NSU Spartans celebrate homecoming, Senior Say Saturday vs. Morgan State

NORFOLK, Virginia -- The Norfolk State football team concludes its home schedule, celebrating Homecoming and Senior Day this Saturday when the Spartans (1-6, 0-4 MEAC) host Morgan State (2-4, 2-2) at 2 p.m. at Dick Price Stadium.

Game 8: Morgan State (2-4, 2-2 MEAC) at Norfolk State (1-6, 0-4 MEAC)
Saturday, Oct. 29 • 2 p.m. • Dick Price Stadium (30,000)
Series History: 31st meeting – NSU leads 16-11 (3 NSU wins vacated)
Last Meeting: NSU 17-10 (Nov. 21, 2015)
Series Streak: NSU won nine straight on field (three wins vacated)

1ST AND 10

1. The Spartans conclude the home portion of their 2016 schedule and look to end a six-game losing streak when they host Morgan State University this Saturday. It is NSU’s Homecoming as well as Senior Day at Dick Price Stadium.

2. NSU enters the game on a six-game skid – the program’s longest since losing seven in a row in 2012 – after a 21-14 loss to Bethune-Cookman last Saturday in Norfolk.

3. The Spartans trailed 21-7 at the half but shut out the Wildcats in the second half. NSU cut its deficit in half on a 4-yard Quintreil Chung touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. Thanks to an interception by Nigel Chavis, the Spartans started their final drive in B-CU territory, eventually reaching as far as the 12-yard line. But NSU was stopped on downs in the Wildcats’ red zone, falling short of the tying score.

4. Greg Hankerson scored NSU’s other touchdown on a 43-yard run in the first quarter where he broke multiple tackles and outraced the defense for the score. Hankerson passed for 90 yards and led NSU with 60 rushing yards.

5. Morgan State suffered its second consecutive disappointing defeat last Saturday, dropping a 21-17 decision to unbeaten MEAC opponent North Carolina Central. The Bears took a 17-14 lead into the half after a 40-yard Alex Raya field goal. The score remained that way until the game’s final four minutes, when NCCU overtook the Bears on a 16-yard TD pass from Naiil Ramadan to Jalen Wilkes. Morgan State had two possessions after yielding the lead, but turned the ball over on both drives.

6. Eric Harrell led the Bears with 21 rushes for 121 yards and a touchdown. MSU ran for 158 yards in the game. The Bears played two quarterbacks, with Wagner transfer Chris Andrews passing for 85 yards to go with one TD and one interception. Defensive lineman Ayodeji Agbelese was a force for the Bears’ defense, notching two sacks among his three tackles for loss in the game.

7. The season has been one of streaks for the Bears. They lost their first two contests to Holy Cross and Marshall, then won two straight against Delaware State and Howard before their two recent losses.

8. NSU has dominated the series on the field as of late. Morgan State’s last win over NSU was a 29-20 victory in Norfolk in 2006. The Spartans have won the last nine games on the field, though three of those victories were later vacated.

9. The Spartans are 9-10 in 19 previous Homecoming games at Dick Price Stadium, but have lost two of the last three. The Spartans are 3-2 all-time against MSU in Homecoming games at Dick Price Stadium.

10. NSU will recognize 23 players prior to the game who are playing at home for the final time. The list includes two redshirt juniors (Anthony Smith, Antonio Perryman).



QUICK HITS FROM B-CU
Some news and notes from the loss to Bethune-Cookman:
• The Spartans were held scoreless in the third quarter for the sixth straight game. NSU has been outscored 47-0 in the third quarter since the Richmond game.
• Nigel Chavis (12) notched a career high in tackles.
• The Spartans registered a season-high three interceptions, all by different players (Chavis, Sandy Chapman, Harry Freeman).

IN A RUSH

Quarterback Greg Hankerson ran for his team-leading fifth touchdown of the season last week against Bethune-Cookman, a highlight-reel-worthy 43-yarder where he broke several tackles from Bethune-Cookman’s defensive linemen and linebackers and outraced the rest of the defense for the score.
• Hankerson is now tied for seventh in the MEAC with his five touchdowns this year. He has eight in his two-year career thus far, most by a Spartan quarterback since Dennis Brown had 12 from 2008-09.N• Hankerson’s 43-yarder was his third career TD run of over 40 yards. He had scoring runs of 57 and 77 yards last season vs. Morgan State and N.C. Central, respectively.
• Hankerson is again within shouting distance of the single-season school record for rushing yards by a quarterback, set by Brown (466) in 2008. Hankerson had 423 last season and 303 this year (ninth in the MEAC).

NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

Southern/Alcorn State gameday: Jaguars defense is coming around just in time, plus Luke Johnson's four downs

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern defensive coordinator Trei Oliver figured it would take about this long for his defense to start to shine, but he expected it all the same.

The Jaguars are six games into the season — which they hope is their halfway point, if they earn a berth in the SWAC championship game — and are starting to show signs of defensive prowess.

Though this year's Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Jackson State teams will never be considered offensive juggernauts, the Jaguars defense has turned in two of its better performances in back-to-back weeks, allowing averages of 20.5 points and 306 yards.

“They’re starting to get it,” Oliver said. “We knew it was going to be a process. And, not to keep harping on it, but without spring ball, we knew it was going to be a little slow with all the young guys we have playing. But we’re about where we expected to be. Now they’re starting to understand gap control; they’re starting to understand pass coverage and the different zone coverages we’re playing.”

