| MEAC FOOTBALL REVIEW: Week 10 Norfolk State clinches tie for the MEAC title with romp over Savannah |
 |
 |
| Mon, Nov 7, 2011 > 2:43pm |
By ALVIN HOLLINS JR.Rockstat7376@aol.com Tallahassee, FL – The first week of November saw the Norfolk State Spartans’ march towards the 2011 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title get closer to realization with a huge road win at Savannah State, while a four-way tie for second place has now developed as two more teams fell out of contention. Saturday’s games eliminated Hampton and North Carolina A&T, while forging a four-way tie for second at 4-2 between Bethune-Cookman, FAMU, Morgan State and South Carolina State. Norfolk State (8-2, 6-1) needs a win this coming weekend at Morgan State to capture their first-ever MEAC title since joining the league in 1997, while the four trailing teams are hoping Morgan can pull off the upset at Baltimore next Saturday, to keep them all alive in the chase until the final week. The Spartans crushed Savannah State (1-8, 1-5) 45-3 Saturday, rolling up over 500 total yards, while holding the Tigers under 100, to clinch at least a tie for the title. Other winners on Saturday were Howard University (5-5, 4-3) which eliminated punchless Hampton University (5-4, 3-3) with a 10-7 win at Armstrong Stadium, where the Pirates’ lone score came on defense; Bethune-Cookman (6-3, 4-2) who waylaid the visiting Morgan State Bears (5-4, 4-2), 49-23 behind QB Jackie Wilson’s 260 total yards and 3 TDs; North Carolina Central (2-7, 1-5) edged slumping Delaware State (2-7, 0-6), which lost its’ seventh straight, 14-7, while Florida A&M ( 6-3, 4-2) rallied from a 20-7 deficit to ease past visiting North Carolina A&T (4-5, 3-3), 26-20. South Carolina State (5-4, 4-2) enjoyed a bye this weekend, and will return to action at home next Saturday against North Carolina A&T at Orangeburg, before closing the regular season at Savannah State. Here are recaps of this weekend’s games: *Howard 10, Hampton 7– Hampton, VA @ Howard (5-5, 4-3) used a ball-control offense to keep the homestanding Hampton Pirates (5-4, 3-3) on ice offensively… The Bison held the ball for 41:19 Saturday, outgaining Hampton, 311-122, limiting the home team to just 16 yards rushing… QB Greg McGhee scored a rushing TD in the second period to give Howard a 7-0 lead at the break, then PK Parker Munoz tacked on a 23-yard field goal with 7:53 left in the third for a 10-7 lead, after the Pirate defense pounced on a Bison fumble in the end zone with 12:29 left in the third period to tie the game 7-7… RB Terrence LeFall rushed for 131 yards on 41 carries for Howard, which got 132 passing yards from McGhee on 14 of 22 passing… Hampton’s Antwon Chisolm led the Pirates with 13 yards rushing on eight carries, while they used two quarterbacks to generate just 106 passing yards and two interceptions. *North Carolina Central 14, Delaware State 7 – Dover, DE @This battle of last place teams led by first year head coaches went the way of the visiting North Carolina Central Eagles (2-7, 1-5), which got a pair of one-yard scoring bursts from RB Andre Clarke to seize the victory… Delaware State (2-7, 0-6) scored first on an 11-yard pass from QB Nick Elko to WR Justin Wilson early in the second period, before the first of Clarke’s two scoring runs near halftime tied the score, 7-7…. Central outgained the Hornets, 366-302, led by RB Idreis Augustus, who rumbled for 161 yards on 24 carries, while QB Michael Johnson threw for 161 yards on 18 of 29 passing… DSU’s Nick Elko passed for 244 yards (22 of 36), tossing a pair of interceptions for the Hornets, which lost their seventh straight game. *Bethune-Cookman 49, Morgan State 23 – Daytona Beach, FL @The second place Morgan State Bears (5-4, 4-2) ran into a buzzsaw in Daytona Beach, as the surging Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (6-4, 4-2) rushed for 290 yards on 53 running plays, en route to 476 total yards against the Bears’ defense… QB Jackie Wilson led the ‘Cats attack, rushing for 74 yards and 3 TDs on 12 