CIAA Recaps: Johnson C. Smith makes history, Fayetteville State kicks Bowie at the buzzer

The chase for Salem, Virginia — the site of this year’s CIAA football championship — came into better focus during a busy Saturday of conference action.

Johnson C. Smith and Virginia Union positioned themselves as the clear front-runners with impressive victories. The Golden Bulls improved to 3-0 in the CIAA standings with a 21-17 win over preseason favorite Virginia State. VUU meanwhile moved to 2-0 in official league games with a dominant performance against visiting Winston-Salem State.

Fayetteville State, Shaw and Livingstone also won Saturday, with the trio keeping the leaders within their reach heading into the final five weeks of the regular season.

CIAA Scoreboard | Week 6

• Johnson C. Smith 21, Virginia State 17
• Fayetteville State 27, Bowie State 24
• Shaw 35, Bluefield State 17
• Livingstone 23, Elizabeth City State 17
• Virginia Union 31, Winston-Salem State 13

Headlines & Highlights

* Johnson C. Smith improved to 6-0 for the first time in school history. The Golden Bulls, who entered the Division II top 25 for the first time ever earlier this week, are pursuing their first conference championship in football since 1969.

JCSU leads Virginia Union by half a game in the current CIAA standings. Keep in mind the league is only using the last seven conference games for each school to compile its official standings. Johnson C. Smith beat Virginia Union a few weeks ago, but the loss won’t count on the Panthers’ CIAA ledger because it was their first of eight games against conference foes.

* John Hernandez-Vargas kicked a 22-yard field goal as the clock hit zeroes to give Fayetteville State a crucial conference triumph. The Broncos improved to 2-1 in league play (3-2 overall).

Hernandez-Vargas also made a 33-yard field goal and booted three extra points.

* Richard Hayes has won a lot of games during his time at the helm of FSU’s program — enough to advance to six consecutive CIAA title games — but Saturday marked his first win over Bowie State.

“It’s never dull, but it sure feels good to beat those Bulldogs,” Hayes said. “It’s been a long time coming for us. Our guys stayed in it today. We were in some tough situations but we persevered.”

Bowie State had tied the game 24-24 with less than two minutes to play. Fayettevillle State moved 34 yards in eight plays down the stretch to set up Hernandez-Vargas’ clutch field goal.

* Fayetteville State’s defense turned Bowie State away twice inside the red zone. Shi Gaskin picked off a pass in the game and had a key sack. Jamari Slade finished with a team-high 11 tackles.

* Air Broncos? Joe Owens Jr. threw for 342 yards and a touchdown for Fayetteville State, which has unleashed a more potent offense this season under new coordinator, Kevin Magouirk. Kameron King caught the TD toss and finished with 135 receiving yards.

* Shaw had two 100-yard rushers in its Saturday win over Bluefield State. Travon Tensley averaged 11.2 yards per carry, finished with 123 yards on the ground and scored a TD on a 74-yard burst. Traquan Johnson added 102 yards on 11 totes (8.8 ypc) and scored on a 19-yard run.

Quarterback Christian Peters, who leads all of North Carolina in touchdown passes, added another Saturday, a 19-yard completion to Ah’shaan Belcher. Peters also rushed for a score. Shaw improved to 4-2.

* Livingstone rallied from a 17-7 deficit in the second half to defeat the Vikings on the blue turf in Salisbury. Scott Calvin found the end zone on a 39-yard run. Hezekiah Massey caught a 21-yard TD pass from Zorian Wallace. Jason Zapata booted a 49-yard field goal.

Livingstone improved to 4-2, matching its win total from all of last season. Mohamed Nyanamukenga didn’t find the end zone for the Blue Bears but picked up 105 yards rushing on 23 carries.

Demarcus Creecy rushed for a touchdown and threw a TD pass for Elizabeth City State (2-3).

* Defending CIAA champion Virginia Union stalled a surging Winston-Salem State squad in Richmond. The Rams lost three fumbles on the day and threw an interception. VUU led 24-3 at the break.

Winston-Salem State (4-2) only found the end zone once, in the fourth quarter on a Daylin Lee-to-Brandon Person-Boyd 8-yard pass.

CIAA Standings | After Week 6