N.C. Central has announced its 10-game football schedule for 2010, with six home dates including the Eagles’ two biggest historic rivals.
NCCU has had back-to-back four-win seasons in the transition process from Division II to Division I, but should have an excellent change to surpass the .500 mark this time in the fourth season under coach Mose Rison (pictured).
Coming to O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium on Sept. 25 is former CIAA rival and both former and new MEAC rival North Carolina A&T, which will be visiting Durham for the first time since 1992.
Also visiting, on Sept. 11, will be long-time former CIAA rival Winston-Salem State.
The Eagles’ schedule opens on a Thursday night, with the Sept. 2 home game against former CIAA rival Johnson C. Smith.
The Eagles will host Edward Waters for their annual homecoming game on Oct. 30, the final game of the home schedule.
NCCU, which will be a member of the MEAC in the fall but not eligible for conference championships until the next season, will also host MEAC members Hampton on Oct. 9 and Bethune-Cookman on Oct. 23.
The four road games include a return trip to Appalachian State on Sept. 18, a game against Georgia State in the Georgia Dome on Oct. 16, a visit to MEAC member Delaware State on Nov. 6 and the season finale at Savannah State on Nov. 13.
The only first meeting is with Georgia State, which will be fielding varsity football for the first time. NCCU leads the all-time series with six opponents, the exceptions being ASU, A&T and Hampton. Continue reading »
Eligible to play in the fall after leaving WSSU, which is returning to NCAA Division II beginning in 2010-11, will be a pair of rising sophomores in defensive lineman Chase Tripp from Chocowinity and wideout Lamar Whidbee from Perquimans.
The two are among six North Carolinians in the class, which also includes three players from Georgia and two from Virginia.
“We are extremely excited about these young men,” Rison (pictured) said in a press release issued by the school. “We’ll be glad to get them here in August to see exactly where we are. We think some of these kids will have an opportunity as freshmen to make a contribution to this football program.” Continue reading »
N.C. Central coach Mose Rison is 14-18 after three seasons, and the future continues to look bright. (File photo by Rob Rowe)
N.C. Central’s football season has been over for nearly a week now, and for the second straight season Mose Rison’s club finished with a 4-7 record.
After a tough start in which the Eagles went 0-6 with road defeats to heavily favored Liberty, Appalachian State and Duke, the third-year head coach had set a goal of winning the last five games to finish 5-6. And because of a road defeat at Old Dominion in the ninth game of the season, it didn’t happen.
But what kind of shape is the NCCU program in right now? Reality says it’s pretty good. Continue reading »
NCCU senior Rashad Fox celebrates after he blocks a pass from Savannah State. (Photo by Rob Rowe)
O’KELLY-RIDDICK STADIUM/DURHAM It’s the season football finale at N.C. Central, and so far the whole campaign has been a mixed bag.
NCCU went 0-6 through an extremely tough first “half” of the schedule, in which the Eagles dropped a pair of very winnable games in overtime.
Coach Mose Rison at that point set a goal of winning the last five in a row. Old Dominion derailed that idea two weeks ago, but now the idea is to win four of the last five and match last season’s 4-7 finish.
The opponent is Savannah State (2-7), which is reeling with a couple of losses to teams below the Division I level. NCCU has beaten the Tigers the past two seasons, including the season-ender in Durham last year.
NCCU, shown here taking the field on Homecoming Day, is hoping to send its five seniors out on a good note in Saturday's season finale against visiting Savannah State. (File photo by Rob Rowe).
N.C. Central’s third football season as a transitional member of NCAA Division I (FCS) will come to an end on Saturday afternoon.
And there’s every indication the Eagles will be able to end it on a high note.
The opponent is Savannah State, playing this season as the only other FCS/HBCU team. Somebody should have minted a trophy.
Mose Rison’s Eagles have won close games over the Tigers the last two seasons, and for the second straight year will play SSU at home in the season finale.
Savannah State has applied for admission to the MEAC, the conference in which NCCU will be playing next season although the Eagles won’t yet be eligible for championships.
SSU’s application may have hit a bump not of its own doing in the fall, when Winston-Salem State reversed course and announced plans to give up the ghost on its move to Division I. Continue reading »
PEARSON CAFETERIA/DURHAM N.C. Central finds itself in exactly the same position it was in a year ago.
The Eagles have a 3-7 record going into Saturday’s football season finale at home against Savannah State (2-8).
In 2008 NCCU was looking to win its third game out of its last four on the season, while this time a victory would be its fourth in the last five.
Mose Rison’s club has had its ups and downs this season, but three days ago the Eagles had their best victory so far this year when they won 18-10 at long-time rival Winston-Salem State.
Particularly since the Eagles, in their third season of NCAA Division I as they transition up from Division II, will be going into the MEAC next season while WSSU is giving up the quest and going back to the CIAA. The Eagles’ other two wins had been very much expected, as they came at home against teams below the Division I level.
