South Carolina State Bulldogs Conduct Second Scrimmage

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- SC State held its second preseason scrimmage Saturday (Aug.20) morning and followed the workout with the annual "Meet the Players Day/Fan Fest," hosted by The STATE Club, the Bulldog booster organization.

The Bulldogs football players along with other sports and coaches were introuduced to SC State supporters and fans.

In the scrimmage, which lasted approximately two hours, the Bulldog coaching staff ran about 82-plays on offense to allow several quarterbacks a chance to lead their units. Several injured Bulldogs didn't participate or saw limited action in today's scrimmage.

Bulldog head coach Buddy Pough, who is entering his 15th season at the helm of the football program, said he saw, in Saturday's scrimmage, some improvements from the first scrimmage but still thinks he team has a long way to go in some areas.

In commenting on the play of the Bulldog offense, Pough said that he was impressed with the way the offense moved the ball down the feel and was able to put the team in scoring position.

The Bulldogs will now turn its focus to preparing for its season-opener against Central Florida on Saturday. Sept. 3 in Orlando, Fla. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

Season Tickets are on sale at the Ticket Office for $130.00. Purchase yours today. Single-game tickets bought in advance are Student/Youth: $10.00; General Admission: $30.00: Reserved: $35.00.

For your information, GAME DAY ticket prices as are as follow:
STUDENT/YOUTH (17 and under): $10.00
GENERAL ADMISSION: $35.00
RESERVED: $40.00
HOMECOMING: $40.00 (All Tickets)
PARKING: $15.00 (Anywhere other than in the Game Zone)

For more information about purchasing tickets, visit us at www.scsuathletics.com or call (803) 536-8579 or 1-800-298-9157. For more information on Bulldog football or to schedule player or coaches interviews during the season, contact the Office of Athletic Media Relations at (803)536-7060 or by email at KLewis19@scsu.edu.



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TSU Tiger Camp 2016: Day 15 - Final Scrimmage

NASHVILLE, Tennessee --- The final scrimmage of Camp 2016 was opposite of the first encounter. The Tiger defense dominated from the start during the 60-game contest on Saturday evening.

The offense moved down the field on the opening drive with an even mixture of passes and runs, while receiving some assistance from three defensive penalties. But the drive ran into a road block at the 12 yard line. With third and long, O’Shay Ackerman-Carter was intercepted in the end zone by Trevion Duncan to end the initial threat.

Senior cornerback Ezra Robinson followed Duncan’s cue on the very next drive as he picked off a Ronald Butler pass and returned it untouched for a touchdown. The two interceptions set the tone for the remainder of the skirmish.

The defense continued to make big plays as linebacker Antonio Justice helped halt the third drive. The offense tried to get things going attempting to convert on a fourth down play. Justice charged around the left side of the line and elevated to knock down an Ackerman-Carter attempt to end the series in favor of the White shirts.

The defense continued to dominate throughout the evening before the offense mustard up a shortened drive at the end. The Blue squad got on the board as E.J. Junior powered in from the two on the last play of the scrimmage for the only offensive score of the scrimmage.

The Tigers will begin its normal practice schedule this week with the start of classes. TSU will continue to work over the next two weeks in preparation for the season opener on Sept. 3 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Defensive Coordinator, Osita Alaribe
- On the Success of the Defense during Final Scrimmage
“I think the guys did a great job communicating. They had fun today playing together. I think we developed a great chemistry amongst each other today.”

- On the Play of the Secondary
“Our secondary coaches, Ed Sanders and Mikhal Kornegay, have been doing a great job with our secondary. They have the guy’s technically sound and understanding the overall scheme. On the D-line, everything starts with the pass rush. The best pass defense is the pass rush

Junior Linebacker, Chris Collins
- On the Growth during Camp
“I felt like we progressed throughout the whole camp, offensively and defensively. We became closer as a team. We are eliminating a lot of mistakes, but we have to eliminate the stupid penalties. I think we are get a lot better every day. We are not messing up on the same things and I think we are growing up.”

- On the Beginning of Classes
“You have to have a great focus with so many elements added to you with class and people on campus. It is easy to mess up. I was telling the team we need to stay locked in on the vision we have and everything will work itself out."

- On the Start of the Season
“It is real exciting. I am glad camp is over. It was pretty tough, but I feel like it will be worth it in the end. I feel like we are going to have a great season and everyone is ready.”

Redshirt-Sophomore Quarterback, O’Shay Ackerman-Carter
- On the Offense
“I feel like we will be alright going into the season. We have some things to clean up, but we have to weeks and I believe we will it that done.”

- On the Defense
“They just played football. They we were flying around making plays. Big props to them, they were on it today.”

- On the Start of the Season
“We are all excited. Many of us, it is our second year and we know what to expect. The coaches will prepare us and we will just come and play with our A-game.”

Redshirt-Sophomore Defensive Tackle, Terrence Summers
- On the defensive Play
“We played good up front, the linebackers set the edges and the DB’s did their job. It was a good day, a dominating day.”

- On the Start of the Season
“Camp is over, but class and study hall is starting up. We need to stay focused and it will be a great season. This will be my first game ever for TSU. It will be exciting, the crowd will be loud and I’m just ready for it.”



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FAMU Athletics: Football progress

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Florida A&M’s football team held a scrimmage on Saturday, which Overton attended. He said the team looks more competitive than it did last year, though he’ll reserve judgment until the group plays a few games.

Overton was also willing to talk about what the Rattlers might play for in future seasons. FAMU is ineligible for the postseason this year, but Overton said he expects that to change soon.

