MACK LEAVES NC CENTRAL, SIMMONS TO FAMU, PRUNTY TO … · bling senior Devante Kincade also led...
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FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2017 © AZEEZ Communications, Inc. Vol. XXIV, No. 20 ™ No. 1 vs. No. 2 finale in the ATL by LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor The organizers of the Celebration Bowl could not be happier. For the third straight year since the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference and Southwest- ern Athletic Conference decided to match their football champions in a nationally televised bowl event, the game Saturday that kicks off the 2017 bowl season and ends the HBCU football season will determine the black college national champion. HOW WE GOT HERE The 12 noon showdown between head coach Rod Broadway's undefeated (11-0) MEAC champion North Carolina A&T Aggies and head coach Broderick Fobbs' 11-1 SWAC champion Grambling State Tigers at the new Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta pits two teams that have been at the top of the HBCU food chain all year long. The Aggies are No. 1 in the BCSP ranking while the G-Men are No. 2. Grambling, who was voted and declared last year's national champion after a 10-9 win over MEAC champ North Carolina Central in Celebration Bowl II, began this season as the No. 1-ranked team in the BCSP Top Ten but fell out of that position after a early loss at FBS and American Athletic Conference member Tulane. North Carolina Central, second in the pre- season ranking, lost its season opener on the road at FBS and ACC member Duke. That paved the way for A&T, who began the season as the third-ranked team and opened with a 45-3 road win over Gardner-Webb that CLASH OF THE TITANS SWAC vs. MEAC: Top two teams in Atlanta to settle HBCU football national championship. vaulted the Aggies to the top spot. It was a perch they never relinquished as they ran off an un- precedented 11 straight wins to take the outright MEAC title. En route to winning that crown the Aggies subdued rival NCCU, who had stymied the Aggies quest for the outright title in the final game in each of the past three seasons. Grambling meanwhile was putting togeth- er an 11-game win streak of its own, rolling through the SWAC, defeating Southern in the regular season finale to take the West Division title before knocking off East Division champ Alcorn State for the second time this season and second consecutive year in the conference's championship game. WHAT KIND OF GAME TO EXPECT In Celebration Bowl I, N. C. A&T and Al- corn State put on a shootout for the ages with the Aggies prevailing 41-34. A&T's Tarik Co- hen, now with the NFL's Chicago Bears, ran for 295 yards and TDs of 74, 83 and 73 yards. There were 74- and 84-yard punt returns for touch- downs and over 800 yards of total offense. Last year in Celebration Bowl II, Gram- bling and NCCU scored just one touchdown each and the game was decided on a blocked PAT attempt. So the big question for this year's game is will it be a shootout like the 2015 affair or the kind of grind-it-out slugfest that characterized last year's game? Nobody knows. Both teams average over 30 points per game and hold the opposition below 20 (see CEL- EBRATION BOWL III YARDSTICK). They have dynamic rushers in powerful Marquell Cartwright (5-10, 201) of A&T and cat quick Martez Carter (5-9, 205) of Grambling. And both have their respective league's best defenses against the run. A&T junior Lamar Raynard and Gram- bling senior Devante Kincade also led their leagues in passing yards with both throwing for over 2,600 yards. Raynard had 26 TDs and five interceptions while Kincade had 21 and 3. But remember, the game is won up front. Grambling led the SWAC with 43 sacks while A&T led the MEAC with 35. But the Aggies gave up just 10 sacks while the G-Men surren- dered 29. Keep your eye on that. UNDER THE BANNER WHAT'S GOING ON IN AND AROUND BLACK COLLEGE SPORTS JERRY MACK LEAVES NC CENTRAL: Ultra-successful North Carolina Central head coach Jerry Mack, who won three Mid Eastern Athletic Conference championships in his four