing into the end zone for the potential winning score in the last minute.

"Thank God," JSU coach Rick Comegy said with a heavy sigh afterward. "That was way too close at the end." Give Alcorn credit. The Braves came into the game at 2-9 and having lost four straight. JSU came in, as SWAC East champions, having won five straight and headed to play an undetermined opponent for the league championship in three weeks.

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Attendance: 33,005 - Capital City Classic @ Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, Jackson, MS

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Wasted chances costly for Morgan Bears

Morgan State leading rusher Devan James

Morgan State's dream of capturing a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship ended with last week's loss to South Carolina State, but the Bears still had much at stake in yesterday's season finale against visiting Hampton. The Bears, nonetheless, squandered another huge defensive effort and fell to Hampton, 17-13, despite giving up only 167 total yards. Morgan State blew opportunities to finish with a winning conference record for the first time since 2003 and to have its third winning season in almost 30 years.

"We contribute to our losses. We contribute to our demise," Morgan State coach Donald Hill-Eley said. "Everything they got, we gave them. We have got to get to the point where players make plays. As a team, after you work all week, you have to look out for each other." Bears running back Devan James, who leads the MEAC with 111.4 rushing yards per game, finished with 112 on 25 carries. Morgan State (6-6, 4-4 MEAC) had 279 total yards and led the time of possession 35:11 to 24:29.

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Attendance: 2,145 at Hughes Stadium, Baltimore, MD

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Backup QB helps Hornets win finale

DSU Hornets ends disappointing season as Coach Al Lavan look towards next year.

Glaud rallies DSU in second half

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- If it's November and you play on a losing football team, many players want to see their team's season come to a merciful end. Do not, however, count Anthony Glaud among them. Delaware State's sophomore backup quarterback wanted to prove Saturday that he represents the Hornets' future. A Bowling Green transfer who played behind four-year starter Vashon Winton all year, Glaud was DSU's offensive catalyst in a 10-6 victory over Howard before 2,161 fans on a bitterly cold afternoon at Greene Stadium.

"This wasn't the last game for me," Glaud said.

With Winton, who was starting his final game, the Hornets had just 69 yards of total offense. Glaud came in and completed 9 of 18 passes for 86 yards and DSU's only touchdown, a 15-yard pass to Erick Jones in the third quarter. Winton, who last week directed the Hornets to a come-from-behind win over Norfolk State, completed 7 of 12 passes for 49 yards. But with Winton not himself in his 44th career start, DSU coach Al Lavan made a change.

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Attendance: 2,161 at Greene Stadium, Washington, D.C.

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Branche's late score rallies Spartans in season finale

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - It's basketball season, and Norfolk State football won Saturday thanks to an assist from DeAngelo Branche. The running back out of Maury High School rumbled his way to a career-high 181 yards, lifting the Spartans to a 17-14 victory over Winston-Salem State at Bowman-Gray Stadium in the season finale for both teams. Branche, who eclipsed his previous career-high by one yard, finished the season with 1,055 yards and 10 touchdowns. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound back barreled for 154 of those in a second half that saw NSU rally twice to get past a team that beat Hampton and Delaware State in the last three weeks.

"My offensive line gave me the blocks I needed," Branche said. "We're going into the offseason with a win. That's better than a loss." The Spartans (5-7) ended the season by winning three of their final four. Saturday's nonconference match-up with the Rams (3-8) wasn't without some anxious moments for NSU, particularly when a turnover on their fifth play from scrimmage resulted in a Winston-Salem touchdown.

Nigel McGowen's 10-yard catch was good for an NSU first down, but the sophomore fumbled after a blistering hit by Alton Keaton. Alex Chandler scooped up the loose ball for a 52-yard return to the end zone. The Spartans, 1 of 6 on third-down conversions in the first half, got their lone points of the period from Justin Castellat's 36-yard field goal.

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Attendance: 1,428 at Bowman Gray Stadium, Winston-Salem, N.C.

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Valley ends miserable season with another lopsided loss

Should this be it for Totten?

A season filled with lopsided losses for Mississippi Valley State ended with one of its worst thrashings of the year. Valley's disappointing season ended with a a miserable 58-23 loss to Alabama A&M Saturday at Rice-Totten Stadium in Itta Bena. Bulldog quarterback Kevin Atkins had a career outing as he carved up the Delta Devil defense for 357 yards and five touchdowns on 24-of-35 passing.

Valley ends the season at 3-8 overall and 1-6 in the Eastern Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference - leaving the Delta Devils in last place in the division for the second straight year. If this was it for beleaguered MVSU head coach Willie Totten, it's not the way he would've hoped to go out as the Delta Devils allowed the most points to a SWAC team in Totten's seven-year tenure.

Totten, who is 28-44 at the helm of his alma mater, has one year left on his contract that pays him $92,928 a year. But there has been wide speculation that he will be fired after his fifth losing season in seven years. After Saturday's game, a frustrated Totten refused to discuss whether this was his last game at Valley."We've just got to put this behind us and go out and recruit some better players," he said.

