8T
For the Week of January 2 through January 8, 1996
SOUTHERN
FINISHES
#1
RANDALL: Southern
QB voted game's
outstanding player.
▼ FREEOUTINMEAC;DOUGLASGRABS
TOP ROOK DEFENSIVE HONORS IN NFL
UNDER THE BANNER
WHAT'S GOING ON IN AND AROUND BLACK COLLEGE SPORTS
Black
HUNTER: Second
team l-AA defen
sive all-American.
DOUBLE A, DOUBLE A s:
college players are well represented on NCAA Div. I-AA all-
american teams. Named to the first
team are Florida A&M senior
linebacker Earl Holmes and Jackson
State senior defensive back Picasso
Nelson. Named to the second team are
North Carolina A&T senior offensive
tackle Jamain Stephens, Hampton
defensive lineman Hugh Hunter,
Florida A&M linebacker Reggie Lee
and Southern linebacker Kenya
Rounds. Third team selections are
South Carolina State running back Michael Hicks, Hamp
ton wideout Michael Jenkins, Grambling offensive line
man Elliott Womack, defensive lineman Eric Austin of
Jackson State, Alcorn State defensive back Kelvin Robinson
and Bethune-Cookman defensive back Willie Oglesby.
IT'S ALCORN STATE, SIR: Aii-pro
offensive tackle Bruce Matthews of the Houston Oilers' on
his teammate, rookie quarterback Steve McNair: "Steve is
so calm in the huddle that I'm not sure he knows this is the
NFL and people are trying to take his head off. He thinks he's
still at Podunk U. or wherever he played in college." Not
Podunk, Mr. Matthews, but Alcorn State University is
where McNair played. Why do these people continue to low-
rate black college conferences and schools while black
college graduates continue to prove how overrated so-called
major college products are. Matthews is a Southern Cal grad.
(See below)
MORE RICE TO THE RECIPE: s.„
Francisco 49ers wideout Jerry Rice, already considered
perhaps the greatest wide receiver of all time, added two
more records this year to his portfolio. Rice broke the two
standards in the just completed NFL regular season. His
1,848 yards receiving this year broke the single season NFL
receiving yards mark of 1,746 formerly held by Charlie
Hennigan of the Oilers. Rice also surpassed Art Monk as the
career reception leader in NFL history. Rice finished the
regular season with 742 catches breaking Monk's record
(740) on the last day of the season. Monk was picked up late
in the season by the New York Jets. Oh, by the way, Rice
attended Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena,
MS, Mr. Matthews.
STAT CORNER
HERITATE BOWL GAME STATISTICS
HERITAGE BOWL
SCORING SUMMARY AND STATS
1st Quarter
SU - Williams, 67 pass from Randall - Leach kick (7:10)
SU - Leach, 43-yard field goal (1:35)
Second Quarter
SU - Williams, 5-yard run, Leach kick (9:36)
FAMU - Safety ball snapped out of end zone (6:10)
FAMU - Vidal, 4-yard run, kick blocked (1:32)
FAMU - Stephens, 31-yard field goal (:00)
Third Quarter
SU - Gales, 1-yard run - Leach kick (8:42) 24-11
SU - Bailey, 6-yard pass from Randall - rush failed(:43) 30-11
Fourth Quarter
FAMU - Wilson, 66-yard pass from Allen - Stevens kick (14:07) 30-18
FAMU - Allen, 2-yard run - Stevens kick (5:21) 30-25
RUSHING
Southern - Williams, 14-41; Gales, 5-39; Randall, 14-28; Griflin,
4-18; Jones, 4-15: FAMU - Vidal, 19-81; Glover, 5-28; Jackson, 2-
5; Allen, 9-14
PASSING
Southern - Randall, 25-16-0, 190; Williams, 1-0-0, 0; Johnson, 1-
0-0, 0: FAMU - Allen, 38-17-2,196
RECEIVING
Southern - Williams, 5-72; Sparks, 4-16; Bailey, 3-72; Baker, 2-9;
Griffin, 1-11; Gales, 1-10: FAMU - Bell, 6-67, Taylor, 5-32;
Jackson, 2-11; Vidal, 2-4; Wilson, 1-66; Bland, 1-16.
