Williams-less Grambling Takes on Lincoln; Tuskegee and Albany State Battle; Other Big HBCU Games

By ADD SEYMOUR JR.

The Missouri Classic just got a little more interesting this week.

Grambling will head to Kansas City, Missouri without Tigers legend Doug Williams as head coach after he was fired Wednesday.  The storied program has lost 12 of their last 13 games and were 1-10 last season and has been outscored 71-19 in two games this season.

"We recognize Doug Williams' many contributions to our football legacy and we express our deep appreciation for his service to Grambling State University and we wish him well in the future," Grambling president Frank Pogue said in a school statement.

Now the Tigers, with Williams' son, D.J., at quarterback, will go into this weekend's game with Lincoln with running backs coach George Ragsdale serving as interim head coach.

Ragland will attempt to turn around a Grambling offense that is the worst in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and a defense that is ranked seventh out of the 10 SWAC teams.

Lincoln is a member of the Division II Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association.  The Blue Tigers were 1-10 last season, but feature quarterback Jacob Morris who had 1,718 yards passing, 390 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns last season.

Albany Hosts Tuskegee in Big SIAC Match-up

It may only be the second week of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season, but the game of the year may actually be occurring this week (until another one comes along a few weeks later).

Albany State hosts Tuskegee Saturday night, two of the top teams in the SIAC lock horns after big games last week -- big for Tuskegee as they manhandled Alabama A&M of the FCS/SWAC 22-7 while Albany State fell on a late field goal to North Greenville 26-24.

Neither season-openers were SIAC games, but this one is.  Both teams are in the SIAC's Big Four (along with Miles and Fort Valley State) and among the group many expect the SIAC Championship game matchup will come from.


In other games this weekend:

SWAC

- Texas Southern goes to Sam Houston State
- Alabama State visits Arkansas-Pine Bluff
- Alabama A&M is at South Carolina State
- Jackson State plays Tennessee State in the Southern Heritage Classic in Memphis
- Alcorn State takes on Mississippi Valley State
- Prairie View goes to Southern
- Grambling visits Lincoln

MEAC

- North Carolina Central heads to Charlotte
- Florida A&M hosts Samford
- Howard goes to Old Dominion
- North Carolina A&T hosts Elon
- Bethune-Cookman takes on Florida International
- Hampton hosts Tennessee Tech
- Savannah State is home against Fort Valley State
- Morgan State is at Liberty
- Delaware State goes to Towson

CIAA

- Chowan hosts Alderson Broaddus
- Elizabeth City State is at Tusculum
- St. Augustine's goes to Wingate
- Johnson C. Smith hosts Bowie State
- Virginia State takes on Benedict in the 41st New York Urban League Classic
- Winston Salem State hosts Virginia University of Lynchburg
- Livingstone hosts Catawba
- Lincoln goes to Sacred Heart
- Fayetteville State hosts Pembroke
- Shaw is at Virginia Union

SIAC

- Lane hosts Morehouse
- Kentucky State is at Central State
- Miles is at West Georgia
- Clark Atlanta hosts Stillman
- Tuskegee is at Albany State
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Tennessee State Stops Florida A&M; Other HBCU football recaps from last weekend

Photo from TSU Sports Information/Garfield Bather

By ADD SEYMOUR JR.

Tennessee State didn't take long to snap back from a first week loss to Bethune-Cookman.

Tim Broughton led a hard-charging Tigers running game with 134 yards while the TSU defense held Florida A&M to only 156 yards total offense in defeating the Rattlers 27-7 Saturday.

Broughton's second quarter, 10-yard touchdown run pushed the Big Blue Tigers to a 14-0 lead early. It came six minutes after TSU's David Van Dyke picked off FAMU quarterback Damien Fleming and took it back 46 yards for a touchdown.

Fleming opened the second half with a 36-yard touchdown pass to Lenworth Lennon, but it was the only time the Rattlers would score all night.  TSU quickly answered as Martine Stevenson returned the following kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.  Telvin Hooks closed out the scoring for the Tigers with a 14-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Hooks finished with 77 yards rushing for a TSU running game that piled up 268 yards.  The TSU defense held Florida A&M to 22 yards rushing.

