CIAA Football Preview: “Separation Saturday”

“Separation Saturday”
CIAA Football Weekly Preview
Week Six

 September 28, 2011

Hampton, VA…Huge divisional matchups highlight Week Six. In the Southern Division, perennial division contenders Shaw and Fayetteville State are both winless at the halfway mark of the season and the question remains whether anyone will step up to challenge the Winston-Salem State juggernaut for division supremacy. In the well balanced Northern Division, things got a little more muddled when Virginia Union knocked off front-running Bowie State last week, leaving four teams with one conference loss. With so many important games, this week should be called “Separation Saturday”, when we start to determine the contenders from the pretenders.

Bowie State Bulldogs (3-1) at Virginia State Trojans (2-2)

In a pivotal Northern Division matchup, Virginia State, the defending division champs, take on division-leading Bowie State. The Bulldogs dropped their first ballgame of the season last week and in the process came back to the pack in the race for the lead in the North. BSU, who is second in the league in total defense, gave up an uncharacteristic 523 yards of offense, including 354 through the air, in a 32-29 loss to division rival Virginia Union. They will need to reestablish their defensive intensity in short order as they visit a Virginia State team that is coming off its best offensive performance of the season.  The Trojans, who have struggled all season to put points on the board, piled up a season-high 373 yards of offense in a 35-20 win over visiting Chowan. Trojan QB Jared Battle threw for 233 yards and his receivers had a field day, with Tim Paulk (6 receptions/100 yards) and Dion Futch (3 receptions/ 117 yards) combining for over 200 receiving yards. After the Bulldogs surrendered so many passing yards last week against VUU, look for the Trojans to use the passing game to try to make it a long day for Bowie’s secondary. Parity abounds in the balanced Northern Division, so the loser of this game will have a serious blow dealt to their title game aspirations. Game time is 6:00 pm at Rogers Stadium.

Catch it Live: www.HerbFM.com- Keyword: Bowie State

Virginia State http://www.mainstreamnetwork.com/listen/player.asp?station=wvst-fm&

Chowan Hawks (1-3) at Virginia Union Panthers (3-2) 

The Panthers got right back in the thick of the Northern Division race when they handed Bowie State their first loss of the season last week. Quarterback Cheston Hickman found his throwing rhythm early and riddled Bowie State’s defense for 320 passing yards. Virginia Union also got a monster performance from tailback Jerrell Washington who scored a career-high four touchdowns (3 rushing, 1 receiving). The Panthers needed every yard of that offensive effort. Their normally stingy defense gave up over 550 yards of offense and let Bowie State rally to within three points late in the fourth quarter.  Chowan continues to put up solid offensive numbers averaging 31.2 points and almost 400 yards of offense per game, but only has a single victory to show for it. The Hawks continue to be undone by a porous defense, turnovers and a propensity for penalties.  It takes time for a young, inexperienced defense to mature but the turnovers and penalties can be fixed. If the Hawks can protect the ball and clean up the penalties, they have a potent enough offense to keep them in most games. Game time is 1:00 pm at Union’s Hovey Field.

Catch It Live: Chowan http://www.futuremediaworld.com/chowan.htm

Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls (2-2) at Winston-Salem State Rams (4-0)

How do you stop the Rams?  On Saturday Winston-Salem State showed why they’re the most balanced and explosive team in the conference. A week after scoring eight touchdowns via the passing game in a win over Chowan, the Rams showcased a punishing ground game in a 56-20 win over Fayetteville State. Led by Nic Cooper’s career-high 257 yards and four touchdowns, the Rams piled up an eye-popping 448 rushing yards. WSSU also continued their lights out defensive play, opening up a 42-6 lead early in the third quarter before giving way to backups down the stretch. Johnson C. Smith’s high-octane offense misfired repeatedly in a 35-7 loss to Division I Davidson College. The Golden Bulls jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but were outscored 35-0 over the game’s final three quarters. JCSU was outgained 566-266 by the FCS Wildcats. Stopping the prolific and efficient Rams, who average a league leading 50 points a game; will offer a similarly difficult defensive challenge for Johnson C. Smith. This is Winston-Salem State’s Homecoming game. Kickoff is 1:30 at Bowman-Gray Stadium

