Triangle Offense

Story in Photos: NCCU comes out victorious over Savannah State on Senior Day

Rob Rowe · 25 Nov 2009, 11:36 PM · Comment

Here’s a link to Mike Potter’s post-game article.

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NCCU wins the track meet with Savannah State on Senior Day

Mike Potter · 21 Nov 2009, 7:30 PM · Comment

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.

The home team is a solid favorite today on Senior Day, and responds with a 35-14 victory. Continue reading »

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NCCU takes care of business at homecoming, wallops Central State - Story in Photos

Rob Rowe · 2 Nov 2009, 9:00 PM · 2 Comments

Eagle kicker Nickolas Hahula goes vertical after attempting to rush the ball in Saturday's homecoming contest. (Photo by Rob Rowe)

O’KELLY-RIDDICK STADIUM/DURHAM — It was homecoming weekend as the Eagles defeated the Central State Marauders. For Mike Potter’s post-game story, click here; for the rest of the photographs, they’ll be after the page break.

Continue reading »

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NCCU looks for a much-needed win against underdog homecoming foe

Mike Potter · 30 Oct 2009, 4:02 PM · Comment

NCCU free safety Derek Harvey, #20, rallies the troops during the Eagles' game at Duke. (File photo by Rob Rowe.)

N.C. Central football coach Mose Rison issued his team a challenge after the Eagles went 0-6 in the first “half” of their football schedule.

Win the last five games. There is no Duke, Appalachian State or Liberty capable of whipping the Eagles by a big score left on the schedule.

So far, so good.

NCCU easily disposed of NAIA member Central Methodist two weeks ago, and had no trouble at all last week with Open Date.

On Saturday at 1:30 the Eagles will host Division II Central State of Ohio (1-7) in their annual homecoming game, and NCCU will be a heavy favorite.

Things will get tougher next week as NCCU finished with three Division I (Championship Subdivision) opponents. But if the Eagles aren’t 2-6 coming out of Saturday’s contest against E.J. Junior’s Marauders  it would be an unmitigated disaster.

“Sometimes it’s hard when you’re the favorite,” Rison said. “You try as a coaching staff not to let the kids get into a comfortable position where they think the game’s already won. That is the message we’ve been sending out to the kids. They’re 1-7 but at the same time we’re 1-6. We need to get our second wind. We still have a sense of urgency. We’ve set a goal for the last five games to win all five. This game happens to be the second one of those and we want to accomplish that goal.

“At the same time it’s homecoming. Our seniors are going to play their last homecoming game for North Carolina Central University. We like to have our seniors go out the right way.  It will be meaningful for those kids because it’s winding down. After this week there’ll be three more games for our seniors to play.” Continue reading »

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NCCU hopes to win second straight against homecoming foe Central State

Mike Potter · 27 Oct 2009, 9:46 PM · Comment

Eagle Quarterback Michael Johnson prepares to start a play, while Tony McCord, #5, and Saeed Abdul-Azeez, #47, stand guard. (File photo by Rob Rowe)

PEARSON CAFETERIA/DURHAM Mose Rison said he had no idea how big homecoming is at an Historically Black College until he joined one’s staff as a football coach.

Rison was a highly touted running back during his playing days at Central Michigan, and had stints as an assistant coach at Navy, Rutgers, Stanford and Arizona before a short tenure at Livingstone in 2004 where he got a small taste of it.

Then when he joined Rod Broadway’s N.C. Central staff as N.C. Central’s offensive coordinator in 2006 before becoming head coach the next season, he got the full idea.

“At Central Michigan we had homecoming too, but we didn’t have near the festivities,” said Rison, whose 1-6 team will host 1-7 Central State (Ohio) in the Eagles’ homecoming contest Saturday at 1:30 at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium. “I was told early on when I became head football coach that the North Carolina A&T game is big and the Winston-Salem State game is big, but homecoming may mean more than that.

“It’s an opportunity to showcase what we’ve been doing. We want them all to come back here and have a good feeling about what we’re doing with this football program. We want to play hard and come away with that second victory.”

Last season Rison’s team went 4-7, but was able to win that prescribed triumvirate of big games. This time, the Eagles have lost at A&T - 23-17 in overtime on Oct. 3 - and had two other close losses in between more convincing road defeats to superior opposition.

But the Eagles are coming off an open date following a 52-7 rout of Central Methodist, which came to Durham ranked No. 20 in the NAIA. CSU, a member of Division II’s Great Lakes Football Conference, lost 55-35 at NAIA member Ohio Dominican on Saturday. Continue reading »

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