LUT WILLIAMS, BCSP Editor
Here’s where we are right now.
Bowie State plays in the second round of the NCAA Div. II playoffs this week while Florida A&M gets started in the FCS playoffs.
One half of the Dec. 18 Celebration Bowl is in as South Carolina State has clinched the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference title and berth in the game vs. the SWAC champion.
East Division champ Jackson State and West champ Prairie View A&M are in for the SWAC Championship Game next week (Sat., Dec. 4.) in Jackson, Ms.
That game’s winner will head to Atlanta to meet S. C. State in the season-ending bowl game.
Bowie State in second round of NCAA Div. II playoffs
CIAA champion Bowie State prevailed in its first round NCAA Div. II playoff game while SIAC champ Albany State did not (see NCAA Div. II Playoff Game Recaps).
BSU’s dominating 31-10 win at home over Lenoir-Rhyne was impressive. The Bulldogs not only forced four turnovers but shutdown LRU’s South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year, freshman running back Wayne McGhee.
McGhee had posted nine games of over 100 rushing yards and two with over 200 rushing yards. The Bulldogs’ defense held him to 71 yards on 23 carries. LRU put up over 400 yards of offense including 343 passing yards but only reached paydirt once.
Bowie State (11-1), the No. 2 seed in Super Region II, will now face SAC champion Newberry (10-2) in the Super Region II semifinal. The Wolves are seeded sixth in the region and knocked off third-seed West Florida in the first round, 33-30 in overtime. West Florida (9-2) was the defending Div. II national champion.
BSU and Newberry have one common op- ponent, Lenoir-Rhyne. Newberry beat LRU 28- 21 on Sept. 18 in their head-to-head match up.
This will be Bowie State and 11th year head coach Damon Wilson’s second time in the region semifinals. They reached the semis in 2018 after beating West Alabama 41-35 in the first round but were knocked off 66-16 by eventual Div. II national champion Valdosta State.
Newberry will feature sophomore running back Marlo Anderson who has rushed for 1,158 yards and 11 TDs. Senior quarterback Dre Harris has passed for 2,272 yards and 18 TDs with eight interceptions. Harris is also the team’s second leading rusher having piled up 420 yards on the ground and seven TDs. When he takes to the air, Harris has a talented tandem in senior Bryson Woodruff (60 rec., 893 yds., 9 TDs) and grad Bobby Irby (43 rec., 696 yds., 7 TDs).
The Newberry defense, led by linebacker junior linebacker A. J. Valentine (56 tackles, 2.5 sacks) and 6-3, 310-pound graduate lineman Tyran Dixon (53 tackles, 2 sacks) gives up 17.8 points per game.
BSU quarterback Ja’rome Johnson rushed for 147 yards on just 12 carries vs. LRU. For the season he has passed for 1,826 yards and 20 TDs with just eight interceptions. RB Calil Wilkins has rushed for 1,257 yards and nine scores. Johnson has added 448 yards on the ground and eight TDs. Keshan Hinckley and Darius Bowman have topped the receivers with 24 catches and two TDs each.
The BSU defense that gives up just 12.9 points per game is led by linemen Jonathan Ross and Joshua Pryor who have combined for 167 tackles and 15 sacks.
Florida A&M in first round of FCS playoffs
Head coach Willie Simmons Rattlers of Florida A&M, in their first year in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), got the league’s first at-large berth in the FCS playoffs since the league went to its championship game format in 1999.
The 9-2 Rattlers earned the bid by virtue of only losing on the FCS level to SWAC East Division champion Jackson State 7-6 to open the season. JSU (10-1), under the leadership of head coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders, was 14th in the last AFCA Coaches poll. FAMU was 22nd. FAMU’s other loss was 38-17 to FBS member South Florida.
The Rattlers will have a tough task on the road Saturday in the first round in Hammond, La. (6 p.m. CT) facing Southeastern Louisiana (8-3). The high-scoring Lions under fourth-year head coach Frank Scelfo, finished second in the Southland Conference at 6-2 to champion Incarnate Word (9-2, 7-1). SELU lost to Incarnate Word, 55-52 on Nov. 6.
SE Louisiana averages 48 points per game, tops in the FCS, and gives up 32 points per contest. The Lions have scored over 50 points in six contests, over 60 points in one game and have not tallied below 23 points on the season.
They are led by reigning Walter Payton Award winner, senior QB Cole Kelley. The 6-7, 260-pound signal caller was the preseason first-team FCS all-American and has passed for 4,382 yards and 38 TDs this season with just six interceptions. He has rushed for another 442 yards and 16 TDs. He is tops in the FCS in passing efficiency (179.54), passing yards per game (398.3), and total offense (438.5 ypg.) and is third in passing TDs (38).
The Rattlers will have to put plenty of pressure on Kelley to slow him down. The FAMU defense, which gave up just 15.1 points per game, is led by quick, 6-4, 215-pound linebacker Isaiah Land who led the FCS with 19 sacks. FAMU registered 38 sacks on the season, second in the SWAC to Jackson State’s 48.
On offense, the Rattlers average 29 points per game and are led by QB Rasean McKay (2,219 passing yards, 20 TDs, 4 ints.) and running back Bishop Bonnett (955 yds., 9 TDs). Xavier Smith is the top receiver (55 rec., 622 yds., 2 TDs).
Prairie View A&M, Turkey Day and Bayou Classic
Prairie View A&M (7-3, 6-1 W) clinched the SWAC West title last week. The Panthers close out the regular season at Mississippi Valley State Saturday (2 p.m.). Also on tap is the Thanksgiving Day match up (2 p.m.) of Alabama State and Tuskegee and Saturday’s Bayou Classic in the New Orleans Super Dome (4 p.m.) between Grambling State and Southern.