Virginia Union 23, Saint Paul's 7

October 8, 2006

By Darrius Herring

RICHMOND- The Tigers of Saint Paul’s and the Panthers of Virginia Union had a chance to live out their NFL dreams and play on Sunday, because due to the torrential rain that pelted central and southside Virginia Friday night, the game could not be played on Saturday.

Saturday was supposed to be Head Coach Willard Bailey’s triumphant return to the Richmond school where he served as head coach for over 20 years.

But the Panthers were having none of it as they pounced on the Tigers early and just dismantled the stout Saint Paul’s defense with a healthy dose of Elihu Smith to an impressive 23-7 victory at Hovey Field.

Smith rushed for 187 yards on 31 carries on the day but scored no touchdowns for Virginia Union.

“Touchdowns are good but the wins are better,” said Smith, who combined with backfield mate Torian Donaldson and signal caller Lamar Little combined for 267 yards on the ground for the Panthers.

The first score of the contest was scored by Little when he sprinted to the corner of the endzone to make the score 6-0 capping a 10 play 70 yard drive. The extra point by Hugo Flores-Diaz was blocked.

It wouldn’t take long for VUU to strike again, as the quarterback for the Tigers, Michael Garrison fumbled the snap on the ensuing drive and Little hit Michael Hampton for an 18 yard strike to make the score 13-0 with 1:13 left to play in the opening stanza.

The turnover bug struck for Saint Paul’s again as on their next possession, Garrison threw a pick right into the arms of Niles Rainey to give the small but spirited crowd more to cheer about.

The Tigers held their ground and would eventually get an opportunity to make their presence felt as they forced a fumble by Little and Cordero Hooper recovered on the four yard line.

On the first play of the drive running back Terrell Bailey could not get through the hole quick enough that was made by the offensive line and super fullback Keivey Rowes and was replaced by Craig Mangram.

Mangram, a biscuit away from being a down lineman himself rumbled his way into the endzone behind all that beef to make the score 13-7 with 4:10 left to go in the first half.

Saint Paul’s had a another scoring opportunity in the first half, but normally sure footed kicker Shaun Gutierrez, missed wide left from 37 yards out and the score remained 13-7 for the rest of the half.

Despite dominating on the offensive side of the football head coach Arrington Jones III and his Panthers had not closed the door yet on the Tigers.

“At the half, we told the team that this had to be the best two quarters of the season,” said Jones.

And they responded by playing strong defense and power football in the second half.

The only score of the third quarter was a chip shot field goal from Flores-Diaz from 19 yards to make the score 16-7. That field goal was the climax of a 15play 72-yard drive that ate up over eight minutes of clock time. A drive in which Smith carried the ball ten times.

While the Panthers were chewing up the clock the Tigers were stuck in neutral. For the second straight week the Tigers could not get anything done on offense in the second half. Saint Paul’s completely abandoned the running game and amassed a grand total of 163 total yards, 13 of which were on the ground.

The final nail in the coffin of the Tigers was a 26-yard scamper by Donaldson with 12:51 remaining.

Coach Bailey looked sullen as he reflected over the game.

“It’s great coming back here. I got to see many of my old players and they got their homecoming win. Union was ready to play today,” said Bailey.

The Tigers have to find a way to get the offense going as they get ready to take on the winless Trojans of Virginia State Saturday in Lawrenceville as it will be homecoming for Saint Paul’s.

Last year’s game was a classic, as the Trojans held back the upstart Tigers in three overtimes, 26-20. Kickoff is set for 1:30pm at Russell Athletic Field.