ELIZABETH CITY – Ah’shaan Belcher caught a pair of first-half touchdown passes from Patrick Blake, and Shaw University’s football team secured its first win on Sunday afternoon.
Jatoine Fields added a rushing touchdown for the Bears, who led 20-0 at halftime and held on for a 20-17 victory at Elizabeth City State.
Shaw improved to 1-3 overall, 1-1 against CIAA foes. Elizabeth City dropped to 1-3, 0-2. The game had been scheduled for Saturday but was moved due to Tropical Storm Ophelia passing through.
Fields’ scoring play got the Bears on the board just 4:23 into the game. Belcher’s touchdown catches covered 13 and 7 yards, and came within 1:29 of each other late in the second quarter.
Jaden Jones and Cole McKinney had interceptions for the Bears. Malik Charles wracked up 12 tackles, including a sack. Shaw did not have a turnover.
Elizabeth City, though, refused to go quietly after falling behind by three scores in the opening half.
Elijah Starkey turned a Donoven Davenport pass into a 63-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter. Carson Hancock tacked on a 24-yard field goal later in the same period.
ECSU moved the ball 90 yards in 3:06 late in the fourth. Davenport tossed his second touchdown pass, finding Ian Edwards on an 8-yard play with 53 ticks left. But Shaw covered the onsides kick and ran out the clock to secure its first triumph of 2023.
Elizabeth City outgained the Bears 314-249 but struggled to run the ball (77 yards on 25 attempts). Davenport finished 15-of-31 for 237 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Starkey had three catches for 96 yards.
Sidney Gibbs picked up 62 yards on the ground for Shaw. Belcher had four catches in all for 35 yards and the two short-yardage scores. Blake was 15-of-24 for 149 yards passing.
Demorian Smith (11 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss), Tracey White (eight tackles, 1 TFL), Teonne Porter (seven tackles, 1 TFL), Dev’on Grant (six tackles, 1.5 TFLs) and Jaylen Dollar (six tackles, 2.0 TFLs) were the Vikings defensive leaders.
Shaw will play at home for the next three weeks, hosting Virginia State on Saturday. Elizabeth City State will welcome Johnson C. Smith as its homecoming opponent this Saturday. After the final round of CIAA “crossover” games, teams will begin divisional league games for the rest of the schedule.
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| Teams | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | FINAL |
| Shaw | 7 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Elizabeth City State | 0 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 17 |
