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Welcome to the world of black college sports.
Bands control the game and cheerleaders do a lot more than cheer.
The coins have been flipped and the match has
been set. Fayetteville State and Bowie State will meet again, this time for the
whole enchilada. The CIAA championship game is Saturday at 1 p.m. EST at Durham
County Stadium in Durham, N.C.
"It seems like it's been a decade since we
last played in the championship game," FSU coach Kenny Phillips said.
Actually it's only been five years since the Broncos last visited, four years
for Bowie. The Broncos and Bulldogs played in the 2002 title game, with FSU
coming out on top.
FSU got the better of BSU on Sept. 12,
converting six Bowie turnovers into a 30-20 victory. But that seems so
l-o-o-o-o-n ago now. The Bulldogs went on a five-game win streak before hitting
two bumps in the road by the names of Virginia State and Virginia Union, despite
having the No. 2 ranked defense in D2.
"The guys were a little down after the
loss [to VSU]," coach Damon Wilson said. "But they are excited about
being in the conference championship and we look forward to the rematch."
The Broncos, meanwhile, have won their last
five. They are currently ranked No. 10 in the Super Regional One poll and need a
quality win over an opponent with a winning record for any hope of a playoff
spot.
A loss and the conference will be shut out for
the second straight season.
"It's a huge game," FSU quarterback
Tyler Hosler said. "We need to win this game to keep our chances at making
the playoffs."
Hosler is one of the reasons why the Broncos
are where they are. After the loss to the Trojans, Phillips inserted Hosler into
the rotation and FSU hasn't lost since.
Bowie will look to its main man, running back
Rodney Webb (819 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns), and, of course, to it's
defense.
Phillips said Bowie is a different team than
the one they played earlier.
"That games seems like it was last year to
me," he said. "When we played them the third game of the season, they
were throwing the ball a lot. Now, they?re trying to run the football a little
bit more than they did when we were there."
Postseason Awards
With the regular season now over, it?s time to
honor those that stood out from the pack.
- Coach of the year. No matter what happens
this weekend, Wilson is still my coach of the year. Wilson took a team that was
predicted to finish fourth into a tie for first.
- Offensive player of the year. His team won
only two games, but Chowan quarterback CJ Wrestler is the best player in the
league.
Football is not like basketball, where one
player can literally carry a team. Wrestler has no help yet leads the conference
in passing. He won it for me in the game against Elizabeth City State, where he
threw for 382 yards and rushed for another 152. His 534-yard total was just 48
yards shy of the Hawks' total offense.
- Defensive player of the year. There are quite
a few qualified candidates for this one. ECSU linebacker Malcolm Jenkins leads
the conference in sacks and tackles for loss; teammate Justin Hamilton is tied
in D2 in interceptions with Shaw cornerback Quintez Smith, who is a wholly
terror.
I'd take all three if I could but since I
can't, I'm picking Smith. He held that Bears defense up and opposing coaches
revamped their offense around him.
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