CIAA Football Week Three in Review

PANTHERS MAUL WILDCATS

September 14, 2008

FORT VALLEY, GA-Virginia Union's defense registered four sacks and limited Fort Valley State to 106 yards of total offense as the Panthers posted a surprisingly easy 27-2 win over the Wildcats of the SIAC yesterday in Fort Valley, GA.

Virginia Union needed only seven offensive plays to jump out to a 20-0 first quarter lead.  Tailback Tarian Donaldson finished off a 4-play, 55-yard drive with an 11-yard rushing touchdown for a 6-0 Panthers lead.  On their next possession, quarterback Lamar Little needed only one play to connect with Steven Miller on a 48-yard scoring pass as the Panthers pushed the lead to 13-0.

Little, the CIAA's 2007 Offensive Player of the Year, went to work again on the Panthers' next possession, capping a 3-play drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Phillip Taylor as the Panthers led the stunned Wildcats 20-0 after one quarter.

With a comfortable 20-point lead, the Panthers' defense took control of the game. Led by Andre LeBlanc and Hurley Hemphill, who combined for 10 tackles, a forced fumble and an interception, VUU bottled up the Fort Valley running game all day limiting them to a meager 62 rushing yards on 31 attempts.  The Wildcats' passing game didn't fare any better, as four different Virginia Union players recorded sacks and harassed Fort Valley quarterbacks into an awful 7 of 23 passing attempt for 44 yards and an interception.

The Wildcats were able to avoid the shutout on a Michael Hauser safety in the second quarter, while their defense, in a classic case of too little too late, finally woke up and limited the Panthers to one touchdown over the last three quarters.

With the win, the Panthers improve to 2-1 heading into an important conference matchup with Johnson C. Smith next Saturday at the Western Virginia Education Classic in Salem, VA.

Conference Scoreboard

CHOWAN                             23                    BREVARD                  20
ELIZABETH CITY ST.           30                    TUSCULUM               32
FAYETTEVILLE ST.              63                    LINCOLN                     0
JOHNSON C. SMITH            37                    EDWARD WATERS    31 OTLIVINGSTONE                   7                     CATAWBA                 49
SAINT AUGUSTINE'S           13                    MARS HILL                31
SAINT PAUL'S                      13                    WEBBER INT.              9       
SHAW                                    29                    TEXAS SOUTHERN   40
VIRGINIA STATE                   36                    SAINT JOESEPH      43
VA. UNION                             27                    FORT VALLEY            2

* BOWIE STATE @ NICHOLLS STATE CANCELED DUE TO HURRICANE 
 

Games This Week

September

 ***Except for the ECSU vs Chowan game on 8/30, all conference games will begin on September 20th. ***