years lead- ing the Eagles, announced last week he was resigning to become the new offensive coordinator at Rice Univer- sity. Mack, 37, will join former Stanford offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren, the new head coach at Rice who is replacing 10-year head coach David Bailiff who was fired in November. Mack and Bloomgren served together on the staff at Delta State from 2005-2007. "I just couldn't turn down this opportunity for me and my family," Mack told Jonas Pope of the Durham Herald-Sun. Mack, whose base salary at NCCU was $180,000, will more than double his salary at Rice. While at NCCU, Mack went 31-15, and won a share two MEAC championships (2014 and 2015) and won the 2016 title outright. He led the Eagles to the Air Force Re- serve Celebration Bowl in 2016. This season, NCCU fin- ished 7-4 overall, 5-3 in MEAC play, good for a fourth- place tie. NCCU promoted Granville East- man to interim head coach for the 2018 season. Eastman came to NCCU with Mack four years ago and has served as the Eagles' assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and safe- ties coach. HILL GETS ALABAMA STATE NOD: MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama State has promoted assistant Donald Hill-Eley to head coach. Eley was named the Hornets' in- terim head coach in early October af- ter Brian Jenkins was fired following an 0-5 start. Eley led Alabama State to five wins in their final six games, in- cluding a victory over rival Alabama A&M in the Magic City Classic. The interim tag was removed Thursday. Eley had served as associate head coach since join- ing the program in 2015 after one year as Norfolk State's wide receivers coach. He was Morgan State's head coach for 12 seasons until 2013, winning 59 games. Eley was Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference coach of the year in 2002. Eley also has worked as Hampton's offensive coor- dinator and been an assistant in the Canadian Football League. MACK LEAVES NC CENTRAL, SIMMONS TO FAMU, PRUNTY TO HAMPTON; HILL-ELEY IN AT BAMA STATE Celebration Bowl Logo BCSP Notes Florida A&M presents Willie Simmons as new head football coach Willie Simmons unexpectedly resigned after three successful seasons as the Prairie View A&M head football coach to take the same position at Florida A&M. Simmons was formally presented as the Rat- tlers new coach on Tuesday morning Dec. 12 at the Lawson Multipurpose Center and Teaching Gymna- sium on the school's campus. Simmons, 37, compiled a record of 21-11 at Prairie View. Born in Tallahassee, Fla., Simmons played high school football in Florida, and was a quarterback briefly at FAMU in 2003 after transfer- ring from Clemson. On Nov. 21, Alex Wood resigned at Florida A&M following a 3-8 season and after leading the Rattlers to a 8-25 record in three years. Assistant coach Bubba McDowell has been named interim head coach at Prairie View A&M. Hampton names Robert Prunty as new head football coach HAMPTON, Va. — Robert Prunty was introduced as the 21st head coach of the Hampton Pirates at a news conference Friday (Dec. 8) at Hampton University's Student Center Theater. "I am up for the challenge," Prunty said. Eugene Marshall Jr., Director of Athletics at Hampton University, welcomed Prunty, a Hamptonian with more than 30 years of football ex- perience as a player and coach and a four-time conference recruiter-of- the-year honoree with two different Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs. "Coach Prunty's record speaks for itself," Mar- shall said. "He's from Virginia. He played for Hampton. It was very refreshing to hear him say 'I want to come back to Hampton.'" Prunty served last season as East Carolina's as- sociate head coach, defensive coordinator and defen- sive line coach. Prior to that, he served four years as the University of Cincinnati's associate head coach and defensive ends coach and three years as co-defensive coordinator. Before impacting the Bearcat program, Prunty spent three seasons under Tommy Tuberville at Texas Tech, 2010-2012, directing the Red Raiders' defensive ends. Prunty is a Chatham, Va., native and a 