12 The Compass Friday, November 3, 1995
Viking loss to Virginia’s Trojans ends
hopes for CIAA Championship in ‘95
by Carlos McConnick
Football, like love, can be a hurtin'
thing.
ECSU's Oct. 21 loss to the Virginia
State Trojans was a hurtin' thing for a
team that had played their hearts out
all year—a team whose hard work,
dedication and skill had brought them
to the brink of becoming CIAA
champions.
ECSU kicked off to the Trojans as
they deferred possession to the second
half. Virginia wasted no time in scor
ing as quarterback Rodney Granger hit
Tillman on a 50-yard pass for a touch
down with only three minutes and 11
seconds elapsing on the clock. The Tro
jans led (8-0) after the two-point con
version.
On their first possession, ECSU's
Malcom Mackey ran the ball 52 yards
into Trojan territory. But Virginia tight
ened their defense and the Vikes had
to settle for a 27-yard field goal by
Wilton Evans.
The Trojans reeled off 36 points,
amassing 360 yards to finish the game
44-3. "It was the worst performance of
the year," said Viking Coach George
Moody.
The Vikes threw five interceptions,
and could orUy muster 178 offensive
yards. With all these factors the Vikes
lost their second game of the year, along
with this year's chance to win a CIAA
championship.
"We were so close to wiiming the
championship — I really don't toow
what went wrong," said junior Ivan
Deloatch.
On Oct. 28 the Vikes faced former
CIAA champions Hampton University
—without the service of two their start
ers, Ivan Deloatch and Derrick Harrel.
The Vikes scored 13 points in the na
tionally televised (36-13) loss, and lost
two key players to injuries —
Murchinson and Lamont Avent.
"They were not that much better than
us—they just got all the lucky breaks,"
said Kermy Crump.
This year ECSU placed high hopes
on a returning nucleus of starters; a
defense led by aU CIAA defensive back,
Barry Liscomb and two key lineback
ers: senior, Andrew Richardson and
junior, Dameon Latta, and an offense
led by Aaron Murchinson, Kenny
Crump, and Travis Wright.
The Vikes started the season at home
against the Bears of Livingston Col
lege. They scored on an 8-yard stomp
by Crump ending the first quarter (6-0).
In the second the Bears shut down
ECSU's offense leaving the Vikes' de
fense to score the only two points of
The Vikings’ Aaron Murchinson (#22), the second leading rusher in the CIAA,
fights for extra yardage in the Sept. 31 game against North Carolina Central’s
Eagles. The Vikings won 27-26.
the quarter. A QB sack for a safety by
Marcus Barber put the Vikes up (8-0).
Neither team scored in the tiiird but
in the fourth junior running-back
Lamont Avent scored on a 13 yard
scamper. The two-point conversion put
ECSU up (16-0). The Vikes defense,
hoping for a shutout, came up short
when the Bears' Mclain broke loose for
a 43-yard touchdown rvm. The Vikes
would go on to win their home opener
(16-6).
On Sept. 9, ECSU travelled to Fayette
ville, NC to take on the Broncos. The
Broncos opened up the scoring with a
fake field goal resulting in a 20-yard
touchdown pass from Bryant to Young
with 7:47 remaining in the first.
"It really caught us off guard but we
had a whole ballgame to come back,"
said senior, Lorenzo McPhatter. On the
next possession the Vikes took the ball
down the field and capped off the scor
ing drive on a 6-yard run by Avent
with 3:46 left in the quarter.
With 10:24 left in the second quarter
Avent ran for another TD. The two
point conversion by Montez Wilson
was successful in spite of a mishandled
snap. The Vikes were up at halftime
(16-7). The third quarter was a score
less defensive battle but in the fourth
Crump scored on a 14-yard rumble
closing the game (22-7).
Sept. 16, the Vikes took their number
one defense to Winston-Salem to play
the Rams featuring the CIAA's leading
rusher, Richard Huntley. In spite of the
cold and rain the Vikings came away
with a (22-19) victory that put them in
first place in the CIAA.
On Sept. 23 The Vikes took their num
ber one ranking and undefeated record
on the road to face the Norfolk state
Spartans. ECSU's defense was con
cerned about a pair of Spartan stand
outs: Quarterback Aaron Sparrow, who
threw for over 300 yards last year and
all CIAA wide receiver James Roe.
"We're not going to try to stop these
guys, just try to contain them," said
jur\ior, Ivan Deloatch.
The Spartans jumped out to an early
first quarter lead, rushing for two TD's
while a struggling Viking offense was
unable to score imtil only 13 seconds
remained. The score at the end of the
quarter was (12-6).
In the second quarter, head coach
Darnell Moore's Spartans picked up
where they left off by scoring on a one
yard TD run. The Vikes took the ensu
ing kick and moved the baU down the
field where Murchinson scored on a 5-
yard run with 7:05 remaining in the
half. The Spartans took control of the
game; aU CIAA performers Sparrow
and Roe connected for two TD's on
two consecutive possessioris pushing
the score to (35-19). The Viking defense
tightened and held the Spartan offense
for three downs, forcing them to pvmt.
Viking senior, Malcom Mackey took
the punt 67 yards for a touchdown.
In the second half, Spartans' tandem
Sparrow and Roe connected for two
more TD's. On the other side of the
field the Vikings wouldn't give up.
"We felt we could compete with the
Spartans," said Murchinson, who led
his team back to a (44-41) lead midway
through the fourth quarter. The Spar
tans out-scored the Vikes (21-7) in the
final six minutes of the game to hand
ECSU their first defeat of the season
(62-51)." We didn't play like we should
have but the offense really came
through scoring 51 points," said
Deloatch.
A week after the defeat in Norfolk,
the NCCU Eagles came to Roebuck sta
dium with a (2-2) record after a big
win over division 1A Howard Univer
sity. The Vikes scored on a 10 yard
jaunt by the CIAA's second leading
rusher, Murchinson; while the defense,
led by the CIAA's leading tackier, An
drew Richardson, didn't allow any
points in the first quarter. The Vikes'
defense crumbled in the second, allow
ing the Eagles to score twice, cutting
their lead to (14-13). "There were a
couple of mental errors on the defense,"
said Moody.
The second half opened with the Vi
king defense striking first; a 24 yard
interception return by freshman
Stephen Carter put the Vikes on top
(22-13).
With only two minutes remaining in
the game Crump and Murchinson led
the Vikings to the Eagles' 20 yard line
where Murchinson hit senior wide re
ceiver, Sharano Woodly, for the win-
rung score (28-27).
Homecoming brought 8,000 people
and an encouraged Viking team to face
Bowie State at Roebuck Stadium. In
the muck and rain the Vikes put 43
points on the board and allowed only
7 in a memorable Homecoming win.
Saturday, Nov. 4, the Vikings face
Knoxville College at Roebuck Stadium.
Wanted!!!!
Individuals, Student
Organizations and Small
Groups to Promote
SPRING BREAK ’96
Earn substantial
MONEY and FREE TRIPS
CaU INTER-CAMPUS
PROGRAMS
http://www.icpt.com