All but one of North Carolina’s D2 football teams will be in action today as the 2025 season reaches yet another crucial round of conference matchups.
UNC Pembroke celebrates homecoming and attempts to stay perfect in Conference Carolinas play. Catawba puts a 5-1 overall record on the line at Wingate, with both squads – as well as Mars Hill and Lenoir-Rhyne – looking to stay in contention in the crowded South Atlantic.
Meanwhile, the CIAA has reached the juicy part of the schedule where North Carolina rival schools take aim at each other. This week brings Winston-Salem State at Shaw and Livingstone at Fayetteville State. Johnson C. Smith is the only idle D2 squad this week.
Follow our Game Day thread for live updates and scores from today’s North Carolina D2 football action. Bookmark and check back throughout the weekend. We’ll add quick hitters and top performers as the day and weekend progresses.
🔗 Jump To: Today’s D2 Games | Live Scoreboard | Wrap-Up
🏆 More Scores: Full North Carolina College Scoreboard
📅 North Carolina D2 Football | Saturday, Oct. 11
🔥CIAA Football Schedule & Scores
Virginia Union 37, Elizabeth City State 18 – FINAL
Shaw 20, Winston-Salem State 13 – FINAL
Virginia State 28, Bowie State 21 – FINAL
Bluefield State 30, Lincoln (PA) 27 – FINAL
Fayetteville State 38, Livingstone 14 – FINAL
Johnson C. Smith idle
🚨 UPSET ALERT: Shaw stuns Winston-Salem State, pulling off one of the biggest CIAA shockers of the year
💪 Conference Carolinas Schedule & Scores
North Greenville 30, Erskine 0 – FINAL
Barton 34, Ferrum 20 – FINAL
UNC Pembroke 52, Shorter 21 – FINAL
West Florida 40, Chowan 10 – FINAL
🚨 BIG TOE: Barton placekicker Andrew Bonketoe hit a 53-yard field goal against Ferrum, the second-longest FG by a North Carolina kicker this season at any level.
🚨 CHALK TALK: The preseason favorites in Conference Carolinas, UNCP and North Greenville, each improved to 3-0 in league play with comfortable wins. If you’re looking ahead, UNCP visits North Greenville next Saturday.
FINAL: Braves Win 52-21#BraveNation pic.twitter.com/mkZZOY0iKv
— UNCP Braves Football (@UNCP_Football) October 11, 2025
⚡South Atlantic Conference Schedule & Scores
Newberry 35, Tusculum 28 –FINAL
Emory & Henry 48, Mars Hill 23 – FINAL
Anderson 35, Lenoir-Rhyne 28 –FINAL
UVA Wise 65, SC Central Christian 0 – FINAL
Wingate 41, Catawba 28 – FINAL
✅ D2 Football Wrap-Up
Here is what stood out to us after a busy Saturday or Division II football in our state:
🏆 Biggest Win of the Day
Welcome back, Wingate. The Bulldogs, reigning champions in the South Atlantic, swooned the past two games but rebounded in a big way against visiting Catawba. Known mostly for its defensive prowess in recent years, Wingate picked up 527 yards on the offensive side and never punted.
Xavier Pugh had the most impressive stat line for the ‘Dogs: 20 carries, 164 yards, 3 TDs. Wingate’s defense bent but didn’t break, holding Catawba to 75 rushing yards en route to building a 35-14 lead.
North Carolina teams have some work to do to keep the SAC championship trophy in our state. Emory & Henry (5-1) and Newberry (4-1) lead the standings, with Catawba, Wingate and Mars Hill all with two conference losses.
Jaylin Himes after a 7 rec. 105 yards and a touchdown performance helping lead the Wingate Offense to 527 total offense and 41 points in a 41-28 win over Catawba. pic.twitter.com/c9iXdbVYEM — Wingate Bulldogs (@WU_Bulldogs) October 12, 2025
💪 Standout Performance
Better late than never. Barton became the final North Carolina college football team to earn a win, toppling Ferrum 34-20. Jackson Parrish rushed for 218 yards and scored on a 39-yard dash, becoming one of only a handful of backs in our state to hit the 200-yard plateau. Al Lee threw two touchdowns passes and rushed for another. Welcome to the win column, Bulldogs!
⚡ Biggest Upset
Shaw pulled off one of the wildest wins of the weekend, stunning Winston-Salem State with a 20-13 comeback win in Durham. The Bears dominated time of possession — an almost unbelievable 43 minutes and 47 seconds — and wore down the favored Rams with a grind-it-out attack that kept the ball away from WSSU’s offense and QB Daylin Lee. Shaw also converted seven of nine fourth-down attempts, repeatedly extending drives and frustrating a defense that simply couldn’t get off the field.
Freshman quarterback Alexander Marsh led the late rally, throwing two fourth-quarter touchdowns to erase a 13-7 deficit, including the game-winner to Trey Thorpe with seven seconds left. Shaw’s defense made sure it stood, forcing two key interceptions and limiting WSSU to just 51 passing yards in the second half. It was a program-defining win for the Bears — their second CIAA victory of the season under new coach Lamar Manigo and first over Winston-Salem State since 2022 — and one that will be remembered as much for its resilience as its improbable stat line.
🔥 Other Highlights & Takeaways
- UNC Pembroke extended its North Carolina college football-best win streak to six games, racing past Shorter on a rainy homecoming. Tre Robinson threw four TD passes and rushed for another.
- Fayetteville State honored former defensive standout and current Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Joshua Williams by retiring his jersey in a special halftime ceremony.
- Fayetteville State leads the CIAA with a 4-0 mark after Saturday. Virginia Union sits at 3-0, followed by Johnson C. Smith 2-1 and Bluefield State 2-1.
- Win or lose, Livingstone defensive lineman Kenyon Garner is a monster. Garner finished with 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks on Saturday.
- The box score doesn’t tell the full story in the Elizabeth City State-Virginia Union game. The 1-5 Vikings played the 2024 CIAA champs toe-to-toe well into the second half. A D’Andre Tolson 28-yard interception return for a TD pulled ECSU within 21-18 midway through the third. VUU led just 24-18 heading to the fourth.
- WSSU’s Jamieson Alston made 16 tackles, earned 2.5 TFLs, forced a fumble and broke up a pass at Shaw.
📊 Live Scoreboard: North Carolina D2 Football
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Virginia Union | 7 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 37 | Final | |
 | ECSU | 0 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 18 | CIAA-SN | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | WSSU | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 | Final | |
 | Shaw | 0 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 20 | CIAA-SN | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Livingstone | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | Final | |
 | Fayetteville St | 7 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 38 | CIAA-SN | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Barton | 0 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 34 | Final | |
 | Ferrum | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 20 | CCDN | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Emory & Henry | 7 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 48 | Final | |
 | Mars Hill | 7 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 23 | FloCollege | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Anderson | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 35 | Final | |
 | Lenoir-Rhyne | 14 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 28 | FloCollege | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Shorter | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 | Final | |
 | UNCP | 21 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 52 | CCDN | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Chowan | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 | Final | ||
 | West Florida | 14 | 6 | 20 | 40 | FloCollege | ||
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Catawba | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 | Final | |
 | Wingate | 14 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 41 | FloCollege |