1983 Hargrave Military Acad- emy graduate. Prunty split his collegiate career between Hampton and Alabama A&M, where he graduated in 1988. Longtime CIAA coach Ed "Buck" Joyner passes Edward Joyner, Sr., former head men's basketball coach at St. Paul's and Livingstone passed on Wednesday in Hampton, Virginia at the age of 68. Joyner, Sr. began coaching collegiate basketball in 1987 as an assis- tant at Johnson C. Smith with brother Stephen Joyner, Sr. He became the head coach at Saint Paul's in 1993. Joyner took over the head coaching reigns at Livingstone in 2000. After two seasons in Salisbury, NC, Joyner returned to Saint Paul's courtside for seven more years. After a brief hiatus, Joyner joined the staff at Livingstone as an assis- tant to James Stinson. He later became a volunteer assistant for Hampton under his son Edward Joyner, Jr. and was serving in that capacity when he passed. Simmons Prunty Mack 2017 showdown at Celebration Bowl to again determine HBCU football national champion RUSHING STUDS: Grambling running back Martez Carter (4) and N. C. A&T's Marquell Cart- wright lead ground attacks for their teams as they face off in Celebration Bowl III in Atlanta on Sat- urday. DIV CONF ALL NORTH DIVISION W L W L W L Virginia State 0 0 0 0 6 0 Eliz. City State 0 0 0 0 3 2 Lincoln 0 0 0 0 5 4 Chowan 0 0 0 0 4 4 Bowie State 0 0 0 0 5 6 Virginia Union 0 0 0 0 5 6 SOUTH DIVISION J. C. Smith 0 0 0 0 7 2 Shaw 0 0 0 0 4 4 Fayetteville State 0 0 0 0 3 6 Livingstone 0 0 0 0 1 3 St. Augustine’s 0 0 0 0 2 7 Winston-Salem State 0 0 0 0 2 7 CIAA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK PLAYER Roger Ray, So., G, LIVINGSTONE - Averaged 21.5 points in 1-1 week, getting 21 in win over Paine and 22 in loss to Lander. Shot 14 of 30 from the field, 12 of 15 from the line. ROOKIE Keith Dufflin, Fr., F, BOWIE STATE - In two games, average 11.5 points getting 19 points and 12 re- bounds vs. UDC. NEWCOMER Tyre Gathright, Jr., G, ST. AUG'S - Scored team-high 22 points in loss to Claflin. COACH Jay Butler, VA. UNION - Guidled Panthers to wins over Cheyney (85-47) and Bluefield State (79-66). CIAA CENTRAL INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION MID EASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEAC CONF ALL W L W L North Carolina A&T 0 0 5 4 Bethune-Cookman 0 0 4 5 Morgan State 0 0 4 6 Hampton 0 0 4 7 North Carolina Central 0 0 4 8 Md. E. Shore 0 0 3 8 Savannah State 0 0 3 8 Delaware State 0 0 2 9 SC State 0 0 2 9 Howard 0 0 1 10 Florida A&M 0 0 1 11 Norfolk State 0 0 0 9 Coppin State 0 0 0 10 BCSP MEAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK PLAYER Marcus Barham, Jr., G, FAMU - Got 30 points (12 of 19 FGs, 5 of 19 3s) with 7 assists vs. N. Florida and 21 (7 of 11 3s) vs. Mercer. Averaged 25.5 points in two losses. NEWCOMER Javaris Jenkins, Sr., G, SSU - Had team-high 31 points on 12 of 17 shooting vs. Ga. Southern. DEFENDER NA SIAC SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CONF ALL EAST DIVISION W L W L Claflin 4 0 10 1 Morehouse 3 0 8 0 Clark Atlanta 3 0 8 1 Fort Valley State 3 1 5 4 Benedict 2 2 8 2 Paine 0 2 1 8 Albany State 0 4 0 10 WEST DIVISION Central State 3 1 4 4 Lane 2 2 3 4 Kentucky State 2 2 3 8 Tuskegee 1 2 1 8 Spring Hill 0 1 2 5 Miles 0 2 1 6 LeMoyne-Owen 0 4 3 6 SIAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK PLAYER Jaleel Charles, 6-8, Sr., F, CLAFLIN - Had 29 points in win over WSSU, 23 in win vs. St. Aug's. Averaging 12.3 points, 9.3 boards on season NEWCOMER Michael Stevenson, 6-5, Sr., G, KSU - In 1-1 week, had 20 points and 22 rebounds. SWAC SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE DIV ALL W L W L Grambling State 0 0 3 6 Jackson State 0 0 3 7 Prairie View A&M 0 0 2 7 Alcorn State 0 0 2 8 Southern 0 0 2 8 Miss. Valley State 0 0 0 8 Ark. Pine Bluff 0 0 0 8 Alabama State 0 0 0 8 Texas Southern 0 0 0 9 Alabama A&M 0 0 0 9 BCSP SWAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK PLAYER Maurice Rivers, 6-7, Jr., F, JSU - Had team-high 30 points making 14 of 25 shots, nearly half the Tigers' points, in 91-62 loss to La. Tech. Also had team-high 16 points in win over Fisk. NEWCOMER