“It was a rivalry game, and we finally got a road victory,” said Rison (pictured), whose team hadn’t won on the opposing team’s field since a win at Savannah State in 2007. “We broke the (14-game) streak. We hadn’t won a game on the road in two years and got that monkey off our back. It really gives us momentum. If we can carry a two-game winning streak into the off-season, it will be huge for us going into next season. Continue reading »
N.C. Central had all the points it needed at halftime.
Michael Johnson completed 10 of 21 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown while Tim Shankle (pictured) added 80 yards and another score on 21 carries, giving the Eagles an 18-10 victory over long-time rival and host Winston-Salem State at Bowman Gray Stadium.
The Eagles led 15-10 at the break.
Frankie Cardelle had a 24-yard field goal early in the second quarter and a 26-yarder midway through the fourth as Mose Rison’s club improved to 3-7 with its second straight victory over the Rams (1-9).
It was NCCU’s first win over a Division I (FCS) team this season, although WSSU has announced it will return to Division II in the fall.
NCCU leads the series 22-21.
Johnson’s touchdown pass was a four-yarder to Saeed Abdul-Azeez, the Durham senior’s only catch of the day.
The Eagles, who have won three of their last four games, conclude their season at home on Nov. 21 against Savannah State.
Eagle head coach Mose Rison watches his team perform at homecoming a few weeks back. (File photo by Rob Rowe)
N.C. Central and Winston-Salem State used to be big rivals for the CIAA football championship.
And on seemingly countless occasions the Rams - when they were coached by Bill Hayes who played for the Eagles, later was NCCU athletics director and is now A.D. at WSSU - put the one blotch on the schedule that ruined the Eagles’ season.
Four years ago the Rams announced they were headed for NCAA Division I, perhaps the last prompting the NCCU administration needed for the Eagles to make the move themselves.
But the Rams’ move had problems all along. First their five-year “transition” phase was extended to six. And then in September, Chancellor Donald Reaves announced the Rams were giving up on that quest and going back to the Division II CIAA.
So whether or not Saturday’s contest at Bowman Gray Stadium will be the schools’ last football meeting for a while is an open question.
Neither team is having a great season. NCCU (2-7) didn’t get some wins it could have had early on for Mose Rison, and firewall victories over NAIA Central Methodist and Division II Central State are what has kept the Eagles from a losing season. Kermit Blount’s WSSU (1-8) beat Bethune-Cookman 16-10 on the road three weeks ago. Continue reading »
PEARSON CAFETERIA/DURHAM N.C. Central no longer has a chance to finish better than last season’s 4-7 mark.
But what the 2-7 Eagles do have looming on the schedule is a big rivalry game.
That will happen on Saturday at 1, when the Eagles visit former CIAA rival Winston-Salem State (1-8) at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Kermit Blount’s Rams had already been admitted to the MEAC, which NCCU will join as a participant next season after recently being approved for membership, but the university decided to give up on the move to Division I and head back to the CIAA.
The series is tied 21-21 after NCCU won 23-16 last season in Durham.
“I watched (WSSU) on film all day Sunday and all day yesterday,” NCCU coach Mose Rison said during his weekly press conference. “I wanted to make sure I knew what that football team was all about. I know they’re 1-8 and they’ve had some adversity. Kermit has done a great job of keeping that football team together. They’re playing hard. They really are. Last Saturday against Delaware State they were down 24-7 and found a way to come back and make that game close (losing 24-21.)
“They found a way to stay in that ball game. They’ve had a lot of off-the-field distractions and that’s made it really tough. But they’re a good football team, extremely physical on defense. They have some good players. They want to bring pressure. They have tremendous size. We’re going to have to play top-level football on Saturday.”
Rison said that’s the kind of football the Eagles played most of the second half on Saturday, when a 42-28 loss at Old Dominion on the Monarchs’ homecoming day derailed NCCU’s quest to win its final five games. Continue reading »
Kyle on "UNC holds off pesky NCCU with big second half, awaits selection committee": Mike Potter does Triangle sports fans a wonderful service by providing a unique perspective of events that may not otherwise receive media coverage. Thanks Mike for all you have done and continue to do in your outstanding career as a journalist and an ambassador for the Triangle.
caniacgirl on "Peters and pipes pickpocket a peck of prickly Penguins": I absolutely love the headline! Games like this one definitely reignite the little bit of playoff hope I have left in me. It should be an interesting few weeks that's for sure.
Greg Nccu Student on "Miller leads NCCU to 11th victory": There are a lot of Rumors on Campus about Joanna Miller leaving NCCU next year. Please Coach Robinson, We need to keep this player from gong to another College.
N.C. Central has announced its 10-game football schedule for 2010, with six home dates including the Eagles’ two biggest historic rivals.
