Hot games in the big ATL
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
Morehouse,
Clark Atlanta and Morris Brown all have home dates in the
AU Center while a few blocks away at the Georgia Dome, Tennessee State
and Florida A&M get together for the 14th Atlanta Classic.
The AU Center games will feature three of black college football's new coaches as Ray Petty of Howard, Tracy Ham of Clark Atlanta and Willard Scissum of Morehouse lead their troops into battle. All have had their share of struggles in the early going.
Ham's ball-control, option attack had gotten the Panthers a national ranking in rushing offense and narrow wins over Lincoln and Miles but they ran into a Morris Brown buzzsaw last weekend and lost, 44-7. They'll look to rebound (1:30 p.m.) againt conference co-favorite, Fort Valley State (3-1, 3-0 SIAC).
At the same time on the Morehouse campus, Scissum's Maroon Tigers look for their second CIAA scalp when they entertain Bowie State (3-1, 2-1 CIAA E). Morehouse (2-2, 1-1 SIAC) beat one CIAA foe, North Carolina Central, when the Eagles were sky high off an upset win over N. C. A&T to open the season. They'd like nothing better than to make it two in a row.
The Howard Bison (1-2, 0-1 MEAC) gave Petty his first win as a head coach with a victory over Texas Southern to open the season but have struggled since, losing big to Hampton (51-2) and Maine (42-12). They hope to right themselves (7 p.m.) at Morris Brown (1-3) .
Between
the two early games and the Morehouse nightcap is the annual meeting at
the Georgia Dome between FAMU and TSU sponsored by Coca-Cola and the 100
Black Men of Atlanta. This is the last leg of a murderous September schedule
that has seen TSU travel from South Carolina, to Memphis, to Las Vegas and
back to Atlanta. So far they've racked up three losses along the way. FAMU
(3-1, 1-1 MEAC) will make it four.
The best matchups of the day are in the CIAA and the SWAC. Virginia Union (2-1, 1-0 CIAA E) and Winston-Salem State (1-2, 1-0 CIAA W) have met in the last two CIAA championship games and they meet again Saturday in Winston-Salem (6 p.m.). In the SWAC, Alcorn State (2-1, 1-1 SWAC E) hosts Alabama State (3-1, 1-1) in a key SWAC E. Div. matchup (6:30 p.m.).
The most hoopla however is down in Jacksonville, Florida where the 1st Willie E. Gary Classic pits Shaw (3-1) and Edward Waters (1-1), two schools the famed attorney helped re-launch football programs. Gary's network, MBC, will carry the game live with the and hosts of celebrities expected to be on hand. Shaw first-year head coach Gregory Ruffin and second-year head man Lamont Massey of EWC are savoring this opportunity to get their fledgling programs on TV.
© 2002 Azeez Communications, Inc.