“We should get it back this next year,” Overton said. “Our numbers are right. As long as our APR numbers continue to trend they way that they are.”

Overton, who was a four-year starter on the offensive line at Oklahoma in the 90s, said he saw explosive plays during Saturday’s scrimmage – something that was missing last year.

“I saw four competitive quarterbacks, which I did not see before,” Overton said. “Last year we didn’t have four competitive quarterbacks. We’ve got some guys this year. Everybody’s pushing each other.”



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FSU Football Should Schedule Game Against Florida A&M In The Future

COURTESY FLORIDA A&M ATHLETICS

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- What many people outside of the campus on the other side of Gaines Street from FSU and college football nuts seem to forget is that the Rattlers were the first ever champions of the 1-AA level, defeating UMass for the title in 1978. While the current team is trying to rebuild, it could be argued that they were the best 1-AA program in the mid-1990’s and early-2000’s.

This week, FSU football head coach Jimbo Fisher made it known that he supports the idea of power programs like the Seminoles playing schools at the lower level. Fisher used the classic argument that games like that, while usually not competitive, help the little schools out financially in ways other options couldn’t.

If that’s the case, why not schedule a Capital City showdown between the ‘Noles and the Rattlers?

In 2012, the Seminoles made history by playing a historically black colleges and university team for the first time every, when they shutout Savannah State in a game that was mercifully called due to weather for the visitors. The next year, FSU would play Bethune-Cookman for the first time ever and just the second time against a HBCU opponent.

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Teammates most of their lives, Cole and Proctor have one more turn at HU

HAMPTON, Virginia — To think, it all started 14 years ago with the Hampton Hoyas.

Brendan Cole, a military brat, had just arrived from his father's previous stop in Kansas. Rashawn Proctor, who was born in Japan to Air Force parents, had been in the 757 since he was 7-months-old.

So in 2002, a pair of 8-year-olds became teammates for the first time on a youth basketball team. Their houses were a long touchdown pass apart, their families still attend church together, and it's past the point where one knows everything about the other.

"Everything," said Cole, a junior defensive back. "When we walk into a hotel room, he knows I like to sleep by the AC vent. All that little stuff we just know about each other."

They were teammates in rec league, middle school, and at Bethel High School. There was a two-year gap in which each went his separate way, but in 2013, they were reunited at Hampton University.

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2nd-day split for Nuggets; Tomasoni sets school record

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Xavier University of Louisiana split its final two volleyball matches Saturday in the Hotel Indigo at the Alamo Saints Classic, and newcomer Juliana Tomasoni broke the XULA record for kills in a match.
     
The Gold Nuggets (1-3) lost 17-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-12 to NAIA No. 20 Evangel, then — after a 45-minute break — rallied to defeat Tennessee Wesleyan 23-25, 25-12, 25-20, 25-17.
     
Tomasoni, a junior and a transfer from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, produced a school-record 25 kills against Evangel and had a career-best 28 digs. Tomasoni had 17 kills, 16 digs and four aces against Tennessee Wesleyan.
     
Freshman setter Tiffany Phillips extended her streak of assist/dig double-doubles to four. Phillips had 43 assists and 17 digs against Evangel and 46 assists and 14 digs against Tennessee Wesleyan.
     
Additional freshman standouts included Hasani Salaam, who had 24 kills and seven blocks in the two matches, and libero Amanda Perry, who had 43 digs, 24 against Evangel. Adili Rikondja had six kills and three blocks in the final match. Taylor Ducros had 15 digs against Evangel.
     
Tomasoni, Salaam and sophomore transfer Monet Fontaine combined for 39 kills and a .492 hitting percentage against Tennessee Wesleyan. Fontaine, a sophomore transfer from NCAA Division I Morgan State, had 15 kills for the day.
     
XULA placed fourth out of five teams. The host, Our Lady of the Lake, led the way with a 4-0 record. Tomasoni led the tournament with 3.4 kills per set and a .333 hitting percentage, and Phillips was tops in assists with 8.9 per set.
     
"We had a great weekend overall," fourth-year XULA coach Hannah Lawing said. "We traveled 10 newcomers, eight freshmen, and I have to say that it surely didn't feel that way. This class of newcomers is exactly who (assistant coach) Hilary (Lobenstein) and I wanted as part of this 2016 team. They are fierce competitors, even more fierce supporters, and they're extremely receptive to their coaches when given feedback.
     
"We did a great job of managing the things within our control. We got our serves in, maintained consistent energy, acted as one cohesive unit and were supportive. We excelled in many areas, but our biggest areas of growth were terminating free balls and overpasses as well as playing with a sense of urgency. Every set we got better at playing like every point was game point."
     
The Gold Nuggets will be return to the road next week for four matches in the STU Invitational at Miami Gardens, Fla. On Friday they'll play the host, St. Thomas, at noon EDT, then play defending Southern States Athletic Conference champion Coastal Georgia at 4 p.m. Saturday opponents will be NAIA No. 2 Missouri Baptist, the national runner-up a year ago, and Indiana Tech.

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Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
twitter.com/xulagold
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Video Highlights from NCCU Football Scrimmage

DURHAM, North Carolina -- North Carolina Central University held its first scrimmage of the 2016 football preseason camp on Saturday inside O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium.

NCCU head coach Jerry Mack said the heat, with temperatures in the mid-90s, tested his team's conditioning, and he'd like to see an increased tempo. Mack did like that both the offense and defense made big, explosive plays.

For highlights of the scrimmage and a full interview with Mack, visit the official YouTube page of NCCU Athletics at https://youtu.be/vbHsWtxbUUo.




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