It’s another power-packed Saturday of North Carolina D2 football. All but two of our state’s 13 NCAA Division II schools will be in action, headlined by a SAC title-game rematch, homecoming at Johnson C. Smith, UNC Pembroke traveling to Top-25 Valdosta State, and Fayetteville State & Shaw hosting CIAA front-runners Virginia State & Virginia Union.
Barton and Elizabeth City State will have the weekend off.
[UPDATE: All D2 games have now gone final. Check out our takeaways and D2 wrap-up, along with all final scores, below]
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.
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🏆 More Live Threads: FBS | FCS | Full North Carolina College Scoreboard
📅 North Carolina D2 Football Schedule | Saturday, Sept. 27
- Chowan 30, Shorter 29 — FINAL
- Mars Hilll 21, Mary Hardin-Baylor 7 — FINAL
- 🔥 Fayetteville State 34, No. 23 Virginia State 14 — FINAL
- No. 21 Virginia Union 59, Shaw 10 — FINAL
- Winston-Salem State 28, Bowie State 21 — FINAL
- Johnson C. Smith 69, Bluefield State 13 — FINAL
- Livingstone 31, Lincoln (PA) 7 — FINAL
- Catawba 63, Southern Connecticut Statee 23 — FINAL
- 🔥 UNC Pembroke 31 Valdosta State 0 — FINAL
- 🔥 Carson-Newman 21, Wingate 14 — FINAL
- 🔥 Newberry 20, Lenoir-Rhyne 17 — FINAL
Lions in the Win column again this week!! #RollHill pic.twitter.com/xbGJG7UNHP — MHU Football (@MarsHill_FB) September 28, 2025
⚡ D2 Storylines We’re Following Today & What Actually Happened
🔥 Hawks Seeking First Conference Carolinas Victory
Playing in its third conference in four years, Chowan will seek its first victory as a member of Conference Carolinas. Quarterback Maurice Smith directs an offense that can grind you through the air or on the ground
What Happened: Smith accounted for three touchdowns, including the game-winning TD rush from the 1 with 4:09 to play, to put the Hawks into the conference win column. Jaden Leonard and Justin Taylor each had fourth-quarter interceptions. Welcome home, Hawks!
🏆 SAC Title Implications
Wingate (3-0) hosts Carson-Newman in a rematch of last year’s South Atlantic Conference championship game. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 19 in the AFCA Coaches Poll, are aiming to stay unbeaten in what could be a defining matchup in the league race. With no divisions and no title game this season, every head-to-head carries extra weight.
What Happened: The Eagles avenged last year’s defeat on the same field at Wingate, knocking off the final undefeated college football team in North Carolina. Mars Hill now looms as the only team without a SAC loss in the early season.
⚡ UNCP’s Georgia Challenge
UNC Pembroke continues to appear in the AFCA’s “Others Receiving Votes” and now travels to national power Valdosta State. The Blazers have already faced two North Carolina schools this month, falling to Johnson C. Smith before rebounding against Chowan.
What Happened: UNC Pembroke made history, becoming the first team to pin a shutout on the Blazers since the early 1990s. Mark Hall’s Braves improve to 4-1 and now set their sites on claiming the first Conference Carolinas crown.
🏈 CIAA Crossroads
Virginia Union and Virginia State knocked off in-state opponents last week. Now Fayetteville State and Shaw get their shot at the defending CIAA champs and their rivals. The Broncos enter fresh off a Down East Viking Classic win, while the Bears try to slow VUU’s high-powered offense.
What Happened: Fayetteville State did its part, bouncing Virginia State right out of the Top 25 with a convincing win. Once again, the defense dominated: six sacks, 12 tackles for loss, three forced turnovers. Shaw meanwhile struggled to contain the CIAA champs, giving up 59 points.
🔄 Golden Bulls Reset
Johnson C. Smith (3-1) looks to bounce back from last week’s 28-10 loss at Virginia Union. Bluefield State visits Charlotte for homecoming — a chance for the Golden Bulls to vent some frustrations and return to form.
What Happened: The Golden Bulls unleashed alright, scoring 69 and posting on their most lopsided victories in school history. Happy homecoming!
🐻 Blue Bears Battling
Livingstone (2-1) has shown plenty of grit, edging Bowie State by a single point last week. A home win over Lincoln (PA) would further cement the Blue Bears as one of the CIAA’s early-season surprises.
