CIAA Football Week in Review
For the week ending October 24, 2009, (Week 9) 

PANTHERS EDGE BULLDOGS TO TAKE CONTROL OF EAST

RICHMOND, VA-Enrique Cox's 54-yard fumble return for a touchdown and Steven Velasquez's extra point capped a furious fourth quarter comeback as the Virginia Union Panthers rallied to beat the Bowie State Bulldogs 17-16 yesterday in Richmond.

The Panthers (6-3, 5-1 CIAA) scored ten points in the game's final six minutes and then blocked a potential game winning field goal to stun the division leading Bulldogs (6-3, 5-1 CIAA) and move into the divisional lead with one regular season game remaining.

Bowie State took a 7-0 first quarter lead when Clifton Budd capped a 5-play drive with a 14-yard rushing touchdown. An 8-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter from VUU's Aris English to Arnold White tied the game as the teams went to the locker room knotted at 7-7.

The Bulldogs got the only points of the third quarter on Michael Gagne's 24-yard field goal to take a 10-7 lead. They would then extend their lead in the fourth quarter on Rodney Webb's 4-yard touchdown run. Gagne's extra point attempt was no good as the Bulldogs took a 16-7 lead with 8:37 left in the game.

The Panthers would respond on their next possession with a 35-yard field goal by Velasquez to trim the Bulldogs' lead to 16-10 with 6:00 minutes remaining.  On Bowie State's ensuing possession, quarterback Emmanuel Yeager coughed up the ball at the VUU 44-yard line and it was scooped up by Cox, who rumbled to pay dirt from 52-yards out to tie the game at 16-16. Velasquez nailed the PAT as the Panthers took a 17-16 lead with 2:14 left in the game.

Following a 26-yard kickoff return by James Proctor, Bowie State took possession at their 45-yard line and needed just seven plays to move the ball down to the Panthers' 6-yard line. Following a timeout by the Panthers, Gagne lined up for a game winning field goal attempt with 24 seconds left in the game. However, the field goal was blocked by VUU defensive lineman Joseph Johnson and the Panthers escaped with the huge divisional win.

With identical 5-1 conference records, Virginia Union holds the first tiebreaker (head to head competition) over the Bulldogs, meaning the Eastern Division race will go down to the final weekend of the regular season. In games that will match the top four teams in the Eastern Division, Virginia Union will host Elizabeth City State at Hovey Field, while Bowie State travels to Virginia State for the Trojans' Homecoming.

Notes of Interest:

• Fayetteville State clinched the Western Division title and a trip to the CIAA Championship game with a 56-6 win over Saint Augustine's.
  
• Fayetteville State scored three defensive touchdowns - safety Jeff Gowdy recovered a blocked punt in the end zone, Powell's fumble recovery and cornerback Greg Summerville had a 30-yard interception return - and have seven non-offensive touchdowns this year. After starting the season 0-2, FSU has won six of its last seven games. 
  
• The Chowan-Johnson C. Smith game featured the league's top three statistical leaders in receptions per game; CU's Holland and Hodrick and JCSU's Jeremy Franklin. Hodrick tallied 123 yards on 8 catches while Franklin had 122 yards on 8 catches. Franklin caught 3 TD passes. 
  
• Shaw's Quintez Smith, who leads NCAA Division II in interceptions, picked off another pass yesterday, bringing his season total to nine.
  
• CJ Westler, Chowan's signal caller, accounted for 325 yards of total offense and two touchdowns in Chowan's win over Johnson C. Smith.

 

Conference Scoreboard

CHOWAN                               33                    JOHNSON C. SMITH            22

ELIZABETH CITY ST.            38                    SAINT PAUL'S                       12

FAYETTEVILLE ST.               56                    SAINT AUGUSTINE'S             6                   

SHAW                                   54                    LIVINGSTONE                         3

VIRGINIA STATE                  34                    LINCOLN                               14

VIRGINIA UNION                 17                    BOWIE STATE                16              

                      

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
2009 Football Standings
Through games of October 24, 2009

                                                CIAA EAST

                                                Div/Conf                                           Overall
----                                          W        L         PCT                W        L         PCT
Virginia Union                        5          1          0.833            6          3         0.667
Bowie State                           5          1          0.833            6          3         0.667
Elizabeth City State               4          2          0.667            6          3          0.667
Virginia State                         3          3          0.500            5          4          0.556
Saint Paul's                            2          4          0.333            3          5          0.375

                                                CIAA West

----                                          W        L         PCT                   W        L         PCT
Fayetteville State                   5          1          0.833              6          3          0.625
Shaw                                       4          2          0.667              7          2          0.778
Saint Augustine's                    3          3          0.500              3          6          0.333
Chowan                                   2          4          0.333              2          7          0.222
Johnson C. Smith                    2          4          0.333              3          6          0.333
Livingstone                             0          6          0.000              0          9          0.000  

Upcoming Games:

31	Johnson C. Smith University	Shaw University	Raleigh, NC	6:00pm
31	Virginia Union University	Elizabeth City State University	Richmond, VA	1:00pm
31	Virginia State University	Bowie State University	Ettrick, VA	1:30pm
	Homecoming
31	St. Augustine's College	Chowan University	Murfreesboro, NC	12:30pm
31	Lincoln University (PA)	St. Paul's College	Lawrenceville, VA	1:00pm
31	Fayetteville State University	Livingstone College	Salisbury, NC	1:30pm