NA M E N ' S 2 0 1 7 - 1 8 B L A C K C O L L E G E B A S K E T B A L L (Results, Standings and Weekly Honors) W L W. Va. State 6 4 Tennessee State 4 3 Lincoln (Mo.) 5 5 Cheyney 1 8 UDC 1 8 INDEPENDENT PLAYERS OF THE WEEK PLAYER Ernest Jenkins, 6-1, So., G, W. VA. STATE - Aver- aged 21.0 points in two Yellow Jacket wins. Had 21 vs. Urbana and 21 vs. Notre Dame. NEWCOMER Pat Johnson-Agwu, 6-5, Jr., F, W. VA. STATE - Got 20 points and 6 boards in win over Notre Dame. Tallied game-high 26 points and 9 rebounds vs. Urbana. NA INDEPENDENTS vs. NORTH CAROLINA A&T AGGIES (11-0) TEAM RECORD 2017 Overall: 11-0 MEAC Record: 8-0 2017 BCSP Ranking: 1st All-Time vs. Grambling: 3-4 Last Time vs. GSU: 37-35, W, '97 MEAC Titles: 9 Last Title 2015 COACH'S RECORD Alma Mater: North Carolina ('77) Record vs. Grambling: 0-0 Record at A&T: 58-22, .725 (7th year) Career Record: 126-45, .737 (15th year) Head Coach ROD BROADWAY 2017 RESULTS N. CAROLINA A&T 11-0 45.. @ Gardner-Webb ... 3 W 56......... Mars Hill .......... 0 W 35...... @ Charlotte. ..... 31 W 49... @ Morgan State .. 17 W 21..... @ S. C. State ...... 7 W 44.... Delaware State..... 3 W 31.... @ Florida A&M ... 20 W 24...Bethune-Cookman . 20 W 35... @ Norfolk State .... 7 W 36... Savannah State .. 17 W 24...... N. C. Central..... 10 W A I R F O R C E R E S E R V E C E L E B R A T I O N B O W L I I I GRAMBLING STATE TIGERS (11-1) CHAMPION MID EASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE TEAM RECORD 2017 Overall: 11-1 SWAC Record: 9-0 2017 BCSP Ranking: 2nd All-Time vs. NC A&T: 4-3 Last Time vs. NC A&T: 35-37, L '97 SWAC Titles: 25 Last Title 2016 COACH'S RECORD Alma Mater: Grambling ('97) Record vs. NC A&T: 0-0 Record at GSU: 38-10, .791 (4th year) Career Record: Same Head Coach BRODERICK FOBBS 2017 RESULTS GRAMBLING STATE 11-1 23......... NW State ........ 10 W 14......... @ Tulane ......... 43 L 36..... Jackson State .... 21 W 38.... Miss. Valley State .6 W 31..... vs. Clark Atlanta....20 W 34.....@ Prairie View A&M ..21 W 41....... Alcorn State...... 14 W 50.... Texas Southern ...24 W 31... @ Ark.-Pine Bluff .. 26 W 24...@ Alabama State ... 7 W 30......... Southern ........ 21 W 40....... Alcorn State...... 32 W S A T U R D A Y , D E C E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 7 - A T L A N T A , G A - M E R C E D E S B E N Z S T A D I U M - 1 2 N O O N O N A B C CHAMPION SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Eastman Hill-Eley N. C. A&T TEAM GRAMBLING STATE 36.4 ppg. (1st in MEAC) SCORING OFFENSE 32.7 ppg (2nd in SWAC) 12.3 ppg. (1st) SCORING DEFENSE 18.0 ppg. (2nd) 429.5 ypg. (1st) TOTAL OFFENSE 369.9 ypg. (4th) 251.4 ypg. (1st) TOTAL DEFENSE 332.3 ypg. (3rd) 172.0 ypg. (2nd) RUSHING OFFENSE 142.7 ypg. (5th) 79.5 ypg. (1st) RUSHING DEFENSE 102.4 ypg. (1st) 257.5 ypg. (1st) PASSING OFFENSE 227.2 ypg. (3rd) 171.9 ypg. (2nd) PASSING DEFENSE 229.9 ypg. (8th) INDIVIDUAL Marquell Cartwright (1st) RUSHING Martez Carter (3rd) 1,080 yds., 4.8 ypc., 13 TDs 842 yds., 5.2 ypc., 10 TDs Lamar Raynard (1st) PASSING Devante Kincade (1st) 186-285-5, 2,707 yds., 26 TDs 198-332-3, 2,632 yds., 21 TDs Elijah Bell (2nd) RECEIVING Darrell Clark (NA) 54 rec., 858 yds., 11 TDs 41 rec., 489 yds., 5 TDs Marquell Cartwright (1st) SCORING Mark Orozco (PK) (1st) 13 TDs, 78 pts., 7.1 ppg. 18 FGs, 45-46 PATs, 99 pts. 8.2 ppg. LB Jeremy Taylor (21st) TACKLES LB D'Arius Christmas (7th) 46 solos, 19 assists, 65, 5.9 tpg. 42 solo, 37 assists, 79, 6.6 tpg. Sam Blue/Darryl Johnson SACKS La'Allan Clark (3rd) 6.5 7.5, 0.68 spg. Franklin McCain/Jeremy Taylor INTERCEPTIONS De'Aumante Johnson (1st) 5, 0.45 pg. 5. 0.45 Khris Gardin PUNT RETURNS Joshua Mosley 11, 353 yds., 13.6 ypr., 1 TD 15, 85 yds., 5.7 ypr, 0 TD Khris Gardin KICK RETURNS Lavontis Smith 14, 376 yds., 26.9 ypr., 0 TD 13, 251 yds., 19.3 ypr., 0 TD James Mackey (9th) PUNTING Miguel Mendez (6th) 38.0 avg. 38.5 avg. Noel Ruiz (1st) PLACEKICKING Mark Orozco (1st) 9-12 FGs, 45-51 PATs, 72 pts. 18-22 FGs, 45-46 PATs, 99 pts. 8.2 ppg. CELEBRATION BOWL III YARDSTICK
Transcript of MACK LEAVES NC CENTRAL, SIMMONS TO FAMU, PRUNTY TO … · bling senior Devante Kincade also led...