Tennessee State goes to Memphis Saturday to take on Jackson State in the Southern Heritage Classic while Florida A&M hosts Samford.

 North Carolina Central 23, St. Augustine's 20 2OT

Oleg Parent's 19-yard field goal in the second overtime helped North Carolina Central to a 23-20 win and stave off an upset bid by St. Augustine's.

NCCU's Jordan Reid had three touchdown, two passing and one rushing.  His 2-yard touchdown pass to Adrian Wilkins with 29 seconds left in regulation tied the game, sending it into overtime.  The Falcons A.J. Gilford threw three touchdown passes, including a 25-yarder in the first overtime to give St. Augustine's their final lead of the day.  Reid followed with a 4-yard touchdown run to close out the first overtime.  The Eagles defense stopped St. Augustine's and then Parent finished the game with his field goal.

Reid had 253 yards passing and 45 yards rushing for North Carolina Central.

North Carolina Central visits UNC-Charlotte Satuday while St. Augustine's is at Wingate.

Howard 27, Morehouse 16

Greg McGhee threw for three touchdowns to lead Howard to a 27-16 win over Morehouse in the 3rd Annual AT&T Nations Football Classic at Washington, D.C.'s RFK Stadium.

Howard (1-1) led by as many as 24 as McGhee's third touchdown pass of the day, a 26-yarder to Rodney Tyson in the third quarter, put Howard up 27-3.  Morehouse quarterback Joshua Harris thew a 9-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Sartin and Shelton Hamilton had a 3-yard touchdown run as the Maroon Tigers rallied late.

McGhee was 21-of-27 for 242 yards passing and 54 yards rushing for the Bison.  Harris led Morehouse (0-1) with 193 yards passing and 78 yards rushing.

Howard is at Old Dominion Saturday while Morehouse visits Lane.

Jackson State 30, Alabama State 23

Clayton Moore had two touchdowns passing and another one rushing as Jackson State held off Alabama State 30-23 in the SWAC opener for both teams.

Alabama State (0-2, SWAC 0-1) jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter after Marcus Gamble caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Duhart and Isaiah Crowell ripped off an 84-yard touchdown run.  Moore threw two touchdown passes to Zachaary Pendleton and Tommy Gooden had a 2-yard touchdown run to put the Tigers up for good.  Moore added an early third quarter touchdown run to put the game out of reach.

Moore finished with 281 yards passing and 67 yards rushing for Jackson State (1-1, SWAC 1-0).  Rakeem Sims added 92 yards on the ground.  Crowell led the Hornets with 179 yards rushing.

Jackson State takes on Tennessee State in the Southern Heritage Classic Saturday while Alabama State is at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.


Other scores:

Clemson 52, South Carolina State 13
Rutgers 38, Norfolk State 0
Robert Morris 31, Morgan State 14
Virginia State 29, Fayetteville State 28
Newberry 35, Elizabeth City State 32
Charlotte 47, Chowan 7
Lane 38, Virginia-Lynchburg 13
Delta State 24, Mississippi Valley State 14
Delaware 42, Delaware State 21
Mississippi State 51, Alcorn State 7
West Alabama 42, Clark Atlanta 6
Bethune-Cookman 66, Virginia Union 7
Benedict 42, Central State 9
Lincoln 33, Cheney 28
North Carolina A&T 24, Appalachian State 21
North Greenville 26, Albany State 24
Valdosta State 36, Fort Valley State 21
Tuskegee 23, Alabama A&M 7
Northwestern State 55, Southern 14
William & Mary 31, Hampton 7
Johnson C. Smith 34, Livingstone 17
Shaw 44, Charleston 14
Texas State 28, Prairie View 3
Troy 66, Savannah State 3
Louisiana-Monroe 48, Grambling 10
McNeese State 58, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 14