carries, while passing for 186 yards on 10 completions (15 attempts). RB Isidore Jackson added 93 yards on 20 carries to the B-CU ground game… With the ‘Cats clinging to a 14-10 lead coming out of halftime, Wilson led a 21-point third quarter surge with scoring runs of four and 45 yards to stake his club to a 35-10 lead after three periods…. Morgan did get 133 yards rushing from RB Travis Davidson on 17 carries, but their hopes of pulling even with Norfolk State in the standing went by the boards with Saturday’s loss. *Norfolk State 45, Savannah State 3 – Savannah, GA @League-leading Norfolk State (8-2, 6-1) crushed Savannah State (1-8, 1-5), 45-3, piling up 559 total yards, while limiting the homestanding Tigers to a paltry 45 total yards of offense (25 passing, 20 rushing)… NSU, which clinched at least a tie for its’ first-ever MEAC title with the win, bolted to a 21-0 lead after one period and took a 24-0 edge into the lockeroom… Norfolk added 14 third quarter points and seven in the fourth…. The Spartans rushed for 265 yards, led by Keith Johnson, who gained 85 yards on a single carry, while QB Chris Walley scrambled for 72 yards on four carries, while passing for 271 yards and 3 TDs on 20 completions (25 attempts)… WR Derrick Demps caught two TD aerials, finishing the day with with five grabs for 106 yards. *Florida A&M 26, North Carolina A&T 20 – Tallahassee, FL @ The other elimination game saw Florida A&M (6-3, 4-2) rally behind the passing of freshman Damien Fleming and the kicking of senior PK Trevor Scott, to ease past visiting North Carolina A&T (4-5, 3-3), 26-20… The Aggies, led by RB Mike Mayhem, who scored the game’s first two TDs and ran for 80 yards on 22 carries before leaving with an injury, forged a 13-0 lead by the second period, before Fleming struck back with a 63-yard bomb to senior Kevin Elliott to cut the lead to 13-7… Dominique Drake’s nine-yard run extended A&T to a 20-7 advantage, but a 10-yard TD strike to Elliott by Fleming, made it 20-14, before Scott booted long field goals of 41 and 42 yards to tie the game 20-20 at the break… Scott tacked on a 40-yarder in the third period and a 33-yarder in the final stanza… Fleming finishing with 254 passing yards on 16 of 33 passing, while RB Eddie Rocker ran for 107 yards on 12 carries and Elliott finished with 96 receiving yards on three receptions…. Lewis Kindle threw for 246 yards (19 of 36) and rushed for 62 yards, while Wallace Miles led all receivers with 12 catches for 159 yards. HANDICAPPING THE MEAC FOOTBALL RACE With two weeks left, five teams – Norfolk State (6-1), Morgan State (4-2), South Carolina State (4-2), Bethune-Cookman (4-2) and FAMU (4-2) – remain mathematically alive in the MEAC title chase. NORFOLK STATE (6-1): Can win the title outright by beating Morgan State in Baltimore this week to finish 7-1. @MEAC LOSS: To Bethune-Cookman MORGAN STATE (4-2): Must win their last two games over Norfolk and Hampton to finish 6-2, preventing NSU from winning the title outright, landing in a tie for first. @MEAC LOSS: To Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T SOUTH CAROLINA STATE (4-2): Must win their final two games (A&T, Savannah) and hope Norfolk loses to Morgan, and that FAMU and Morgan both finish with three (3) conference losses, to earn a share of the title with Norfolk, whom they did not play this year.. @MEAC LOSSES: To FAMU, Norfolk BETHUNE-COOKMAN (4-2): Must win out, beating Savannah and FAMU to finish 6-2, then would need Norfolk to finish 6-2, given their head-to-head edge over the Spartans, and for SCSU and A&T to each lose one more game to neutralize their head-to-head advantage. @MEAC LOSSES: To S.C. State, North Carolina A&T FLORIDA A&M (4-2): Must win out beating NCCU and B-CU to finish 6-2, then with Hampton getting eliminated with a loss on Saturday, FAMU now needs Morgan to beat Norfolk to have shot at claiming a share of the title. @MEAC LOSSES: To Hampton, Howard HAMPTON (3-3) and NORTH CAROLINA A&T (3-3): were both eliminated from further consideration with loses on Saturday. |