Winston-Salem State’s hopes for a Black College National Championship three-peat are still alive after the Rams posted a sloppy 28-24 come-from-behind home CIAA victory against Shaw Saturday.
The Rams went into the game ranked No.13 in Division II and No. 2 among HBCUs, having won 21 straight regular season conference games. No. 22 in a row wasn’t decided until the final minute when quarterback Rudy Johnson threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Chase Powell with 59 seconds remaining. The victory was the 24th straight against a CIAA opponent. Shaw was the last CIAA team to defeat the Rams. The Bears beat them 31-27 in final game of the 2010 season.
Winston-Salem (8-1, 6-0 CIAA) led 21-0 midway through the second period on the strength of three touchdown passes by Williams and appeared on its way to an easy win. However, the Rams squandered the lead and themselves trailing 24-21 in the fourth quarter.
Shaw (5-4, 3-3 CIAA) began its comeback when backup quarterback Trevius Folston, playing in place of an injured starter Quinshon Odom, threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to David Jordan with 6:38 left in the first half. Winston-Salem missed out on a chance to extend its leading going into the half. The Rams were penalized for offensive pass interference on fourth-down-and goal from Shaw’s one-yard line on the final play of the half.
The Rams were penalized 15 times for 151 yards in the game. They also committed four turnovers.
After Adndres Magallon kicked a 27-yard field goal with 5:07 left in the third period that made the score 21-10, Folston and Jordan hooked up again for a touchdown. This time they combined on an 18-yard scoring pass at 11:57 of the fourth quarter. The Bears took a 24-21 lead at the 8:18 mark of the fourth quarter on Darnell Evans’ 88-yard interception return for a touchdown.
The Bears’ defense made the lead stand up until the final minute. Johnson drove the Rams 81 yards in nine plays after they got the ball with 2:28 remaining in the game.
Key Results
Mile 31, Stillman 30 – The Golden Bears rallied from 20-point fourth-quarter deficit for a road victory to set up winner-take-all showdown with Tuskegee for the SIAC Western Division championship. Tuskegee, the defending SIAC champion, which leads the SIAC West with a 4-0 record, hosts Miles (5-3, 3-1 SIAC West) hosts the Golden Bears Saturda in the regular season finale for both teams. The winner will represent the West in the SIAC Championship Game Nov. 16. Quarterback Demetrice Price threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns in the final period. The Golden Bears scored twice in the final 4:23 pull out the victory. Price tossed a 23-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Pitts with 18 seconds remaining in the game for the winning points. Price also threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Lonnie Outlaw at the 4:23 mark in the fourth period. Miles went into the fourth quarter having gained 182 total yards. Price finished the game with 270 passing yards while completing 23 of 42 attempts. Stillman (5-4, (2-3) contributed to its demise by committing 11 penalties for 136 yards. Quarterback Torrance Moise had 256 yards total offense for Stillman, 103 rushing and 153 passing.
Alabama A&M 19, Alcorn State 18 – The Bulldogs knocked the Braves out of the SWAC East Division race and ended a three-game losing streak with a win in Lorman, Backup quarterback Jaymson Scott came off the bench and threw three touchdown passes as he rallied the Bulldogs (3-6, 3-4 SWAC) from a 15-0 deficit. Alabama A&M had only gained 45 total yards and produced just one first down when Lee took over in the second quarter. He completed 11 of 20 passes for 150 yards as the Bulldogs avenged last season’s one-point homecoming loss to Alcorn ((7-3, 5-2 SWAC), which was their first defeat of the year. The Braves trail first-place Jackson State and Alabama State in the Eastern Division.
Grambling 47, Miss. Valley State 40 – The G-Men ended their 12-game losing streak and won their first game of the season with a homecoming victory. The win ended a 15-game SWAC losing streak for Grambling. Backup quarterback Jonathan Williams tossed accounted for seven touchdowns for Grambling (1-8, 1-7 SWAC) to give interim coach Dennis “Dirt’’ Winston his first career victory. Williams threw for 319 yard and five touchdowns. He also rushed for two scores. His nine-yard touchdown pass to Chad Williams with 3:21 remaining in the third period gave the G-Men a commanding 40-24 lead. However, the Delta Devils (1-8, 1-6 SWAC), who had their highest point total of the season, rallied and had a chance to send the game into overtime. They got back into the game on quarterback Patrick Ivy’s five-yard touchdown run with 14:55 remaining in the game, which made the score 40-32 after a two-point conversion. Jonathan Williams scored on an 11-yard run to extend Grambling’s lead to 47-32, but Ivy scored again at he seven-minute mark. The Delta Devils made another two-point conversion to pull within a touchdown of the G-Men. Mississippi Valley got the ball at its 25-yard line with 1:47 left in the game. Ivy drove the Delta Devils to Grambling’s 29-yard line, but they weren’t able to get the ball in the end zone as Ivy threw two incomplete pass as time expired.
Other Scores
Albany State 31, Benedict 6
Ave Maria 45, Edward Waters 14
Bethune-Cookman 38, North Carolina Central 14
Bowie State 76, Lincoln (Pa.) 19
Delaware State 22, Howard 20
Eastern Kentucky 44, Tennessee State 0
Elizabeth City State 28, Virginia Union 21
Fayetteville State 34, Livingstone 31
Florida A&M 16, Norfolk State 6
Fort Valley State 46, Morehouse 19
Houston Baptist 49, Texas College 7
Kentucky 48, Alabama State 14
Lane 38, Kentucky State 28
Morgan State 30, Hampton 27
North Carolina A&T 59, Va.-Lynchburg12
Notre Dame College 42, West Va. State 16
Langston 20, Panhandle State 19
Central Oklahoma 49Lincoln (Mo.) 42
Shorter 58, Clark Atlanta 14
Saint Augustine’s 13, Johnson C. Smith 6
South Carolina State 49, Savannah State 9
Southern 31, Texas Southern 24
Tuskegee 41, Central State 10
Virginia State 28, Chowan 0
