Two North Carolina football programs are celebrating a share of the Conference Carolinas regular-season championship, but the race to determine who will play for the league’s bowl championship isn’t over.
UNC Pembroke and Chowan joined North Greenville as conference co-champions Saturday, Nov. 7, after all three completed league play with 5-1 records.
The three-way tie produced an unusual championship scenario. North Greenville defeated UNC Pembroke, Chowan defeated North Greenville and UNC Pembroke defeated Chowan. All three teams won their remaining conference games.
The league announced Saturday evening that tiebreaking procedures will be used to determine the Conference Carolinas Bowl participants. The matchups will be announced Sunday.
UNC Pembroke, the championship share follows a dominant 45-14 victory at Ferrum. For Chowan, which topped Shorter 23-20 on Saturday, it represents a remarkable turnaround for a program that went winless just three seasons ago.
Congratulations to the Conference Carolinas football regular season co-champions @cuhawks, @UNCP_Sports and @NGUAthletics_! Tiebreakers for the Conference Carolinas Bowl will be announced on Sunday! #LeadingTheWay https://t.co/RSQ8Mic9al — Conference Carolinas (@ConfCarolinas) November 8, 2026
UNC Pembroke 45, Ferrum 14
Quarterback Josh Ehrlich accounted for five touchdowns as UNC Pembroke overwhelmed Ferrum on Saturday afternoon in Virginia.
Ehrlich completed 17 of 28 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 87 yards and three more scores. The Braves rolled up 558 yards of total offense, including 279 rushing and 279 passing.
UNC Pembroke scored 24 unanswered points in the second quarter to turn a 7-7 game into a commanding 31-7 halftime advantage.
Ehrlich scored on runs of 9, 2 and 1 yards and threw touchdown passes of 11 yards to Avery Curtis and 48 yards to Malik Brown.
Jake Davids added 78 rushing yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Brown led the Braves with 82 receiving yards on four catches, while Curtis contributed 57 receiving yards and 49 rushing yards.
The Braves were nearly unstoppable in scoring territory, converting all six red-zone opportunities into points. They also converted all three fourth-down attempts and punted just once.
Defensively, Antoine Doyle Jr. led UNC Pembroke with seven tackles, while Isi Etute and Jadin Baptist added five apiece. Marion Turner intercepted a pass.
The victory completed an impressive regular season for coach Mark Hall’s Braves, whose only conference defeat came against North Greenville in a one-point thriller.
In that matchup, UNC Pembroke scored late and attempted a two-point conversion for the victory, but the attempt failed.
Hall previously coached Chowan, leading the Hawks to the 2022 CIAA championship game before taking over the UNC Pembroke program in 2023.
Chowan 23, Shorter 20
Chowan held off Shorter 23-20 in Murfreesboro to claim a share of the conference championship and complete one of the more remarkable rebuilding stories in North Carolina small-college football.
Quarterback Tyler Adkins threw three touchdown passes, including two to Luke Krall, as the Hawks built a 23-13 lead through three quarters.
Adkins completed 15 of 29 passes for 161 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 42 yards.
Amir Alexander caught five passes for 55 yards and a touchdown, while Krall finished with four receptions for 38 yards and two scores. Dezmond Randolph led the Hawks with 85 receiving yards on three catches.
Chowan opened the scoring on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Adkins to Alexander, then extended its advantage to 13-0 on a 4-yard scoring pass to Krall.
Shorter rallied to tie the game at 13, but Adkins found Krall again for a 12-yard touchdown with 50 seconds remaining in the first half.
Riley Swanson added a 23-yard field goal in the third quarter that ultimately provided the winning margin.
Shorter cut the deficit to three points early in the fourth quarter behind running back David Hill, who rushed for 182 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries.
Chowan’s defense preserved the victory, holding Shorter scoreless over the final 14 minutes. The Hawks recorded three sacks, including one each from Jylon Council and Joe Lewis, and forced a turnover on downs on Shorter’s final possession.
Darian Whitaker led Chowan with 10 tackles, followed by Darryl Harris with nine and Carmell McCloud with eight. Altiziano Edwards contributed a 44-yard interception return.
The victory capped a remarkable season under coach Paul Johnson, whose program has steadily climbed since joining Conference Carolinas in 2025.
Chowan went 0-10 in Johnson’s first season in 2023, followed by a 3-7 campaign in 2024 and a 4-7 finish in 2025.
One of the turning points came late last season, when the Hawks defeated Barton 20-6 in a rematch played during Conference Carolinas Bowl weekend.
That momentum carried into 2026, when Chowan emerged as a legitimate championship contender and delivered a pivotal victory over North Greenville.
A championship race that came full circle
The three co-champions each finished conference play with identical 5-1 records, creating a tiebreaking challenge for the league.
North Greenville defeated UNC Pembroke, UNC Pembroke defeated Chowan and Chowan defeated North Greenville.
That circular set of results means head-to-head competition alone cannot separate the three programs.
The conference announced Saturday that its bowl tiebreakers will be released Sunday, Nov. 8.
The Conference Carolinas Bowl will determine the league’s postseason matchup, but all three programs have already earned recognition as 2026 regular-season co-champions.
For UNC Pembroke and Chowan, the shared championship gives North Carolina two teams at the top of the Conference Carolinas standings — and potentially another opportunity to compete for postseason honors.
