Winston-Salem State playing better football through team chemistry

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina -- It’s been a long journey for Winston-Salem State, but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting a little brighter.

That light would be the CIAA’s championship game next month, and the Rams are in good shape to get there. A win Saturday at Bowman Gray Stadium against winless Shaw (0-8) would put them a step closer to the Southern Division title.

“We have come a long way since the early part of our season,” punter Will Johnson said Tuesday. “We’ve fought through some adversity early on, but we’ve come a long way.”

The Rams (4-4, 4-1 CIAA) have won three in a row, thanks to the nerve-wracking 23-21 win over Livingstone on Saturday. A missed field-goal attempt with 20 seconds to go by the Blue Bears handed the Rams the victory, and it kept their division title hopes alive.

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Changes coming but UAPB still focused on 2015

PINE BLUFF, Arkansas -- There will be changes when Arkansas-Pine Bluff takes on Prairie View A&M on Saturday, but coach Monte Coleman said it’s not because his focus has shifted to 2016.

With no chance at a Southwestern Athletic Conference championship, some would argue the Golden Lions should ring in the new year early with a 1-6 record and 0-4 mark in conference play.

Coleman is always mentioning the youth of the team, and he did so again during Tuesday’s weekly luncheon at R.J.’s Sports Bar and Grill, so why not give next year’s sophomores and juniors as many “SWAC hours” as possible.

Why not? Because as former NFL coach Herm Edwards famously said, “You play to win the game.”

“It’s not a balance,” Coleman said of trying to win this year versus building for next season. “The main focus is winning these next four football games. For the seniors to go out on a winning note and for us also to come back on a winning note next season. That’s the No. 1 objective still is to win football games.

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ASU's Jenkins preps for his first Magic Ciity Classic

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Rivalries are what make college football special.

For Alabama State, its most important rivalry game all season takes place at Legion Field in Birmingham on Saturday.

The Hornets will come off their bye week to take on Alabama A&M in the 74th annual Magic City Classic at 2:30 p.m.

Alabama State head football coach Brian Jenkins said the bye week was very successful and he’s excited to take his team into Saturday’s contest.

“We spent a lot of time evaluating ourselves as coaches,” said Jenkins during Monday’s SWAC teleconference. “We want to make sure we’re putting our guys in position to win on every play. We really got a chance to go back to our fundamentals, which is very important.”



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SWAC honors Southern’s Willie Quinn after he ties FCS record

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Willie Quinn keeps winning awards, and now records are going along for the ride.

Southern’s dynamic return specialist was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Specialist of the Week on Monday for the third time this season. Quinn returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown in the Jaguars 40-21 win against Texas Southern on Saturday in Houston.

Quinn’s sixth career kickoff return for a touchdown tied a Football Championship Subdivision held by Hampton’s Jerome Mathis. Quinn, who has five touchdown returns this season — four on kickoffs and one on a punt — is one touchdown return from tying the FCS single-season record held by Bashir Levingston of Eastern Washington, Corey Smith of Montana State and LeRoy Vann of Florida A&M.

“Willie Quinn is as good a returner as anyone in the country,” Prairie View coach Willie Simmons said Monday on the SWAC coaches weekly teleconference. “Obviously he has a knack for getting into the end zone, and (the Jaguars) take great pride in blocking for Willie Quinn.

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Another Hall of Fame honor for Aeneas Williams

ATLANTA, Georgia -- Former Rams defensive back Aeneas Williams is starting to pile up Hall of Fame honors.

Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2014, Williams has been named to the Black College Football Hall of Fame, the group announced Tuesday.

"The good part is, there's nothing else I can do it about," Williams said with a laugh.

In other words, his body of work is his body of work.

"I'm so glad I was blessed to put the work in college and then also in the pros," he said. "For the selection committee just to remember how I played the game and my impact on the game when I played, to be selected is just a tremendous honor."

Williams, who played at Southern University, is joined in the Class of 2016 by Ken Burrough (Texas Southern), Jethro Pugh (Elizabeth City State), Otis Taylor (Prairie View A&M), Emmitt Thomas (Bishop College) as players, and the late Lloyd "Judge" Wells (Texas Southern) as a contributor.

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With two losses in MEAC, Morgan State football can't afford any more setbacks

BALTIMORE, Maryland -- Saturday’s 20-17 loss at North Carolina Central saddled Morgan State with a two-game losing streak in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, a 3-4 overall record and a 3-2 mark in the league.

With four teams with one MEAC loss or fewer and just three games left on the schedule, the Bears’ hopes of repeating as conference champions are dwindling. Coach Lee Hull didn’t try to sugarcoat anything when he noted that the team can’t afford to slip any farther behind No. 20 North Carolina A&T (6-1, 4-0), Bethune-Cookman (6-2, 4-1), North Carolina Central (4-3, 3-1) and South Carolina State (4-3, 3-1).

But Hull also pointed out that Morgan State finished in a five-way tie for first place in last year’s standings with a 6-2 league record and captured the title via tiebreakers.

“Obviously right now, we can’t give any...

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N.C. A&T and Tuskegee Remain On Top in Week 8 of HSRN Football Polls

HARTLY, Delaware – North Carolina A&T and Tuskegee remained on top of the HSRN Football Polls following week 8 of the HBCU action. The Aggies top the HSRN Division I Poll, while the Golden Tigers maintained sole possession of first place in HSRN's Division II/NAIA Poll.

Division I/FCS

The top seven spots were unchanged from last week. #1 North Carolina A&T cruised to a 65-14 homecoming win over longtime rival Howard University to extend their winning streak to five games. The Aggies have not lost to a Division I-FCS opponent all season.

#2 Grambling State also celebrated homecoming with a 49-14 win over Mississippi Valley State.

In the battle of MEAC Co-defending champions, North Carolina Central defeated Morgan State, 20-17, pushing the Eagles to #8 in the HSRN Poll.

Division II/NAIA

Playing on the road for the fourth time in five weeks, Tuskegee University came out with a 38-28 victory over Kentucky State to remain #1 in this week's poll.

Bowie State climbed into the #2 spot after edging Virginia Union, 23-19, in a game between the top two teams in the CIAA Northern Division.

#4 Virginia State, #5 Albany State, #6 Chowan and #8 Winston-Salem State all moved up following wins over the weekend.



By Eric Moore, HSRN