Source: Onnidan Group
&AZEEZ CommuDicatioDs, Idc. VOL. 2, NO. 20
1995-96 BLACK COLLEGE BASKETBALL (Results, Standings and Outstanding Players)
SCORES
HOLIDAY SCORES
UP TO DEC. 29
BYU 110, Morgan St. 69
George Mason 87, Hampton 74
Maryland 104, UMES66
Ball Stale 78, Coppin St. 55
Southern 98, UNC-G'twro 78
CIAA
(thru 12/17)
NORTH
Va. Union
Bowie St
Eliz. City
Norf State
Va State
St. Paul's
SOUTH
Fayv. State
NCCU
Shaw
JC Smith
St Aug
WSSU
Livingstone
MEAC
(thru 12/29)
CONE ALL
Beth-Ckmn 0-0 4-2
SC State 0-0 4-2
Md-ES 0-0 5-4
Coppin 0-0 3-4
FAMU 0-0 3-4
NCA&T 0-0 1-6
Del State 0-0 1 -7
Morgan St. 0-0 1 -8
Howard 0-0 0-8
Hampton * 0-0 3-8
* Not eligible for conference championship
SIAC
(thru 12/17)
EAST
Clark All 1 -0
Morris Brwn 1 -0
Sav. State 1-0
Albany St 1-1
Paine l -3
Ft Valley 0-0
WEST
LeM-Owen 3-0
Ala A&M 2-0
Morehouse 1-2
Tuskegee 1-1
Miles 0-3
Kentucky St 0-4
SWAC
(thru 12/29)
Miss Valley
Grambling
Southern-BR
Tx Southern
Jackson State
Prairie View
Alcorn State
Alabama State
PLAYERS OF
THE WEEK
CIAA
NA
MEAC
NA
SIAC
NA
SWAC
NA
COMMENTS / QUESTIONS
Write the Black College Sports Page
at 407 Holbrook St., Danville, VA 24541.
or E-mail us at AZEEZ@AOL.COM
Southern survives FAMU 30-25,
to claim Heritage Bowl V win
Heritage Bowl realities
ATLANTA — Southern could never shake
Florida A&M but managed to stay just out of
harm's way enough to claim their second Heritage
Bowl title with a 30-25 win Friday before 22,164
at the Georgia Dome.
Southern (11-1) dominated the flow of
the game but couldn't put away FAMU (9-3)
despite leads of 17-0, and 30-11. The Rattler's
ability to come up with big plays coupled with
Jaguar mistakes helped keep the game from
becoming a rout.
"We had our chances but couldn't get
the big play that would put us over the hump,"
said FAMU head coach Billy Joe. "Offensively,
we could never get going but we continued to
scrap and almost pulled it out."
Indeed, wheneverthe Rattler's appeared
on the verge of being blown out is when their
fortunes changed. Down 17-0 past midway
through the second quarter, the Jags snapped the
ball over the punter's head and through the end
zone to put FAMU on the board. Two series later.
Southern fullback Donnie Gales fumbled giving
the Rattler's possession on the Jaguar 31. Nine
plays later, RB Kwame Vidal ran four yards up the
middle for the score bringing FAMU within 17-8.
A 34-yard punt return by FAMU's
Tremayne Bridges set the Rattler's up for a field
goal attempt with just :10 left before the half. Jeff
Stevens converted a 31 -yarder to send his squad to
the break Only trailing by 6.
Southern re-established control of the
game with two scoring drives to open the second
half. The first covered 76 yards in 13 plays capped
off by Gales' 1-yard plunge. A 12-play 80-yard
drive followed with Fred Bailey pulling in Erid
Randall's toss from six yards out.