With an announced crowd of just 789 - which looked much slimmer than that - not many Delta Devil fans showed up. The ones who did saw a familiar sight: a pitiful showing by the defense. It was the fifth loss of the season by 34 or more points. This marked the third straight game missed by second-year defensive coordinator Dennis Winston. Totten refused to comment on Winston's status.

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Attendance: 789 at Rice -Totten Stadium, Itta Bena, MS (Capacity: 10,000).

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TSU's playoff hopes dashed with road loss

Heffner's heroic effort not enough at Murray State

MURRAY, Ky. — Antonio Heffner came to Murray State on Saturday with no intention of playing. By the fourth quarter, Heffner was on the field with no intention of letting Tennessee State lose. After playing sparingly in the first half, the senior quarterback, who was nursing a shoulder and foot injury, volunteered to go back into into the game for starter Dominic Grooms, who broke the thumb on his throwing hand.

Three times in the fourth quarter, Heffner, who threw a touchdown in the second quarter, got TSU in scoring range with a chance to either tie the score or send it to overtime. But, unlike so many times before, he was unable to get the Tigers into the end zone and Murray State held on for a 24-17 victory.

"I didn't think there was any way, coming into the game, that I could play. But basically, when they needed me, I had to try to go in and do my best,'' Heffner said. "After I went in, every time I threw, my shoulder hurt and my foot gave me problems too." The loss took No. 25-ranked TSU (8-4, 5-3 Ohio Valley Conference) from being a long shot for the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs to having no shot at all. The Tigers, who spent most of the season in first place in the OVC, wound up in fourth.

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Attendance: 2,292 at Stewart Stadium, Murray, KY

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NCCU Beats Savannah State On Senior Day

DURHAM, N. C. - North Carolina Central University scored 10 first half points and the Eagles' defense held Savannah State University to just 122 total yards as NCCU defeated the visiting Tigers 10-7 on Senior Day at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium in Durham, N.C. on Saturday. Nine NCCU seniors closed out their college careers in style, winning three of their last four games to finish the school's second Division I (FCS) season with a 4-7 record.

NCCU amassed 330 yards of total offense, including a career-high 216 passing yards by red-shirt freshman quarterback Keon Williams, who completed 15-of-20 attempts through the air. Sophomore running backs Tim Shankle and Tony McCord combined for 155 rushing yards, with Shankle recording a team-best 88 ground yards, including a 5-yard touchdown run at the beginning of the second quarter which proved to be the game-winner.

Junior Will Scott topped the Eagles receiving corps with five catches for 83 yards, while senior Wayne Blackwell collected four receptions for 49 yards in his final college game. Blackwell finishes his career as the eighth leading receiver in NCCU history with 117 catches for 1,462 yards.

A stifling NCCU defense held Savannah State to only 23 yards rushing on the afternoon, including negative-4 yards on the ground in the first half. The Eagles recorded six tackles behind the line of scrimmage, including four sacks, while forcing two turnovers. In the critical fourth quarter, the NCCU defense held the Tigers to just one first down, 33 yards passing and zero yards rushing. NCCU sophomore lineman Teryl White had a fumble recovery to go along with six tackles, including a sack. Red-shirt freshman David Ingram collected his team-best fourth interception of the season.

Among the school's all-time career leaders, senior quarterback Stadford Brown (#2) ranks third in pass completions (399), third in passing touchdowns (46), fourth in passing yards (5,202) and fourth in total offense (5,207). Brown's college career was cut short when his collarbone was broken during the second quarter of the Eagles' win over rival North Carolina A&T on Oct. 4, 2008.

NCCU senior linebacker Troy McConico amassed a team-high 10 tackles, including a sack and two forced fumbles, while senior lineman Eric Smalls accounted for six tackles, including 2.5 hits for a loss with a sack. Senior defensive back Derek Harvey finished his Eagle tenure with a career-high six tackles.

NCCU senior kicker Brandon Gilbert hit a 42-yard field goal to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead at 3:44 of the first quarter, then made his 104th consecutive extra-point kick at 13:42 of the second quarter. Gilbert ends his college career as the school's all-time leading scorer with 279 points, and also tops the Eagles career lists for field goals (44) and extra-point kicks (147).

Savannah State (5-7) was topped by senior defensive back Javorris Jackson with 16 tackles, while senior linebacker Calvin Leonard added 11 stops, including two hits for a loss. The Tigers were led offensively by freshman quarterback Kurvin Curry, who completed 8-of-18 passes for 99 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown to Isaiah Osborne with 3:49 left in the third quarter.

The other NCCU seniors that ended their careers Saturday were offensive lineman Jovan Olafioye, offensive lineman Greg Greene, quarterback Stadford Brown and running back Jeff Toliver.

Attendance: 4,027 at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium, Durham, N.C.