HBCU Football

Florida A&M enters national rankings

10:30 am November 3, 2009, by Leo Willingham

Florida A&M has re-entered the national rankings, earning the No. 23 spot in this week’s Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) coaches poll.

The Rattlers defeated Morgan State 31-28 in overtime Saturday in Baltimore, improved their record to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the MEAC. FAMU’s only losses this season have been to the University of Miami and South Carolina State, the defending MEAC champion and the No. 10 team in this week’s rankings.

The only other Black College team in the poll — Prairie View (5-1) — made its debut last week and currently sits one spot ahead of FAMU at No. 22.

Albany State (8-1) and Tuskegee (7-2) are ranked 13th and 15th respectively in this week’s AFCA Division II Coaches Poll.

BLACK COLLEGE HALL OF FAME UPDATE

Nominations for the inaugural class of the Black College Football Hall of Fame will be accepted through Nov. 23.

For more information on the Black College Hall of Fame or to submit a nomination, visit the organization’s website by clicking here.

From AJC

Tuskegee outlasted Clark Atlanta 31-21 Saturday in an SIAC matchup that featured big plays from both teams.

The Golden Tigers (3-1, 3-1 in SIAC) had a 70-yard pass and a 60-yard run among their four touchdowns while Clark Atlanta (3-1, 3-1) had scoring passes of 18 and 20 yards and a forced fumble that led to another touchdown in the loss. Both teams saw their starting QBs (Jeremy Williams of Tuskegee and Mark Wright of Clark Atlanta) leave the game with injuries, but both backups (Tuskegee’s Joshua Harris and Clark Atlanta’s T.J. Smith) were solid in reserve.

In the end, it was the 60-yard TD run from Tuskegee’s Tony Forney in the fourth quarter that helped the Golden Tigers win for the 13th time in the last 14 games of the series.

TSU falls to Southern, prepares for Atlanta Football Classic

Tennessee State lost a late fourth-quarter lead to Southern and fell 21-17 to the Jaguars in Baton Rouge.

With the loss, the Tigers fall to 1-2 heading into Saturday’s Atlanta Football Classic matchup with unbeaten Florida A and M at the Georgia Dome. The Rattlers improved to 3-0 Thursday with their 48-10 thumping of Howard.

Weekend scores

CIAA

Bowie State 51, Livingstone 0

Elizabeth State 35, Chowan 30

Fayetteville State 24, Saint Paul’s 0

Shaw 68, Lincoln, Pa. 6

St. Augustine’s 27, Virginia State 14

Virginia Union 34, Johnson C. Smith 14

MEAC

Delaware 27, Delaware State 14

Hampton 24, North Carolina A and T 14

Morgan State 16, Winston-Salem State 10

William and Mary 27, Norfolk State 15

SIAC

Benedict 24, Concordia 13

Fort Valley 53, Lane 20

Kentucky State 30, Kentucky Wesleyan 25

Morehouse 38, Lincoln, Mo. 0

Samford 31, Miles 12

Tuskegee 31, Clark Atlanta 21

SWAC

Alabama State 38, Edward Waters 6

Ark.-Pine Bluff 27, Miss. Valley 7

Central Michigan 48, Alcorn State 0

Grambling 27, Jackson State 17

Jackson State vs Grambling State, Jackson, MS There just couldn’t be a hotter seat than the one Rick Comegy is sitting on right now. After storming to a conference championship in the first year of his tenure, the Tigers wandered through a weak conference schedule to land in the rematch. Don’t expect any sympathy from Rod Broadway and his G-Tigers. Grambling demolished J-State in the SWAC Championship game 41-9 to avenge the 2007 loss. Unless something miraculous occurred since last Saturday on the return trip from Memphis, TN to Jackson, MS the Tigers have a bunch of things to fix offensively. JSU failed to score until the final two minutes of the game against Tennessee State. Grambling had a week off after narrowly falling to South Carolina State 31-34 in their Labor Day matchup. After laying a goose egg in the first quarter, junior quarterback Greg Dillon guided the offense in outscoring the Bulldogs 24-20 in the middle quarters. GSU leads the series with JSU 38-20-1. Keys to the Game: If JSU has any hopes of keeping this game close they will have to start by improving on special teams and deciding upon which quarterback to play. Combined the passing quartet completed a horrendous 16 passes on 44 attempts and 2 interceptions. Grambling can run and pass and needs only a narrow space to score in bunches.