For the Week oF December 12 - 18, 2017
© AZEEZ Communications, Inc. Vol. XXIV, No. 20
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No. 1 vs. No. 2 finale in the ATL by LUT WILLIAMSBCSP Editor The organizers of the Celebration Bowl could not be happier. For the third straight year since the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference and Southwest-ern Athletic Conference decided to match their football champions in a nationally televised bowl event, the game Saturday that kicks off the 2017 bowl season and ends the HBCU football season will determine the black college national champion.
HOW WE GOT HERE The 12 noon showdown between head coach Rod Broadway's undefeated (11-0) MEAC champion North Carolina A&T Aggies and head coach Broderick Fobbs' 11-1 SWAC champion Grambling State Tigers at the new Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta pits two teams that have been at the top of the HBCU food chain all year long. The Aggies are No. 1 in the BCSP ranking while the G-Men are No. 2. Grambling, who was voted and declared last year's national champion after a 10-9 win over MEAC champ North Carolina Central in Celebration Bowl II, began this season as the No. 1-ranked team in the BCSP Top Ten but fell out of that position after a early loss at FBS and American Athletic Conference member Tulane. North Carolina Central, second in the pre-season ranking, lost its season opener on the road at FBS and ACC member Duke. That paved the way for A&T, who began the season as the third-ranked team and opened with a 45-3 road win over Gardner-Webb that
CLASHOF THE TITANS
SWAC vs. MEAC: Top two teams in Atlanta to settle HBCU football national championship.
vaulted the Aggies to the top spot. It was a perch they never relinquished as they ran off an un-precedented 11 straight wins to take the outright MEAC title. En route to winning that crown the Aggies subdued rival NCCU, who had stymied the Aggies quest for the outright title in the final game in each of the past three seasons. Grambling meanwhile was putting togeth-er an 11-game win streak of its own, rolling through the SWAC, defeating Southern in the regular season finale to take the West Division title before knocking off East Division champ Alcorn State for the second time this season and second consecutive year in the conference's championship game.
WHAT KIND OF GAME TO EXPECT In Celebration Bowl I, N. C. A&T and Al-corn State put on a shootout for the ages with the Aggies prevailing 41-34. A&T's Tarik Co-hen, now with the NFL's Chicago Bears, ran for 295 yards and TDs of 74, 83 and 73 yards. There were 74- and 84-yard punt returns for touch-downs and over 800 yards of total offense. Last year in Celebration Bowl II, Gram-bling and NCCU scored just one touchdown each and the game was decided on a blocked PAT attempt. So the big question for this year's game is will it be a shootout like the 2015 affair or the kind of grind-it-out slugfest that characterized
last year's game? Nobody knows. Both teams average over 30 points per game and hold the opposition below 20 (see CEL-EBrATIoN BoWL III YArDSTICk). They have dynamic rushers in powerful Marquell Cartwright (5-10, 201) of A&T and cat quick Martez Carter (5-9, 205) of Grambling. And both have their respective league's best defenses against the run. A&T junior Lamar Raynard and Gram-bling senior Devante Kincade also led their leagues in passing yards with both throwing for over 2,600 yards. Raynard had 26 TDs and five interceptions while kincade had 21 and 3. But remember, the game is won up front. Grambling led the SWAC with 43 sacks while A&T led the MEAC with 35. But the Aggies gave up just 10 sacks while the G-Men surren-dered 29. keep your eye on that.
UNDER THE BANNERWHAT'S GOING ON IN AND AROUND BLACK COLLEGE SPORTS
JERRY MACK LEAVES NC CENTRAL: Ultra-successful North Carolina Central head
coach Jerry Mack, who won three Mid Eastern Athletic Conference championships in his four years lead-ing the Eagles, announced last week he was resigning to become the new offensive coordinator at rice Univer-sity.
Mack, 37, will join former Stanford offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren, the new head coach at rice who is replacing 10-year head coach David Bailiff who was fired in November. Mack and Bloomgren served together on the staff at Delta State from 2005-2007. "I just couldn't turn down this opportunity for me and my family," Mack told Jonas Pope of the Durham Herald-Sun. Mack, whose base salary at NCCU was $180,000, will more than double his salary at rice. While at NCCU, Mack went 31-15, and won a share two MEAC championships (2014 and 2015) and won the 2016 title outright. He led the Eagles to the Air Force Re-serve Celebration Bowl in 2016. This season, NCCU fin-ished 7-4 overall, 5-3 in MEAC play, good for a fourth-place tie. NCCU promoted Granville East-man to interim head coach for the 2018 season. Eastman came to NCCU with Mack four years ago and has served as the Eagles' assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and safe-ties coach.
