Johnson C. Smith took a break, while Livingstone and Winston-Salem State broke the will of their opponents in CIAA football action Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Bulls (6-0, 3-0 CIAA) are on a bye this week, but the conference standings took shape around them as Livingstone knocked off perennial power Fayetteville State 24-19, Winston-Salem State topped Shaw 34-14 and Elizabeth City State dropped a 35-0 decision at Virginia Union.
Virginia State scored a 38-17 victory over Bowie State, while Lincoln beat Bluefield State 37-13 in the other CIAA games Saturday.
Where They Stand
With four weeks to play in the regular season, Johnson C. Smith and Virginia Union both share 3-0 CIAA records. Livingstone and Winston-Salem State sit at 3-1, while Virginia State is 2-1. The two teams with the best conference records will meet in Salem, Va., in mid-November to compete for the league trophy won by VUU a year ago.
Fayetteville State, which has played in the last six CIAA title games, is in danger of missing out for the first time since 2016, falling to 2-2 in conference games. Shaw also is 2-2.
Winston-Salem State will travel to Livingstone next Saturday at 4 p.m. in what is likely an elimination game for the losing squad. Johnson C. Smith will host Shaw.
Week 7 Headlines & Highlights
* Livingstone has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2024 season. The Blue Bears were picked ninth in the 11-team CIAA in the preseason but have five wins for the first time since 2015.
The last time Livingstone beat Fayetteville State? Also 2015.
Saturday marked the Blue Bears’ fourth win in a one-score game. Livingstone clipped Lincoln 15-14 and topped Elizabeth City State 23-17 in earlier CIAA contests. The Bears also slipped past Allen 23-21 in a mid-September non-conference matchup.
* Livingstone doesn’t mind mucking up a game from a stylistic viewpoint. The Bears didn’t turn many heads offensively Saturday, rushing for just 77 yards and compiling 269 total. But the defense held Fayetteville State to 3-of-14 on third-down plays and created six takeaways.
“We threw a pick-six. We had four interceptions. We had two fumbles. You won’t beat anybody like that, especially in this conference,” Fayetteville State coach Richard Hayes said afterward. “It was a tough day for us.”
* Jayden Reeder had the pick-six for Livingstone, returning it 77 yards in a total momentum changer. That result ended a Fayetteville State threat and broke a 10-10 tie with 50 seconds left before halftime.
De’Angelo Alston added a 2-yard touchdown run in the third period for a 24-10 advantage — his second TD of the day. While Demari Daniels connected with Mali Harris-Strayhorn on a 67-yard scoring play to pull the Broncos within 24-17, Livingstone’s defense held strong down the stretch.
* Reeder and Kevin Larkins Jr. both had two interceptions on the day for the Blue Bears.
* Livingstone’s Jason Zapata and Fayetteville State’s John Hernandez-Vargas hit field goals for their respective teams. Fayetteville State’s final points came on a safety.
* A week after falling flat at Virginia Union, Winston-Salem State got things back on track. Daylin Lee passed for 244 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while also rushing for two scores. Trevon Hester added 181 yards on the ground, with 70-yard touchdown burst.
The Rams outscored Shaw 28-8 from the 0:53 mark in the second quarter. Jayden Grimes and Christian MacDonald hauled in the TD throws for Winston-Salem State.
* Ballhawk Justin Fleming had another interception for the Rams, returning it 24 yards. Joyner Noble provided nine tackles.
* Winston-Salem State bulled its way to 269 rushing yards and finished with 513 total yards. Shaw managed 336 total yards.
* Shaw pulled within 7-6 with 5:06 left in the second quarter on a 13-yard Christian Peters-to-Ka’Trez Bracey touchdown pass. The Bears didn’t crack the scoreboard again until the 7:58 mark of the fourth period when Maceo Wingate caught Peters’ second TD throw from 38 yards away.
* Jada Byers rushed for 188 yards and two touchdowns, helping Virginia Union pull away from Elizabeth City State.
The Vikings kept the game scoreless through most of the first half. Mark Wright finally cracked the scoreboard for the Panthers with 1:47 left before the break on a 4-yard TD run.
* Elizabeth City State made repeated trips inside the Virginia Union redzone. The first trip ended with an interception. The second, a blocked kick. The third a stuffed run just short of the goal line.
VUU held the Vikings to 184 yards of total offense while piling up 428 yards of their own. ECSU had two turnovers.
* Johnson C. Smith will close its regular season with games against Shaw (Oct. 19), at Winston-Salem State (Oct. 26), vs. Fayetteville State (Nov. 2) and at Livingstone (Nov. 9).
* A reminder that not all games played between CIAA schools this season will count in the standings. Due to unbalanced scheduling — some teams play eight games and others seven — the league will only count results from each school’s final seven CIAA contests.
That means Johnson C. Smith’s win over Virginia Union last month counts for the Golden Bulls, but the loss doesn’t count for the Panthers since that contest was the first of eight.