Catch it Live: http://www.wgnc.net/ (Johnson C. Smith)

Winston-Salem State: http://www.livestream.com/wssu/video?clipId=pla_4914062e-320b-421b-b52c-f0b294305238&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb

Livingstone Blue Bears (1-3) at Shaw Bears (0-4)

Saturday will mark the first day of October and the defending CIAA champions are still looking for their first win. For Shaw, the first half of the season has been a weekly case of “close, but no cigar”; losing all four games by a combined total of 20 points. The Bears continue to struggle mightily on offense. In their 28-21 loss to Elizabeth City State last Saturday, Shaw managed only 239 yards and a single offensive touchdown. Their other two scores came on a 94-yard kickoff return by James Langford and a blocked punt that was returned for a score. The Bears’ defense also gave up 300 rushing yards against the Vikings. Livingstone got a huge monkey off their back when they ended a 28-game losing streak with a 24-21 double-overtime win over Virginia University of Lynchburg. In that game, the Blue Bears got huge plays from their special teams including kickoff return touchdowns of 100 and 91-yards by Terry Anderson and a clutch 26-yard game winning field goal by kicker Hillman Tabi. They will need a similar performance if they want to earn their second win in row. For the Bears, the future is now. After going 0-for-September, they pretty much have to run the table if they have any hope of defending their CIAA title in November. Kickoff is 1:00 pm at Durham County Stadium.

Catch it Live: http://www.sidearmstats.com/livingstone/football/index.htm

St. Augustine's Falcons (2-2) at Fayetteville State Broncos (0-4)

After some early season offensive struggles, the Falcons finally put it all together in their 34-17 win over Lincoln on Saturday. The Falcons have been searching all season for some consistency in their running game to create open space for a talented group of receivers to operate.  That consistency may have arrived in the form of tailback Dennis Mathis.  Mathis, a senior transfer from Hampton University, had a breakout game, rushing for 157 yards and a touchdown.  Mathis’ success running the ball opened up passing lanes for quarterback Teddy Bacote, who responded with a season-high 249 yards and three touchdowns. His primary target was Tyron Laughinghouse, who snared four passes for 98 yards and two scores.  Laughinghouse also scored on a 58-yard punt return. Fayetteville State is still looking for that elusive first victory. The Broncos’ defense was torched for 448 rushing yards in a 56-20 loss to Winston-Salem State. Two Ram backs topped 100-yards rushing, led by Nic Cooper’s career-high 257 yards and four TD’s. The Broncos have some success throwing the ball against the Rams led by Brandon Blumears-Cluff’s 201 passing yards and three touchdowns. FSU also got their first 100-yard rusher of the season when freshman Chris Hairston finished with 109 yards. Although the Broncos are 0-4, only one of those losses was in conference. String together an October winning streak and they’re right back in contention in the Southern Division. Kickoff is 6:00 pm at Fayetteville State.

Catch It Live: http://www.fsubroncos.com/gametracker/launch/gt_mfootbl.html?event=989644&school=fast&sport=mfootbl&camefrom=&startschool=&

West Virginia Wesleyan (4-0) at Lincoln Lions (1-3)

Lincoln steps out of conference to play undefeated West Virginia Wesleyan of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC). Lincoln is coming off a 34-17 loss to Saint Augustine’s. The Lions fell behind 28-0 before scoring 17 second quarter points to get back in the game. Lincoln might have their hands full with West Virginia Wesleyan. The Bobcats are second in the WVIAC in total offense at 477.5 yards a game and are led by quarterback Adam Neugebauer, who has passed for an incredible 1,460 yards, 17 touchdowns and only two interceptions in four games. The Bobcats are also stout defensively, allowing a WVIAC-leading 11.0 points a game. Game time is set for 12:00 noon at Lincoln.

Catch it Live: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/lincoln-university-lions-athletics