Florida A&M easily handles Howard 48-10 (AP) – 2 hours ago TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — LeRoy Vann scored on two punt returns for the second straight week and Florida A&M beat Howard 48-10 on Thursday night. Vann, who scored on returns of 40 and 66 yards, ran back two punts for touchdowns against Winston-Salem State last week. The senior has returned seven punts for touchdowns during his career, tying a Football Championship Subdivision record set by Northern Iowa’s Kenny Shedd between 1989-1992. The Rattlers (3-0, 2-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) built a 34-10 halftime lead, highlighted by Curtis Pulley’s touchdown throws to Kevin Elliott of 46 and 35 yards. Pulley finished with 182 yards passing. The Bison (0-2, 0-1 MEAC) scored their only touchdown when Casey Council scooped up a blocked punt and scored from 30 yards away with 7:22 left in the second quarter. Floyd Haigler completed 10 of 24 passes for 87 yards for Howard. Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Week 3 – 2009 FAMU police on high alert for Thursday’s game By Angeline J. Taylor DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER When Florida A&M University hosts Howard Thursday night, it marks the first home football game since Sept. 5 when a shooting occurred on campus within an hour after the season opener. FAMU Police Chief Calvin Ross said officers have been vigilant about keeping their eyes open for “non students” who are lurking around campus in the early-morning or late-night hours. “We’re concerned about those visitors to campus that may be visiting for reasons that may not be honorable,” Ross said. “We have several individuals that will find their way to campus — many of which may not be students.” The two individuals arrested in connection with the Sept. 5 shooting were not FAMU students. Brandon Grice, 21, was arrested on charges of obstruction, resisting an officer and violation of probation, Ross said. A 17-year-old boy was also arrested on three counts of felony battery using a deadly weapon, firing a weapon in public and crimes against people. The boy’s name has been withheld because he is a juvenile. However, three people were injured by gunshots. FAMU football player LaVante Page and his 14-year-old cousin, Quinterrius Page were injured. A third victim was identified as a 17-year-old. Ross said that 17-year-old was in the car Grice was driving. The post-game gunfire wasn’t the first shooting in the past 18 months on FAMU’s campus. There was an outbreak during the daytime on March 21, 2008, where non-FAMU students were arrested. “President Ammons has been in discussion with our chief of public safety and has asked that (police) maintain a heightened sense of vigilance to ensure the safety of our students and those who support us at our football games,” FAMU spokeswoman Sharon Saunders said. FAMU police have been used the campus radio station to give tips to students about public safety. The 18-tip list passing around to students include: keep your ATM/bank cards in a safe place; carry only small sums of cash in your wallet, purse or coat pocket or concealed in an inside zipped pocket. Police are also urging students to be aware of people who approach asking for directions or the time of day, and to avoid unlit or secluded areas. Students said they are taking in the tips but many disagree on officers’ roles on campus. “I think the police department is doing everything that they can do. Things like that happen. It could happen anywhere,” Marvin Bouquette said. FAMU student Adeola Adefala disagrees. “FAMU has an open campus,” she said. “I would say that they should somehow find a way to screen students.” Jalona Jones believes police should come up with a screening process. “They need to do more security checks or something because … the shooting … that’s crazy,” she said. From Atlanta Journal Constitution Black College football trends beginning to develop by Leo Willingham Week three of the Black College football season is in the books and there are some interesting trends that are starting to develop. It appears that South Carolina State and Florida A&M are the class of the MEAC. The Bulldogs followed their win over Grambling last week with a 24-3 thumping of Bethune-Cookman. The Rattlers improved to 2-0 with a 24-point win at Winston-Salem State. In the SWAC, Grambling bounced back from its loss to S.C. State by defeating Northwestern State 38-17 while Alabama A&M, which won at Tennessee State in its opener, added another win by defeating Hampton 31-24