CONTINUE READING

Grambling State University aims to avoid Alcorn's fate

GRAMBLING, Louisiana — Two-time defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Alcorn State allowed Arkansas-Pine Bluff to pull off a massive upset in September.

That won't be the case for Grambling when Pine Bluff arrives Saturday for the Tigers' homecoming.

"Alcorn didn't take those guys seriously and you saw what happened," Grambling quarterbacks coach Kendrick Nord said.



The theme this week is not overlooking Pine Bluff, or anyone for that matter. Pine Bluff is 1-6 this year with its only victory coming at Alcorn State, a 45-43 three-overtime win last month.

Grambling's staff said earlier in the week how that win is the sole reminder of how dangerous Pine Bluff is despite its record.

"The big thing that happened in that game that got them fired up was the fact that Alcorn's players had mentioned during pregame that a lot of their guys weren't playing because they were resting them for the next week to play us," Grambling linebackers coach Terrance Graves said. "They went back in and told their players and that's the motivation they gave them."

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'Just beautiful:' As he nears the SWAC rushing record, Southern's Lenard Tillery keeps his focus on the next game

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- There’s this thing about Lenard Tillery that Austin Howard said a lot of people don’t know, something that should provide an extra element of amazement to Saturday’s potentially record-setting performance.

It goes back to when Howard arrived on Southern's campus as a freshman in 2014. Tillery was coming off a year in which he ran for a team-best 784 yards as a freshman on the Jaguars' SWAC championship team.



When Tillery and Howard practiced for the first time, they did it together at the bottom of the Southern depth chart as fourth-stringers.

“We told each other we were going to grind; we weren’t going to complain about it,” Howard said. “We were just going to grind and get to the top. Whatever happens, happens.”

They’ve stayed true to that pledge and have been rewarded.

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Magic City Classic: Alabama A&M vs. Alabama State

Alabama A&M vs. Alabama State

When: 3 p.m.

Where: Legion Field, Birmingham

Records: Alabama A&M (2-5); Alabama State (2-5)

Web: ESPN3

Four-down territory
1. Freshman phenom: True freshman Jordan Bentley’s remarkable play is not going unnoticed nationally. The running back from Guntersville was named to the STATS FCS Freshman of the Year Watch List. Bentley leads all FCS freshman with seven rushing touchdowns and he is also the third-leading rusher among freshman with 576 yards.

2. Player of the week: In Alabama A&M’s 40-7 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, De’Angelo Ballard had 303 total yards and four touchdowns. For his performance, the senior quarterback was named the SWAC Offensive Player of the Week. He was also an honorable mention for STATS National Offensive Player of the Week.



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Once-mighty Florida A&M struggling to rebuild program

GREENSBORO, North Carolina — It’s homecoming for Florida A&M.  Again.

The Rattlers (3-2 MEAC, 3-5 overall) will play in a homecoming football game Saturday for the third week in a row, this time in the one N.C. A&T (4-0, 6-1) brands as the Greatest Homecoming On Earth.

It’s the second time in three years A&T has scheduled FAMU for homecoming.

When you’re struggling, you get invited to a lot of homecomings. And once-mighty FAMU is struggling.

In their long history, the Rattlers have won 12 black college national championships. They’ve won or shared eight MEAC titles. They won the first Division I-AA national title in 1978, one of seven FCS playoff appearances.

But since its last MEAC title in 2010, Florida A&M has fallen on hard times.

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Career highs for Ducros, but Gold Nuggets lose in 3

MOBILE, Alabama — Xavier University of Louisiana, in its final non-conference volleyball match of the regular season, lost 25-22, 25-19, 25-23 Monday at Spring Hill.

Taylor Ducros had eight kills and hit .350, both career highs, for the Gold Nuggets (13-15). Juliana Tomasoni had 10 kills and 12 digs, Tiffany Phillips had 34 assists and 10 digs, Hasani Salaam had seven kills and five blocks, and Amanda Perry had two aces and 15 digs.

Tomasoni and Phillips have 12 double-doubles apiece this season.

Madison Seuzeneau had 12 kills and hit .310 for the Badgers (26-5), who extended their two-year home winning streak to 13. Sarah Senft had 11 kills, Peyton Gidney had 10 kills, Cassidi Sterrett had 18 digs, and Savannah Becnel had six kills, three aces and four blocks.

XULA led 22-21 in the first set before Spring Hill scored the final four points, two on Seuzeneau kills. The Badgers took a two-set lead after pulling away from a tie at 13, and they rallied from an 18-13 deficit in the final set.

Spring Hill outhit XULA .229 to .130 and had advantages of 46-38 in kills, 4-2 in aces, 69-68 in digs and 7-5 in blocks.

It was a matchup of league leaders. XULA has clinched the regular-season championship of the NAIA's Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, and Spring Hill is 17-0 in NCAA Division II's Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. XULA is 0-19 all-time against Spring Hill with two losses this season.

XULA will conclude its regular season with GCAC matches at 1 p.m. Saturday at Talladega and 7 p.m. next Monday at home against Tougaloo in the Convocation Center. The Gold Nuggets will play at 3 p.m. Nov. 4 in the semifinals of the GCAC Tournament in New Orleans (Dillard's Dent Hall) after a first-round bye.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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