It’s one thing to talk about contending for a conference championship. It’s another to back it up with your play on the field.
Winston-Salem State has done both so far this season and picked up its second CIAA victory Saturday afternoon, defeating visiting Bowie State 28-14. The triumph lifted the Rams to 4-1 overall for the first time since 2014.
Coach Robert Massey’s team knocked off the preseason favorite last week (Virginia State) and added the 2018, 2019 and 2021 champs in Bowie State in its latest outing.
Daylin Lee threw three touchdown passes for the victors, including a 65-yarder to a wide-open Jayden Grimes in the second quarter that answered Bowie’s first score. Kaleb Washington and Devin Cunningham caught the other two TD throws, one right before halftime and the other in the fourth quarter as the lead grew to 28-7.
Winston-Salem State’s defense proved just as fierce. The Rams recorded five sacks for 43 negative yards. Dante Bowlding and Avery Hall picked off passes. Justin Fleming blocked a punt.
Christopher McCorkle recovered a fumble after another Bowie punt miscue deep inside its own territory. Trevon Hester capped that opportunity with a 2-yard rushing TD.
Bowie State’s second touchdown came on the final play of the game.
Winston-Salem State now has eight interceptions on the season.
The Rams will play one more out-of-state CIAA opponent before beginning its round-robin schedule of North Carolina rivals. WSSU will visit defending CIAA champion Virginia Union next Saturday afternoon.
Johnson C. Smith 42, Bluefield State 3
So much for the notion that the Golden Bulls would be on letdown alert following their big win over Virginia Union last week. After a scoreless first quarter, Johnson C. Smith exploded for 28 points in the second period and cruised home in a game that was moved to Salem, Va. due to the effects of Hurricane Helene in Bluefield.
Johnson C. Smith improved to 5-0, 2-0 in official CIAA contests. Darius Ocean threw three touchdown passes during the second-quarter onslaught, hitting Tyrek Williams on scores of 27 and 42 yards, and Brian Morgan on a 7-yard play.
Avante George added a 1-yard rushing TD in the second quarter, while Mason Lawson and Trenton Lodge scored from short yardage in the fourth period.
Ocean threw for 258 yards. Avante rushed for 116 yards, averaging 6.1 yards per carry. Morgan made seven catches for 93 yards. Eleven different Golden Bulls caught at least one pass.
Benari Black paced the defense with 10 tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and a sack. Jack Smith had an interception. Bluefield State managed just 7 first downs and 146 total yards.
Livingstone 15, Lincoln 14
Jason Zapata hit field goals from 34, 27 and 29 yards, leading the Blue Bears to their third win of the season.
The Livingstone defense held Lincoln to four rushing yards on 36 attempts and picked off three passes. Lincoln had the ball at the Bears’ 7 in the final minutes but couldn’t get any points out of that 16-play series.
Livingstone (3-2) got its other points on a 28-yard Zorian Wallace-to-Chris Brown touchdown pass.
Virginia Union 42, Shaw 7
The defending CIAA champs bounced back in a big way after last week’s defeat at Johnson C. Smith.
Shaw had few answers for VUU running back Jada Byers (173 yards, two touchdowns) and quarterback Mark Wright (256 yards passing, two touchdowns). Byers averaged nearly nine yards per carry.
Shaw’s lone points came in the third quarter when Christian Peters found Traquan Johnson on a short-yardage touchdown. The Bears dropped to 3-2 overall, 1-1 in CIAA action.
Virginia State 35, Fayetteville State 18
The Broncos scored first on the road with a 19-yard TD pass from Joe Owens Jr. to Kahlil Ashley-Diarrah. But Virginia State scored three times before halftime to take a 21-10 lead into the break.
FSU’s other touchdown came on a 13-yard Demari Daniels to Emanuel Ortega-Garcia scoring pass. John Hernandez-Vargas kicked a 31-yard field goal before halftime.
The Broncos dropped to 2-2 overall with the loss. Virginia State, picked to win the CIAA, responded after getting knocked off by Winston-Salem State last weekend.
Elizabeth City State
The Vikings (2-2) were idle this week
Looking Ahead: CIAA Week 6 | Oct. 5
- Bluefield State at Shaw | 1 p.m.
- Bowie State at Fayetteville State | 1 p.m.
- Lincoln at Morgan State | 1 p.m.
- Winston-Salem State at Virginia Union | 1 p.m.
- Virginia State at Johnson C. Smith | 2 p.m.
- Elizabeth City State at Livingstone | 4 p.m.