HILL GETS ALABAMA STATE NOD: MoNTGoMErY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama State has
promoted assistant Donald Hill-Eley to head coach.
Eley was named the Hornets' in-terim head coach in early october af-ter Brian Jenkins was fired following an 0-5 start. Eley led Alabama State to five wins in their final six games, in-cluding a victory over rival Alabama A&M in the Magic City Classic.
The interim tag was removed Thursday. Eley had served as associate head coach since join-ing the program in 2015 after one year as Norfolk State's wide receivers coach. He was Morgan State's head coach for 12 seasons until 2013, winning 59 games. Eley was Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference coach of the year in 2002. Eley also has worked as Hampton's offensive coor-dinator and been an assistant in the Canadian Football League.
MACK LEAVES NC CENTRAL, SIMMONS TO FAMU, PRUNTY TO HAMPTON; HILL-ELEY IN AT BAMA STATE
Celebration Bowl Logo
BCSP NotesFlorida A&M presents Willie Simmonsas new head football coach Willie Simmons unexpectedly resigned after three successful seasons
as the Prairie View A&M head football coach to take the same position at Florida A&M. Simmons was formally presented as the rat-tlers new coach on Tuesday morning Dec. 12 at the Lawson Multipurpose Center and Teaching Gymna-sium on the school's campus. Simmons, 37, compiled a record of 21-11 at Prairie View. Born in Tallahassee, Fla., Simmons played high school football in Florida, and was a quarterback briefly at FAMU in 2003 after transfer-
ring from Clemson. on Nov. 21, Alex Wood resigned at Florida A&M following a 3-8 season and after leading the rattlers to a 8-25 record in three years. Assistant coach Bubba McDowell has been named interim head coach at Prairie View A&M.
Hampton names Robert Pruntyas new head football coach HAMPToN, Va. — Robert Prunty was introduced as the 21st head coach of the Hampton Pirates at a news conference Friday (Dec. 8) at Hampton University's Student Center Theater. "I am up for the challenge," Prunty said. Eugene Marshall Jr., Director of Athletics at Hampton University, welcomed Prunty, a Hamptonian with more than 30 years of football ex-perience as a player and coach and a four-time conference recruiter-of-the-year honoree with two different Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)
programs. "Coach Prunty's record speaks for itself," Mar-shall said. "He's from Virginia. He played for Hampton. It was very refreshing to hear him say 'I want to come back to Hampton.'" Prunty served last season as East Carolina's as-sociate head coach, defensive coordinator and defen-sive line coach. Prior to that, he served four years as the University of Cincinnati's associate head coach and
defensive ends coach and three years as co-defensive coordinator. Before impacting the Bearcat program, Prunty spent three seasons under Tommy Tuberville at Texas Tech, 2010-2012, directing the Red Raiders' defensive ends. Prunty is a Chatham, Va., native and a 1983 Hargrave Military Acad-emy graduate. Prunty split his collegiate career between Hampton and Alabama A&M, where he graduated in 1988.
Longtime CIAA coach Ed "Buck" Joyner passes Edward Joyner, Sr., former head men's basketball coach at St. Paul's and Livingstone passed on Wednesday in Hampton, Virginia at the age of 68. Joyner, Sr. began coaching collegiate basketball in 1987 as an assis-tant at Johnson C. Smith with brother Stephen Joyner, Sr. He became the head coach at Saint Paul's in 1993. Joyner took over the head coaching reigns at Livingstone in 2000. After two seasons in Salisbury, NC, Joyner returned to Saint Paul's courtside for seven more years. After a brief hiatus, Joyner joined the staff at Livingstone as an assis-tant to James Stinson. He later became a volunteer assistant for Hampton under his son Edward Joyner, Jr. and was serving in that capacity when he passed.
Simmons
PruntyMack
2017 showdown at Celebration Bowl to again determine
HBCU football national champion
RUSHING STUDS: Grambling running back Martez Carter (4) and N. C. A&T's Marquell Cart-wright lead ground attacks for their teams as they face off in Celebration Bowl III in Atlanta on Sat-urday.
DIV CONF ALLNORTH DIVISION W L W L W L Virginia State 0 0 0 0 6 0Eliz. City State 0 0 0 0 3 2 Lincoln 0 0 0 0 5 4 Chowan 0 0 0 0 4 4Bowie State 0 0 0 0 5 6Virginia Union 0 0 0 0 5 6 SOUTH DIVISION J. C. Smith 0 0 0 0 7 2 Shaw 0 0 0 0 4 4 Fayetteville State 0 0 0 0 3 6 Livingstone 0 0 0 0 1 3 St. Augustine’s 0 0 0 0 2 7 Winston-Salem State 0 0 0 0 2 7 CIAA PLAYERS OF THE WEEKPLAYERRoger Ray, So., G, LIVINGSTONE - Averaged 21.5 points in 1-1 week, getting 21 in win over Paine and 22 in loss to Lander. Shot 14 of 30 from the field, 12 of 15 from the line.ROOKIEKeith Dufflin, Fr., F, BOWIE STATE - In two games, average 11.5 points getting 19 points and 12 re-bounds vs. UDC.NEWCOMERTyre Gathright, Jr., G, ST. AUG'S - Scored team-high 22 points in loss to Claflin.COACHJay Butler, VA. UNION - Guidled Panthers to wins over Cheyney (85-47) and Bluefield State (79-66).
