Magic City Classic Win, Cross Country Three-Peat Highlight ASU Hornet Sports Report

MONTGOMERY, Alabama  -- Another State Farm Magic City Classic win and the third straight SWAC Women's Cross Country championship highlight this week's new Alabama State University Hornet Sports Report television show.

The show also highlights the 2013 SWAC East Champion soccer team completing SWAC play undefeated, volleyball finishing October with a 9-2 record, and updates on the bowling and basketball teams.

Launched in late September to spotlight the academic and athletic accomplishments of nearly 400 student-athletes in 18 Division I programs, the program also features a compliance tip of the week, increasing the knowledge of NCAA rules and regulations for all Hornet student-athletes, staff, alumni, and supporters of Alabama State University.

"We are excited to debut this new program to spotlight the accomplishments of our student-athletes, both in competition and in the classroom," Interim Athletic Director Melvin Hines said. "This show will profile our great students-athletes, coaches, programs and our University."

The show airs Thursdays on demand at bamastatesports.com and locally in Montgomery on WFRZ-TV Friday evenings at 9:30 p.m.

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Penalties continue to hurt FAMU's momentum

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  -- There is a segment of daily practice for the FAMU football team that offensive coordinator Quinn Gray wishes he didn’t have to go through. But at the rate that the Rattlers have been committing penalties, there is no escaping it.

Up until this week, FAMU was tied for being the most penalized team in the MEAC. Going into this week’s game at Norfolk State, the Rattlers are the fifth in penalties in the league.

“We practice them, not to get penalties, but they are part of the game,” Gray said. “We have to practice every situation and that’s one of them where we do find time to put that in practice.”

Penalties have killed drives that started with plenty of promise for the offense in almost every game. They haven’t been whistled as many times as they were in the opening games of the season when they had 15 for 160 yards, but they’ve had plenty.

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Alabama State blows out Hungtindon 94-69 in exhibition

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Alabama State made light work of Division III Huntingdon College in a 94-69 win in exhibition action at the Acadome Thursday night.

The Hornets got big scoring outputs from juniors Luther Page and DeMarcus Robinson.

Page, a 6-foot-6, 190-pound forward led the way for the Hornets with 22 points on perfect 8-for-8 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds. Robinson, a 5-10, 165-pound JUCO transfer added 21 points while dropping five assists.

Jamel Waters scored 14 and dished out seven assists and high-flyer Bobby Brown chimed in with 11 in a winning effort.

"Some of the good tonight was we got out and ran hard," ASU coach Lewis Jackson said. "We got out and had some easy baskets in transition and that is something we have been working on, getting the ball out fast and going. We shared the ball a little bit and had a good number of assists."

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Norfolk State Spartans Welcome Florida A&M Rattlers to Dick Price Stadium for Homecoming

By Mark Sutton Photography

Game Notes | Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio | Twitter Updates

NORFOLK, Virginia - Norfolk State hosts Florida A&M this Saturday for the Spartans' 2013 Homecoming game. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. at Dick Price Stadium.

The Spartans will be looking to move over .500 in MEAC play against the Rattlers, a team NSU has not faced since 2010.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
NSU dropped its third straight game in dramatic fashion last Saturday, falling to cross-town foe Old Dominion, 27-24. The Monarchs' Jarod Brown kicked the game-winning 24-yard field goal as time expired to cap a thriller. The Spartans rallied from a 17-3 second-quarter deficit by scoring 21 unanswered. Malik Stokes – the third Spartan quarterback to see action against ODU – threw a touchdown pass and ran for another to help NSU take a 24-17 lead early in the fourth. But ODU scored the game's final 10 points to spoil NSU's upset bid. Stokes passed for 87 yards and rushed for 38 while accounting for two touchdowns. Rolandan Finch, the MEAC's leader in total rushing yards, rushed for 97 and added 36 receiving yards.

Finch has a conference-best 687 rushing yards and is second in the league at 85.9 rushing yards per game. He also ranks third in the MEAC with 105.4 all-purpose yards per game. Tight end Joseph Hawkins is seventh in the MEAC with 29 receptions (3.6 per game). After recording his second straight double-digit tackle game with 11 last week against ODU, junior linebacker Marcell Coke is now tied for sixth in the MEAC with 76 tackles. Sophomore linebacker/end Deon King continues to pace the MEAC and ranks second in the nation with 15.5 tackles for loss.



