HOW THEY DID IT
_ Albany State 16, NC Central 10
Albany State rushed for 239 yards, 116 of those including a 60-yard fourth-quarter TD scamper by RB Brian Porter, as the four-time defending SIAC champion Golden Rams (1-0, 0-0 SIAC) knocked off two-time CIAA champ and last year's top black college team, NC Central (0-1) Saturday evening in the opener for both teams in Albany, Ga. ASU dominated play early but was only able to reach paydirt on a lob pass from QB Kisan Flakes to WR Nick Kyles that convered nine yards 41 seconds before the half. NCCU PK Brandon Gilbert's 31-yard third-quarter field goal cut that lead to 7-3. Porter's 60-yard TD run came with 5:43 left after the Rams picked off their third Stadford Brown aerial. Porter's TD run followed PK Tory Tortenson's 28 yard field goal early in the period that had given ASU a 10-3 lead. Brown (15-29-3, 139) struggled through most of the day but led the Eagles to their only touchdown with just over two minutes left hitting Wayne Blackwell with a 26-yard TD strike capping a 5-play, 50-yard drive. The Eagles got the ball back in the final minute and penetrated to the ASU 20 before time ran out. The win avenges ASU's 20-0 loss that opened the season last year at NCCU.
_ Fort Valley State 13, Clark Atlanta 10
Placekicker Jake Grubbs capped a 12-play, 59-yard drive by booting a 43-yard fourth-quarter field goal with 6:34 to play that proved to be the difference in Fort Valley State's (1-0, 1-0 SIAC) victory over Clark Atlanta (0-1, 0-1 SIAC). Grubbs had hit on a 42-yarder in the second period to stake the Wildcats to a 10-3 lead. The Wildcats' only touchdown of the game came on QB Garrett Williams (10-20-1, 111 yards) 29-yard TD toss to Nate Randall late in the first quarter. CAU opened the scoring with a Henry Boynton 33-yard field goal with 5:23 left in the first period. CAU tied the score at 10 and netted its only TD on RB Winston Thompson's 3-yard run with 8:49 left in the third quarter. Thompson rushed for 171 yards on 29 carries.
_ Johnson C. Smith 24, Edward Waters 0
J. C. Smith (1-0, 0-0 CIAA W) and Edward Waters (0-1) played to a near statistical standoff but the Golden Bulls scored 21 points off turnovers while keeping the Tigers out of the end zone to get the shutout win. After a scoreless first quarter, JCSU got on the board following EWC RB Vishaun Grissett's fumble that they recovered at the EWC 45. JCSU QB Carl Richardson hit WR Jeremy Franklin four plays later with a 33-yard TD strike. On their next possession, JCSU put together a nine-play drive resulting in Herbert Collins' 24-yard field goal that went thru at the buzzer to give the Golden Bulls a 10-0 halftime lead. After a scoreless third quarter, JCSU added fourth quarter scores on a 10-yard blocked punt return by Fred Hoskins and a 95-yard interception return by Garrison McCormick.
_ Shaw 24, Miles 7
Miles (0-1, 0-0 SIAC) scored early off a Shaw miscue but was held to just 66 more yards of total offense as the Bears (1-0, 0-0 CIAA W) came back to get an opening day win on the road. A mishandled punt on Shaw's first possession set Miles up deep in Shaw territory and Miles QB George Ellis needed just one play to hit Derrell LeBeaux for a 15-yard TD to stake the Golden Bears to a 7-0 lead. It would be Miles' only score of the day. The Golden Bears were held to -7 rushing yards on 32 attempts. Shaw's only first half score came on Ryne Powell's 27-yard field goal early in the second quarter. Shaw came back to score in the third quarter on an Aaron Ellison six-yard run and on DeAndre Okonji's 32-yard scoring reception from QB Matthew Stevenson. Ellison added a one-yard fourth-quarter TD run which followed Robert Brown's 62-yard punt return to the Miles 1.
_ Lane 54, Lincoln 3
Lane (1-0, 0-1 SIAC) had an easy time with Lincoln (0-1) racking up 555 yards of total offense and limiting the Tigers to 153. Lane QB Sherard Ellis threw for 191 yards (23-30-1) and two TDs (60, 11) and also ran for two scores (10, 34). Lane RB Brian Keaton amassed 128 rushing yards on just seven carries and scored on a three-yard run. Lane's all-SIAC WR Virgil Union had six catches for 85 yards including an 11-yard TD catch.
_ Morehouse 23, Benedict 14
New Morehouse head coach Rich Freeman had a successful debut and spoiled the debut of his counterpart, Stan Conner in the process as the Maroon Tigers (1-0, 1-0 SIAC) rode the running of Kelvin Moore and the passing of Carlos King to victory. Moore rushed for 106 yards on 27 carries and opened the scoring with an 13-yard TD scamper. King finished 18 of 35 for 257 yards and threw TD passes of 33 and 18 yards. The latter came after Benedict had pulled to within 17-14 with 9:54 left in the final stanza on Jonathan Cunningham's 20-yard TD run. After stopping Morehouse and forcing a punt, BC RB Mike Taylor's fumble was recovered by Morehouse's Derrin Nettles on the BC 18. King threw his game-clinching TD pass three plays later.
_ Stillman 30, Concordia 14
Concordia (0-1) scored first and last but Stillman (1-0, 0-0 SIAC) did all the scoring in-between to pull out an opening game victory. Stillman QB Charles McCullum completed 20 of 27 passes for 298 yards with TD throws of 20, 37 and 30 yards.
_ Wingate 34, Fayetteville State 26
Fayetteville State got four field goals from PK Eric Lamourex (50, 20, 36, 30) and stayed with Wingate (1-0) at every turn but could not respond to a late Wingate surge. After leading 13-10 at the break and 19-17 late in the third quarter, the Broncos (0-1, 0-0 CIAA W) gave up three straight Wingate scores, two TDs and a field goal, and trailed 34-19 in the fourth quarter before scoring a TD with 5.25 left. FSU got the ball back and drove to the Wingate 5, but was stopped on fourth down. FSU put up 375 yards of offense to 377 for Wingate.
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