It’s another full Saturday of North Carolina D2 football. Twelve of our state’s 13 NCAA Division II schools will be in action, headlined by a battle of top 25 teams in the CIAA – Johnson C. Smith at Virginia Union. Only Chowan will have the weekend off.
[UPDATE 9/20 at 11:26 PM: All D2 games have gone final in our state. Scroll below for the day’s scores, top storylines and standout performers.]
Follow our Game Day thread for live updates and scores from today’s North Carolina D2 football excitement. Bookmark and check back throughout the weekend. We’ll add quick hitters and top performers as the day and weekend progresses.
🔗 Jump To: Key Games | Latest Updates | Scoreboard | Wrap-Up
🏆 More Live Threads: FCS | Full North Carolina College Scoreboard
📅 South Atlantic Football Schedule | Saturday, Sept. 20
- 🔥 Mars Hill 21, Anderson 14 — FINAL
- Carson-Newman 24, Lenoir-Rhyne 7 — FINAL
- 🔥 Wingate 28, UVA Wise 7 — FINAL
- Catawba 21, Newberry 10 — FINAL
📅 CIAA Football Schedule | Saturday, Sept. 20
- Virginia State 34, Winston-Salem State 33 — FINAL
- 💪 Fayetteville State 51, Elizabeth City State 8 — FINAL
- 💪 Shaw 36, Lincoln (PA) 21 — FINAL
- 💪 Livingstone 17, Bowie State 16 — FINAL
- Virginia Union 28, Johnson C. Smith 10 — FINAL
📅 Conference Carolinas Football Schedule | Saturday, Sept. 20
- 🚀 UNC Pembroke 41, Ferrum 14 — FINAL
- West Alabama 52, Barton 14 — FINAL
- Chowan idle
⚡ D2 Storylines We’re Following
- Taking Care of Business: Wingate moves to 3-0, 1-0 SAC with a workman-like win at UVA Wise. UNC Pembroke dusts off its first Conference Carolinas foe.
- Losing Streak in Rearview: Bennett Galloway rushes for three TDs, helping Catawba snap a losing streak to Newberry that dated back to 2017. Don’t look now, Indians (3-1) have already matched last year’s win total.
- Bossy in Mossy Creek: Carson-Newman defends home turf and takes advantage of a Lenoir-Rhyne team without its starting quarterback, Khamoni Robinson.
- Lightning Strikes Twice: Mars Hill overcomes multiple weather delays and captures an exciting home win for the second week in a row. Lions now 2-0 in conference on a day when rival Lenoir-Rhyne falls.
- Virginia CIAA > North Carolina CIAA Today: Defending champion Virginia Union flexed a 28-10 win over upstart Johnson C. Smith. Defending runner-up Virginia State held off Winston-Salem State by a point. Over the summer, we wondered if two NC CIAA teams might advance to the title game in Durham. Still a long way to go, but now we wonder if that number will be zero.
- Missed PATs Prove the Difference: Winston-Salem State rallies from a two-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter but comes up a fourth-quarter extra point short of knocking off the CIAA’s 2024 runner-up. Meanwhile, Livingstone holds on to beat Bowie State, thanks in part to a missed 2-point play by the Bulldogs after a fourth-quarter TD.
- Victorious Road Trip for New Shaw Coach: Lamar Manigo’s Bears defeat Lincoln to pick up first win of the season.
- Rocky Mount High: Fayetteville State dominates all facets to erase the goose egg in the win column and claim this year’s Down East Viking Classic over host Elizabeth City State. Broncos force 4 turnovers, earn 15 TFLs; Demari Daniels accounts for 4 TDs.
Down East Viking Classic has had
🏈 2 blocked punts, 1 returned for a TD
🏈 1 muffed punt return
🏈 1 blocked PAT, turned into 2 points by the kicking team
🏈 1 blocked PAT that still went through
🏈 A whole lot of FSU
Broncos 31, ECSU 8 — NC Football News (@NCFootballNews) September 20, 2025
📊 Live Scoreboard: North Carolina D2
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Anderson | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | Final | |
 | Mars Hill | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 | ||
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Fayetteville St | 14 | 17 | 10 | 10 | 51 | Final | |
 | ECSU | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | at Rocky Mount | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | JCSU | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | Final | |
 | Virginia Union | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 | ||
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Lenoir-Rhyne | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | Final | |
 | Carson-Newman | 0 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 24 | ||
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Shaw | 7 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 36 | Final | |
 | Lincoln | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 | ||
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Virginia St | 3 | 7 | 24 | 0 | 34 | Final | |
 | WSSU | 7 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 33 | ||
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Wingate | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 28 | Final | |
 | UVA Wise | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Bowie St | 3 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 16 | Final | |
 | Livingstone | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 17 | ||
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Barton | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | Final | |
 | W Alabama | 14 | 17 | 21 | 0 | 52 | ||
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Ferrum | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 | Final | |
 | UNCP | 7 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 41 | CCDN | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Catawba | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 | Final | |
 | Newberry | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
✅ NC D2 Football Wrap-Up
Biggest Win of the Day
While Johnson C. Smith and Winston-Salem State were losing tough games against Virginia foes, Fayetteville State manhandled Elizabeth City State 51-8 in a game reminiscent of past CIAA title-game runs. Honorable mention: Catawba snapped a seven-game losing streak against Newberry, putting the 3-1 Indians in the thick of early-season SAC conversations.
SAC Standout Performance
UL Monroe transfer running back Bennett Galloway enjoys a big day in Catawba’s win at Newberry, rushing for 147 yards and 3 TDs. He averaged 9.2 yards per carry.
CIAA Standout Performance
We’ll give it to the whole Fayetteville State defensive unit: Surrendered just 89 total yards, earned 15 tackles for loss, created four turnovers. Honorable mention to FSU special teams: Blocked a punt, and John Hernandez-Vargas earned 15 points with his leg (3 FGs, 6-6 PATs).
Conference Carolinas Standout Performance
UNC Pembroke (3-1, 1-0 conference) is off to its best start in nearly a decade (2017) thanks to a stout defense and continued solid play from quarterback Tre Robinson. One week after scoring the winning TDs in the fourth quarter of an upset against Delta State, Robinson throws three TD passes and rushes for another in a comfortable win over Ferrum.
Upset of the Day
The final result — defending CIAA champ Virginia Union beating Johnson C. Smith — might not be an upset in itself. But the margin, 18 points, was certainly not what we expected from a Golden Bulls team that beat VUU last year and knocked off Valdosta State a few weeks ago.