CIAA Central IntercollegIate athletIc assocIatIon
MId easternathletIc conferenceMEAC
CONF ALL W L W LNorth Carolina A&T 0 0 5 4Bethune-Cookman 0 0 4 5 Morgan State 0 0 4 6 Hampton 0 0 4 7 North Carolina Central 0 0 4 8Md. E. Shore 0 0 3 8Savannah State 0 0 3 8Delaware State 0 0 2 9SC State 0 0 2 9Howard 0 0 1 10 Florida A&M 0 0 1 11Norfolk State 0 0 0 9 Coppin State 0 0 0 10
BCSP MEAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEKPLAYER Marcus Barham, Jr., G, FAMU - Got 30 points (12 of 19 FGs, 5 of 19 3s) with 7 assists vs. N. Florida and 21 (7 of 11 3s) vs. Mercer. Averaged 25.5 points in two losses.NEWCOMERJavaris Jenkins, Sr., G, SSU - Had team-high 31 points on 12 of 17 shooting vs. Ga. Southern.DEFENDERNA
SIAC southern IntercollegIateathletIc conference
CONF ALLEAST DIVISION W L W LClaflin 4 0 10 1 Morehouse 3 0 8 0Clark Atlanta 3 0 8 1 Fort Valley State 3 1 5 4 Benedict 2 2 8 2 Paine 0 2 1 8Albany State 0 4 0 10WEST DIVISIONCentral State 3 1 4 4Lane 2 2 3 4 Kentucky State 2 2 3 8Tuskegee 1 2 1 8 Spring Hill 0 1 2 5 Miles 0 2 1 6 LeMoyne-Owen 0 4 3 6 SIAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEKPLAYER Jaleel Charles, 6-8, Sr., F, CLAFLIN - Had 29 points in win over WSSU, 23 in win vs. St. Aug's. Averaging 12.3 points, 9.3 boards on seasonNEWCOMER Michael Stevenson, 6-5, Sr., G, KSU - In 1-1 week, had 20 points and 22 rebounds.
SWAC southwesternathletIc conference
DIV ALL W L W L Grambling State 0 0 3 6 Jackson State 0 0 3 7 Prairie View A&M 0 0 2 7 Alcorn State 0 0 2 8 Southern 0 0 2 8Miss. Valley State 0 0 0 8 Ark. Pine Bluff 0 0 0 8 Alabama State 0 0 0 8 Texas Southern 0 0 0 9 Alabama A&M 0 0 0 9
BCSP SWAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEKPLAYERMaurice Rivers, 6-7, Jr., F, JSU - Had team-high 30 points making 14 of 25 shots, nearly half the Tigers' points, in 91-62 loss to La. Tech. Also had team-high 16 points in win over Fisk.NEWCOMER NA
M E N ' S 2 0 1 7 - 1 8 B L A C K C O L L E G E B A S K E T B A L L (Results, Standings and Weekly Honors)
W L W. Va. State 6 4 Tennessee State 4 3Lincoln (Mo.) 5 5Cheyney 1 8 UDC 1 8
INDEPENDENT PLAYERS OF THE WEEKPLAYER Ernest Jenkins, 6-1, So., G, W. VA. STATE - Aver-aged 21.0 points in two Yellow Jacket wins. Had 21 vs. Urbana and 21 vs. Notre Dame.NEWCOMER Pat Johnson-Agwu, 6-5, Jr., F, W. VA. STATE - Got 20 points and 6 boards in win over Notre Dame. Tallied game-high 26 points and 9 rebounds vs. Urbana.NA
INDEPENDENTS
vs.