Trailing 30-11, and appearing out of it
for the day, Allen found Robert Wilson on a 66-
yard scoring pass :53 into the fourth quarter. The
Rattler's scored again on their next possession,
going 49 yards in 14 plays, culminating in a 2-
yard run around left end by Allen.
Selected as the game's outstanding
players for their respective teams were Randall,
and FAMU linebacker Earl Holmes, who totalled
15 tackles on the day, three for losses of nine
yards.
Overheard at the Heritage Bowl
Earl Holmes, Florida A&M's outstanding linebacker - "1 think I'm a Jack Lambert type of
player with a Lawrence Taylor kind of attitude." In the game. Holmes set the record for the most
tackles in a single season in Rattler history.
SWAC Commissioner, James Frank - Says Heritage Bowl would forego television
coverage next year for a better time slot. (Translation) A better time slot will produce a better
crowd than the over 22,000 that showed up for this year's contest. He says officials would like
to keep the game in Atlanta but will take a look at other cities. Their first decision this year was
to play the game at 7 pm but sponsors were tied to television and without TV the game would
have lost 250-300,000. "If (next year's game) is not televised then we'll just forego TV. Franks
estimates that live crowds could increase between 8-10,000 with a better time slot.
The win by Southern evens the season record between the SWAC and MEAC at 3-3. Southern
had all three of the SWAC wins defeating Hampton, along with two wins over Florida A&M.
Southern improved to a perfect 5-0 in the Georgia Dome with their win in Heritage Bowl V.
The SWAC continued its mastery of the MEAC in the Heritage Bowl with the 30-25 win. The
SWAC now leads 4-1, with the only MEAC win coming last year when SC State defeated
Grambling.
PART TWO OF AN OPINION BY ROSCOE NANCE
A lot of things surrounding the Heritage Bowl don't work
the way they do for other bowl games.
Jim Walter Homes paid $150,000 to become the
Heritage Bowl's title sponsor for a year. That ranks up there
with the white men buying Manhattan from Native Americans
for a bunch of beads when it comes to rip-offs.
One-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars is chump change
comparatively speaking, and what's worse, organizers will
have to go out and seek another sponsor for Heritage Bowl
VI. What the game needs is stability. h\i:, n Walter Homes was
unwilling to fork over more money, organizers at the very
least should have gotten a commitment of three years at the
very least. That would have kept them from having to go out
and beat the bushes for new sponsor for Heritage Bowl VI.
I n the real world, teams get to go to bowls as a reward for
having had good seasons. They are treated to a week of
activities ranging from banquets, to sight-seeing tours to
cookouts.
Basically all Southern and Florida A&M get for their
respective 10-1 and 9-2 records is the privilege of riding a bus
to Atlanta, playing a game and going back home.
The teams are allowed $30 a day per player for food and
are required to bus back home immediately after the game.
But each will stay overnight at its own expense, and Southern
has arranged to attend the Peach Bowl on Saturday.
It would have been a nice touch if Heritage Bowl organizers
would have planned some activities for athletes. After all,
they're the ones who are putting on the show, and they are
making all the sacrifices. Southern players practiced until
Dec. 21, when they were allowed to go home for Christmas.
They reported back to campus Christmas night and left for
Atlanta the next day.
Florida A&M practiced until Dec. 23, and only players
from Tallahassee and the immediate vicinity went home.
For that, win, lose or draw, they deserve some show of
appreciation. A tour of the King Center, an Atlanta Hawks
NBA game or a visit to the Atlanta Falcons' practice facility
would have worked nicely and wouldn't have required a
whole lot of effort.
One can only hope the situation improves in the future
and that the growing pains the Heritage Bowl is experiencing
aren't terminal. The game has the potential to be something
really special. But whenever anything or anyone is talked
about in terms of potential, the reality of the situation is
nothing has been accomplished, That's the sad truth about
the Heritage Bowl.
FREE: Out as
MEAC commish.
