CIAA Football Preview - Week Eight

CIAA Preview Week Eight 
October 15, 2008

The Road to Durham and the CIAA Football Championship
"Bringing the Championship Game back to the Triangle"
The Championship Game - November 8 - Durham

WEEK 8 - HOMECOMING WEEKEND IN THE CIAA 

The Championship Contenders began to separate themselves from the pack last weekend. Elizabeth City State posted a fantastic comeback against Bowie State to remain undefeated in the East. Shaw knocked Fayetteville State to take control of the West. However, three weeks are left in the season and anything can happen. This weekend, every contest on the slate is a homecoming contest which will add to the excitement of the CIAA Championship Stretch Run!

GAME OF THE WEEK: VIRGINIA STATE AT VIRGINIA UNION: Virginia Union, preseason favorite in the East, is looking up in the standings to undefeated ECSU. Thus, the Panthers' short term goals are clear...win out and knock off ECSU in the final game of the year. However, first things first for the Panthers...defeat Virginia State. Their I-95 rival comes into the contest on a high after knocking off St. Paul's 25-7. The top two rushers in the CIAA will be featured with VUU's Tarian Donaldson and VSU's Taron Hampton facing off. Panther QB Lamar Little's numbers have been off from his outstanding 2006 and 2007 campaigns. He will look to close his VUU career with a burst. VSU will look to keep its faint title hopes alive by knocking off the Panthers. The Panthers bring the second-ranked scoring offense and the top ranked scoring defense and VSU will have its hands full on both sides of the ball. (12:00 p.m. at Richmond).

Players to watch: (Virginia State: RB Taron Hampton; QB Leonard Johnson; WR Brian Berry).
(Virginia Union: QB Lamar Little; WR Phillip Taylor; RB Tarian Donaldson).

CHOWAN AT SHAW: Shaw put themselves in firm grasp of the Western Division Title by knocking off FSU. Unless they falter in the next three weeks and FSU wins out, they will return to the Championship Game. Last weekend, the Bears shook off the loss to St. Aug and played like the defending CIAA Champs. The Shaw Defense held the high-flying Bronco Offense to a mere 12 points and are looking at directly at the opportunity to defend their 2007 CIAA Crown. Defensively, DL Louis Ellis is dominating the line of scrimmage. Chowan earned its first CIAA win by knocking off Livingstone. QB CJ Westler leads the league with 13 TD passes and will look to connect with WRs Eddie Coard and James Fox. (4:00 p.m. at Durham, NC).

Players to watch: (Chowan: QB CJ Westler; WR James Fox; WR Eddie Coard).
(Shaw: DL Louis Ellis; RB Raymond Williams; WR Lenell King).

ELIZABETH CITY STATE AT LINCOLN: Elizabeth City State may have turned the corner in their hopes to return to the Championship Game. The 14-point comeback against Bowie State kept ECSU undefeated and a game ahead of Virginia Union. If both VUU and ECSU win out until November 1, they will play for the Eastern Division Title...just like in 2006. In '06, ECSU knocked off VUU, 29-24, to win the East and play in the CIAA Championship Game. ECSU is led by arguably the CIAA's best offensive player, WR Dexter Manley. The 6-3 Manley is averaging an eye-popping 28.8 yards per catch. His 126 yards receiving and 3 TDs were the difference against Bowie State. Lincoln suffered another difficult defeat against VUU. However, their first football homecoming game in decades will have Lions fans fired up for the Vikings. (1:00 p.m. at Lincoln, PA).

Players to watch: (ECSU: QB Curtis Rich; WR Dexter Manley; RB Joel McClenney).
(Lincoln: DB Anthony Bell; LB Daron Jones; QB Kareem Davis).

JOHNSON C. SMITH AT FAYETTEVILLE STATE: Last weekend's contest against Shaw had so much on the line for the Broncos...the Western Division, the CIAA Championship and possibly a berth in the NCAA Playoffs. While FSU's 19-12 loss to Shaw did not close the door to those possibilities, it made them significantly harder to obtain. The Broncos, however, do not have time to sulk. A game JCSU team will be coming to town to spoil the FSU Homecoming. The Golden Bulls are coming off a 19-13 comeback win over St. Aug and want to continue their new found winning streak. QB Carl Richardson and WR Jeremy Franklin remain one of the CIAA's best pass-catch duos and will pose problems for the FSU secondary. (2:00 p.m. at Fayetteville, NC).

Players to watch: (JCSU: WR Jeremy Franklin; QB Carlton Richardson; DB Darius Johnson).
(FSU: QB Bryan Hardy; RB Richard Medlin; WR Daryl Barnett).

BOWIE STATE AT ST. PAUL'S: St. Paul's 25-7 loss to VSU caused serious damage to their divisional hopes. However, if they are to keep their faint hopes alive to win the East, the Tigers must win Homecoming. However, a powerful BSU team featuring RB Issac Redmon will be a tall order to stop. (1:30 p.m. at Lawrenceville, PA).

Players to watch: (Bowie State: QB Jason Scott; RB Issac Redmon; WR Clifton Budd).
(St. Paul's: DB Gregory Toler; P Marlon Buchanon; PR Emory Addison). 

ST. AUGUSTINE'S AT LIVINGSTONE: Livingstone and St. Aug both lost difficult games last weekend. Livingstone will look to defend its turf at its Homecoming. (3:00 p.m. at Salisbury).

Players to watch: (St. Aug: DL Phil Stevenson; RB Arnold Mullins; DL Marcus Kennedy).(Livingstone: RB Rashaad Flucker; PR William Graves; QB Steven Williams).