NORTH CAROLINA A&TAGGIES (11-0)
TEAM RECORd 2017 Overall: 11-0MEAC Record: 8-02017 BCSP Ranking: 1stAll-Time vs. Grambling: 3-4Last Time vs. GSU: 37-35, W, '97MEAC Titles: 9Last Title 2015
COACH'S RECORdAlma Mater: North Carolina ('77)Record vs. Grambling: 0-0Record at A&T: 58-22, .725 (7th year)Career Record: 126-45, .737 (15th year)
Head CoachROd
BROAdWAY
2017 RESULTSN. CAROLINA A&T 11-045..@ Gardner-Webb ... 3 W56......... Mars Hill .......... 0 W35......@ Charlotte. ..... 31 W49...@ Morgan State .. 17 W21..... @ S. C. State ...... 7 W 44....Delaware State ..... 3 W31....@ Florida A&M ... 20 W24...Bethune-Cookman . 20 W35... @ Norfolk State .... 7 W36... Savannah State .. 17 W24......N. C. Central ..... 10 W
A I R F O R C E R E S E R V E C E L E B R A T I O N B O W L I I I
GRAMBLING STATE TIGERS (11-1)
CHAMPIONmiD eastern athletic conFerence
TEAM RECORd 2017 Overall: 11-1SWAC Record: 9-02017 BCSP Ranking: 2ndAll-Time vs. NC A&T: 4-3Last Time vs. NC A&T: 35-37, L '97SWAC Titles: 25Last Title 2016
COACH'S RECORdAlma Mater: Grambling ('97)Record vs. NC A&T: 0-0Record at GSU: 38-10, .791 (4th year)Career Record: Same
Head CoachBROdERICK
FOBBS
2017 RESULTSGRAMBLING STATE 11-123.........NW State ........10 W14.........@ Tulane ......... 43 L36..... Jackson State ....21 W38.... Miss. Valley State .6 W31..... vs. Clark Atlanta....20 W34.....@ Prairie View A&M ..21 W41.......Alcorn State ......14 W50.... Texas Southern ...24 W31...@ Ark.-Pine Bluff ..26 W24...@ Alabama State ...7 W30......... Southern ........21 W40.......Alcorn State ......32 W
S A T U R d A Y , d E C E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 7 - A T L A N T A , G A - M E R C E d E S B E N Z S T A d I U M - 1 2 N O O N O N A B C
CHAMPIONsouthWestern athletic conFerence
Eastman
Hill-Eley
N. C. A&T TEAM GRAMBLING STATE36.4 ppg. (1st in MEAC) SCORING OFFENSE 32.7 ppg (2nd in SWAC)
12.3 ppg. (1st) SCORING DEFENSE 18.0 ppg. (2nd)
429.5 ypg. (1st) TOTAL OFFENSE 369.9 ypg. (4th)
251.4 ypg. (1st) TOTAL DEFENSE 332.3 ypg. (3rd)
172.0 ypg. (2nd) RUSHING OFFENSE 142.7 ypg. (5th)
79.5 ypg. (1st) RUSHING DEFENSE 102.4 ypg. (1st)
257.5 ypg. (1st) PASSING OFFENSE 227.2 ypg. (3rd)
171.9 ypg. (2nd) PASSING DEFENSE 229.9 ypg. (8th)INDIVIDUAL
Marquell Cartwright (1st) RUSHING Martez Carter (3rd)1,080 yds., 4.8 ypc., 13 TDs 842 yds., 5.2 ypc., 10 TDsLamar Raynard (1st) PASSING Devante Kincade (1st)186-285-5, 2,707 yds., 26 TDs 198-332-3, 2,632 yds., 21 TDsElijah Bell (2nd) RECEIVING Darrell Clark (NA)54 rec., 858 yds., 11 TDs 41 rec., 489 yds., 5 TDsMarquell Cartwright (1st) SCORING Mark Orozco (PK) (1st)13 TDs, 78 pts., 7.1 ppg. 18 FGs, 45-46 PATs, 99 pts. 8.2 ppg.LB Jeremy Taylor (21st) TACKLES LB D'Arius Christmas (7th) 46 solos, 19 assists, 65, 5.9 tpg. 42 solo, 37 assists, 79, 6.6 tpg.Sam Blue/Darryl Johnson SACKS La'Allan Clark (3rd)6.5 7.5, 0.68 spg.Franklin McCain/Jeremy Taylor INTERCEPTIONS De'Aumante Johnson (1st)5, 0.45 pg. 5. 0.45Khris Gardin PUNT RETURNS Joshua Mosley11, 353 yds., 13.6 ypr., 1 TD 15, 85 yds., 5.7 ypr, 0 TDKhris Gardin KICK RETURNS Lavontis Smith14, 376 yds., 26.9 ypr., 0 TD 13, 251 yds., 19.3 ypr., 0 TDJames Mackey (9th) PUNTING Miguel Mendez (6th)38.0 avg. 38.5 avg.Noel Ruiz (1st) PLACEKICKING Mark Orozco (1st)9-12 FGs, 45-51 PATs, 72 pts. 18-22 FGs, 45-46 PATs, 99 pts. 8.2 ppg.
CELEBRATION BOWL IIIYARDSTICK