BCSP Notes
COMPILED BY ERIC MOORE
FREE TIME: The Mid Eastern Athletic
Conference board of directors, saying they have
decided logo in another direction, voted recently not
to renew the contract of
Commissioner Ken Free. The
decision was made public Dec.
20 in Greensboro, site of the
conference office though Free
was present at the Dec. 29
Heritage Bowl in Atlanta. The
position has been advertised in
the NCAA News for the last two weeks. Free has
been commissioner since 1978 and has served on the
NCAA Div. 1 basketball selection committee.
Speculation about Free's status has circulated for
some time. Reports this summer placed him as a
prime candidate for athletic director at South Caro
lina State.
THE RIGHT PLACES: What was Ten
nessee State athletic director, Howard Gentry, III
doing at the Heritage Bowl symposium, banquet,
game, etc. - looking for a head football coach.
Gentry was much in evidence as he tries to fill the
vacancy created at his institution by the resignation
of Bill Davis just after the season ended. Speculation
has several deals in the works including a move by
Alabama State head man Houston Markham to
Nashville and Florida A&M assistant Alonzo
Highsmith as his replacement in Montgomery Don't
count out former Grambling quarterback and NFL
star Doug Williams from the list. Though Williams has
not formally applied, there may be some interest in his
services.
MUSICAL COACHES: joe Crosby has
been named as the third football coach at Morris
Brown College in the last three years. He replaces Joe
Redmond who left after just one year on the job.
Crosby is familiar with the SIAC from coaching at
Savannah State two years ago where his rebuilding of
the program was halted unexpectedly in the wake of
administrative difficulties related to the processing of
student athletes financial aid. Redmond left Knoxville
College to take over the Wolverines program a year
ago following the firing of Greg Thompson.
DOUGLAS FOR THE DEFENSE:
Central State product Hugh Douglas, a 1995 first
round pick of the NFL's New
York Jets was recently selected
as the Associated Press defen
sive rookie of the year. Douglas
led all black college players in
sacks during his senior season
with 16, and was taken by the
Jets as the 16th pick of the open
ing round. During his first sea
son he established himself as a
feared pass rusher, netting 10
sacks in the team's first 12 games. In doing so, Douglas
proved more productive than the four defenders picked
in front of him in the draft; Mike Mamula (Penn State),
Kevin Carter (Florida), Warren Sapp (Miami) and
Derrick Alexander (Florida State). Douglas sat out the
final four games with a knee injury.
DOUGLAS:
defensive rookie
Southern finishes atop
final BCSP football poll
The Jaguars of Southern claimed the BCSP
#1 ranking after their win over Florida A&M in
Heritage Bowl V. Despite being ranked behind the
NAIA champion Marauders of Central State prior to
the bowl game. Southern earned the necessary points
by virtue of their tougher schedule, and wins over
ranked teams.
SC State won the inaugural BCSP national
championship ranking after defeating Grambling in
last year's Heritage Bowl.
BSCP TOP TEN
1. SOUTHERN (11-1) - Two wins over FAMU,
and convincing win against Hampton allows
Jags to leap over Marauders.
2. CENTRAL STATE (10-1) - NAIA national
champs but not a lot of quality wins against
black college comp.
3. FLORIDA A&M (9-3) - Joe has led Rattlers
up hill. Almost got to top.
4. JACKSON STATE (9-3) - Only team to
defeat Southern but couldn't beat FAMU.
5. HAMPTON (8-3) - First year in l-AA was a
learning experience. Now let's see.
6. DELAWARE STATE (6-5) - Started very
slow. Finished very strongly.
7. ALBANY STATE (8-4) - Battled national
champ N. Alabama to wire.
8. VIRGINIA STATE (8-2) - Coach Lou and
Trojans were snubbed. Motivation next year.
9. ARK -PINE BLUFF (6-4) - Looking to move
to SWAC.
10. (tle) NORFOLK STATE (7-3) - Great sea
son but not good enough for CIAA crown.
ALABAMA STATE (8-3) - Hornets caught fire
down stretch.