CIAA Football Week 9 in Review

CIAA Football Week in Review
For the week ending October 25, 2008, (Week 9) 

ECSU CLINCHES BERTH IN CIAA TITLE GAME; AWAITS SHAW OR FSU

ELIZABETH CITY, NC -In their most important game of the season to this point, Elizabeth City State's defense came up with their finest performance of the year. In a dominating defensive effort, the Vikings forced four turnovers, returned an interception for a touchdown, recorded two sacks and held Saint Paul's to a staggering 76 yards of total offense in a 39-9 win over the Tigers that clinched ECSU's second CIAA Eastern Division title in three years, The Vikings, who have won five in a row after a 1-3 start, were led offensively by tailback Dennis Hamilton who rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown, to pace a ground attack that rolled up 256 rushing yards and had four different players score a rushing touchdown.

The Vikings, who trailed the Tigers 9-6 after a bad snap sailed over their punter's head and out of the end zone for a safety and a 65-yard punt return by Saint Paul's Emory Addison, took the lead for good on quarterback Curtis Rich's 1-yard run with 1:12 left in the 2^nd quarter as ECSU led 13-9 at the half.

In the second half, with a division title and a championship game berth within their grasp, the Vikings broke the game open, outscoring the Tigers 26-0 over the last two quarters to claim their spot in the CIAA Championship game on November 8 in Durham.

The Vikings, 6-3, 6-0 CIAA, will close out the regular season next week when they host Virginia Union, losers of two in a row, in game that two weeks ago many thought would have division title implications.

In other conference action...Shaw University quarterbacks Travis Robinson and Julius Gregory combined to pass for 367 yards and five touchdowns and the Bears' defense registered an astonishing 14 sacks and allowed just 38 yards of total offense as Shaw blasted Livingstone College 55-7 yesterday in Salisbury. The victory puts the Bears (6-3,5-1 CIAA)  in position to claim their second consecutive Western Division title with a win over Johnson C. Smith next Saturday.

Conference Scoreboard

BOWIE STATE                      14                    VIRGINIA UNION       13
ELIZABETH CITY ST.            39                   SAINT PAUL'S               9
FAYETTEVILLE STATE          20                   ST. AUGUSTINE'S       16
J.C. SMITH                            51                   CHOWAN                     36
SHAW                                    55                   LIVINGSTONE               7
VIRGINIA STATE                   54                   LINCOLN                       0 

* Games vs. Lincoln from 9/20-11/1 will count towards conference standings. 

CIAA Tie-Breaker Procedure

1.      Head-to-Head Competition
2.      Common Conference Opponents
3.      Coin Toss