What Happened: Livingstone has been beating the teams they should be beating to improve to 3-1. Now the Blue Bears prepare for three straight on the road against in-state CIAA foes: ECSU, Fayetteville State and Winston-Salem State
⬆️ Catawba, Mars Hill Rising
While Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne usually draw headlines in the SAC, both Catawba (3-1) and Mars Hill (2-1) have impressed this September. Each gets one last nonconference test — Mars Hill welcomes D3 power Mary Hardin-Baylor from Texas, while Catawba hosts Southern Connecticut State in a rare regional crossover.
What Happened: Two impressive victories! Could we be seeing a changing of the guard among North Carolina’s SAC schools? The Indians will host Mars Hill next weekend in what suddenly looms as a huge conference showdown.
✅ D2 Football Wrap-Up
Check back later this weekend for our main takeaways from today’s action across the CIAA, SAC and Conference Carolinas. We’ll highlight:
🏆 Biggest Win of the Day
Let’s nominate a 1A and a 1B this week: UNC Pembroke pinned an eye-opening 31-0 bagel on Valdosta State, the D2 runner-up from a year ago. That got national attention today. Fayetteville State, meanwhile, issued another “We’re still here” statement against recently ranked Virginia State. That Broncos defense, whew.
💪 Standout Performance
Let’s tip the cap to Catawba’s entire offensive unit today in a cross-regional matchup with an NEC foe. The Indians rushed for 379 yards and passed for another 259 (638 total).
Catawba had two 100-yard RBs — Kevin Lalin (140 yards, 1 TD) and Marquece Williams (126 yards, 2 TDs) — and then Bennett Galloway went for 87 yards and four (!) trips to the end zone. Efficient QB Preston Brown completed 20-of-22 passes for 259 yards and 2 more scores.
𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 🧑🍳🔥
Williams' 49-yard dash to the paint makes it 63-20!#BleedBlue | #CatawbaCulture https://t.co/H7QZ37L55y pic.twitter.com/TA1Sts2Qz8 — Catawba Football (@CatawbaFootball) September 27, 2025
⚡ Biggest Upset
Since we’ve already given props to Fayetteville State and UNC Pembroke for beating ranked foes, we’ll salute Newberry from south of the border. The Wolves surprised Lenoir-Rhyne 10-7 to reclaim the Bishop’s Trophy.
🔥 Other Highlights & Takeaways
- Mars Hill is the last remaining team in the SAC without a conference loss
- Johnson C. Smith picked up 29 first downs in its homecoming blowout of Bluefield State. The Golden Bulls (4-1) never punted and kicked off 11 times. Kelvin Durham threw 4 TD passes
- Don’t look now but Livingstone has won three in a row. The Blue Bears stand on top of the early CIAA standings with Fayetteville State. Both teams are 2-0. Reigning champ VUU is 1-0.
📊 Live Scoreboard: North Carolina D2
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Chowan | 7 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 30 | Final | |
 | Shorter | 7 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 29 | CCDN | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | MH-Baylor | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 7 | Final | |
 | Mars HIll | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 | FloCollege | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Virginia St | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | Final | |
 | Fayetteville St | 7 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 34 | CIAA-SN | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Virginia Union | 10 | 21 | 21 | 7 | 59 | Final | |
 | Shaw | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | CIAA-SN | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | WSSU | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 28 | Final | |
 | Bowie State | 3 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 21 | CIAA-SN | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Bluefield St | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13 | Final | |
 | JCSU | 14 | 21 | 27 | 7 | 69 | CIAA-SN | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Lincoln | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | Final | |
 | Livingstone | 14 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 31 | CIAA-SN | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | S Conn State | 3 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 23 | Final | |
 | Catawba | 14 | 21 | 14 | 14 | 63 | FloCollege | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | UNCP | 0 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 31 | Final | |
 | Valdosta St | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | FloCollege | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Carson-Newman | 7 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 21 | Final | |
 | Wingate | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | FloCollege | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Newberry | 0 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 20 | Final | |
 | Lenoir-Rhyne | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 | FloCollege |
🔗 More North Carolina Football Coverage
- North Carolina FCS Football Game Day
- North Carolina FBS Football Game Day
- Full North Carolina College Football Scoreboard | Week 5
- North Carolina High School Football Scores | Sept. 26