SCOUTING THE RATTLERS
Florida A&M lost its second straight ballgame last Saturday in a 20-13 overtime decision to North Carolina A&T in Tallahassee. Tarik Cohen ran for 210 yards and three touchdowns for N.C. A&T, including the game-winning 8-yard scoring run in overtime. It appeared as though the Rattlers were going to pull out the win in a low-scoring affair when Damien Fleming found Dewayne Harvey on an 8-yard TD pass with 19 seconds remaining, capping a 96-yard scoring drive. That tied the game at 13-all, but FAMU's Chase Varnadore missed the extra point, sending the game into overtime. The Aggies got the ball first in OT and scored on Cohen's third TD. FAMU had the chance to answer, but Fleming was intercepted by Isaiah Martin to end the game.

The Rattlers were outgained 274-179, including 256-57 on the ground. FAMU's other touchdown came on Shaun Ward's 17-yard interception return in the third quarter.

Like NSU, the Rattlers have struggled on offense this year. Fleming, the MEAC Preseason Co-Offensive Player of the Year, is averaging just 112 yards per game through the air and has been intercepted 12 times. FAMU is last in the MEAC in total offense, averaging just 218.8 yards per game.

THE SERIES
• FAMU leads the series with NSU 12-1. The Spartans' only win was a 33-27 victory at FAMU in 2007.
• The Rattlers are 6-0 against NSU all-time at Dick Price Stadium.
• FAMU's last four wins at NSU have been by a total of 13 points.



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Ave Maria Gyrenes Football Readies For Coach Wyatt and Edward Waters On Senior Day

AVE MARIA, Florida -- The Ave Maria football team will host Edward Waters (Fla.) on Saturday in the team's final home football game of the season. Prior to the game, Ave Maria will honor its seven seniors as well as the nine players that remain from the inaugural season of Ave Maria football.

Seniors Ethan Manos, Colin Behm, Kyle Van Duser, Scott Ruane, Matt Novak, Richard Shockley and Gage Hayes will be honored before the game beginning at 12:30 p.m. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.

Edward Waters comes in with a 1-7 overall record. After dropping their first seven contests of the season, Edward Waters defeated Apprentice School, 38-21, last weekend for its first win of the season.

Ave Maria is coming off a 28-13 win against Webber International. Edward Waters fell to Webber 49-9 on Oct. 12.

Darryl Campbell leads the rushing attack for Edward Waters averaging 49.3 yards per carry this season. He is tied for second on the team with three rushing touchdowns. Cleve Williams has five rushing touchdowns to lead the Tigers.

The Tigers use a two-quarterback system with Reymond Berhane and Taron Williams. Berhane has thrown for more yards (592) and more touchdowns (5) than Williams but he has also thrown more interceptions (8) than Williams (6).

Four different receivers have caught a pair of touchdown passes this season for the Tigers. Ray Dukes leads the wide receiving corps in receptions (23) and yards (330).

Dukes is also a threat on kickoff and punt returns. He averages 14.8 yards per return on punts and 25.7 yards per return on kickoffs. He has returned on punt for a touchdown this season.

Ray Dukes had 284 all-purpose yards as visiting Edward Waters, playing its first game under interim coach Alvin Wyatt, won for the first time this season. Dukes had a 63-yard punt return for a score and caught a 30-yard TD pass from Taron Williams. Diondre Wynn added a 65-yard TD run in the fourth quarter as EWC scored the game’s last 10 points to pull away from Newport News Apprentice.

By Taylor Hodge
COURTESY AVE MARIA UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

Woody: Scott on way back at VSU

Scott is running a Division I-quality program at the Division II level.

ETTRICK, Virginia — We live in an imperfect world. People make mistakes.

What they do after the mistake is important.

Latrell Scott made a mistake while he was the football coach at the University of Richmond and resigned.

At Virginia State University, Scott has been given a second chance. He’s making the most of it.

The Trojans, picked to finish 10th in the 12-team CIAA, are 7-1, 5-0 in the conference and in first place in the league’s Northern Division.

Scott was the coach at Richmond in 2010 and until a week before the season-opening game in 2011.

On Aug. 23, 2011, a driving under the influence charge, his second since 2004, changed his life.

Scott immediately resigned as Richmond’s coach. In that November, he was found guilty of driving while intoxicated and sentenced to 10 days in jail.

Even before the trial, Scott had begun work to change his life. He went to counseling, choosing group sessions over individual meetings.

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Spoken 4 Communications Communications Preview: Bethune-Cookman vs. North Carolina Central

Spoken 4 Communications "Because Every Child Deserves to be Heard" previews the fifth meeting between North Carolina Central University and Bethune-Cookman. Chris Hooks chats with NCCU head coach Dwayne Foster to break down what the Eagles must do to break a two-game skid at home. Be sure to tune in to the Denny's of Durham Pregame Show beginning at 11:30 a.m. as the NCCU Sports Network crew will countdown to kickoff.

For more information on Spoken 4 Communications, check out the website at www.spoken-4.com




COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION