| Week-One Kicked Off 2010 for Division II - Now Div. I FCS Action Starts & NFL Scouts Have Added PV To Their Itinerary |
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| Mon, Aug 30, 2010 > 10:06am |
If you are a college football fan, this past weekend was exciting because teams took the field with plenty of anticipation. The season got underway in Division II action (CIAA, SIAC & Independents) and everyone was unbeaten. Fans following Division I FCS are presently going through the same anticipation as their season will kick-off this Thursday. All of the pre-season hype is over and for the next three and a half months college football fans across the country will enjoy the excitement and pageantry of Black College football.
Week-One Div. II
First we must talk about the HSRN Game of the Week – VA. Union Panthers at Winston Salem State Rams. This game was big, because the Rams were making their debut back into their original conference after a five year track moving up to Division I FCS and the MEAC. The Rams were coming off a 1-10 2009 season and the Panthers were trying to erase the thought of a bad coin-flip that kept them out of the CIAA Championship game. If you didn’t know, the CIAA Eastern Division ended in a three-way tie (Bowie St. Elizabeth City and VA. Union) and Bowie St. won the coin-flip and made the championship game. The Rams sent a message around the CIAA with their 47-13 blow out in front of a near capacity crowd in High Point, NC.
Now before we go any further, the HSRN broadcast crew had a major setback in High Point, when the North Star telephone company did not complete the installment of the ISDN line, needed for the broadcast. That sent the broadcast out the window. The technician informed us that everything was complete at the stadium, but at the switching station, the computer had not been probably programmed which was essential for us to connect with our studio and Sirius production studio in New York. Wow! A road trip that left HSRN a little hot under the collar, because we pride ourselves in making sure the Black College community across the country receive professional coverage of games and action. One thing we had to realize, the technical difficulties were beyond our control. We were upset, but we had to instantly gear our thoughts to the next game (The John Merritt Classic) Alabama A&M vs. Tennessee St. in Nashville, TN.
With that said, before we move on, we must mention the other CIAA games that saw non-conference action go into the negative. The CIAA was 0-3 in non-conference play with Chowan losing to Lenoir-Rhyne (59-10), Bowie St. came-up short at Seton Hill (20-14) and St. Paul’s was outscored at West Virginia Wesleyan (35-28). CIAA top dogs Fayetteville St. and Shaw will kick-off their season this Saturday.
Now in the SIAC, the big match-up was in Columbia, SC with Morehouse taking on Benedict. Both schools are predicted to be in the championship race and the game lived up to the hype with Morehouse hanging on in overtime, defeating Benedict 34-27. Albany St. blew out Kentucky St. 42-12; Clark Atlanta defeated Lane 20-6 and Ft. Valley showed their defensive strength with a 24-3 win over Miles.
On the Independent side, NAIA Central State Football League power Langston got off to a successful start with a 28-20 win over Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX. Langston has been in the NAIA national playoffs the past two seasons.
Div. I FCS – Games Headlining Season Opening Weekend…..
Black College football will be in full swing this weekend with major games kicking off the season in Division I. The weekend actually kicks off on Thursday evening (Sept. 2) with teams taking on Division I BCS teams. The major fact for each, they are stepping up against strong traditional programs. Florida A&M travels to Univ. of Miami (ACC), Norfolk St. is at Rutgers (Big East) and Hampton is at defending MAC champion, Central Michigan (MAC). One important point, it is great exposure for each team, but a huge task on the field. Also kicking off on Thursday are the Eagles of N.C. Central, the MEAC’s newest member, hosting former CIAA rival J.C. Smith.
On Saturday (Sept 4) the big match-ups will have S.C. State traveling to Georgia Tech (ACC) and Grambling kicking off the inaugural Port City Classic at Independence Stadium in Shreveport against Louisiana Tech (WAC).
On Sunday (Sept. 5) the MEAC/SWAC Challenge in Orlando, FL, Delaware State and Southern will clash for bragging rights between the two conferences. The big conference game is the SWAC match-up in Houston, TX, the Annual Labor Day grudge match between the Panthers of Prairie View and the Tigers of Texas Southern. The Panthers are the defending SWAC champs and the Tigers are setting their goals for a championship run in 2010, after Coach Johnnie Cole’s 6-5 finished last year and 15 starters returning.
Pro Scouts Have Found Their Way To Prairie View
Coach Henry Frazier has revived the football program at Prairie View and after last season’s SWAC championship run; the Panthers are drawing a lot of attention from pro scouts. The important point about the attention created, is this is pre-season camp. Naturally Frazier is happy for his players and Prairie View to receive the opportunity to make an impression.
Frazier commented on the attention his program was getting during pre-season camp. “We’ve only been in shoulder pads for a few practices but we’ve had eight scouts stop by with several more expected to show,” said Frazier. “It’s exciting to see that we have four to five players the NFL is looking at and want to see in action. To have NFL scouts attend nearly every practice is definitely a feather in the cap for the program and the players because they’ve worked hard to pout themselves in a position where people on the next level want to see them.”
The Panthers have a combined record of 25-5 over the past three years coupled with last seasons SWAC Championship, plethora of the SWAC’s top athletes and several strong recruiting classes, Frazier said PV will be a consistent stop on the NFL radar as long as the players put in the work to develop themselves. “I’m excited with what’s coming down the pipeline as we have some really good young football players along with some older players,” stated Frazier. “As long as they stay committed to the program and develop physically and mentally along with making plays on the field, it’ll put them in position to have the NFL scouts come out during their travels in the fall and spring.”
For some football season is a week old, but going into week two, the season goes full blast. The anticipation has all fans preparing to enjoy the excitement of supporting their favorite teams. HSRN.com will be in full gear to bring you all the action and the inside news from around the Black College community. We are looking forward to this weekend, last weekend their were some great individual performances, so check out the top four and vote for who you thing should be the HSRN Fan Poll National Player of the Week. Click here for the nominees and then cast you vote at HSRN.com
by LeCounte Conaway |
