September 23rd, 2025 11:15pm
SIAC Weekly-Week Four
Weekly Rewind
Let’s take a look back at last week’s scores by the numbers. (SIAC teams in bold)
Benedict 45 Tuskegee 24
Game Totals
Benedict--Total yards 380/First downs 25/Passing 223 yds 4 td 0 int/Rushing 157 yds 2 td
Tuskegee—Total yards 296/First downs 17/Passing 209 yds 2 td 1 int/Rushing 87 yds
Morgan State 27 Central State 0
Game Totals
Morgan State--Total yards 303/First downs 18/Passing 165 yds 1 td 1 int/Rushing 138 yds 2 td
Central State--Total yards 108/First downs 9/Passing 93 yds 0 td 2 int/Rushing 15 yds
Kentucky State 35 Morehouse 17
Game Totals
Kentucky State—Total yards 347/First downs 19/Passing 218 yds 3 td 0 int/Rushing 128 yds 1 td
Morehouse—Total yards 408/First downs 23/Passing 341 yds 2 td 1 int/Rushing 67 yds
Savannah State 45 Miles 19
Game Totals
Savannah State—Total yards 309/First downs 19/Passing 204 yds 3 td 0 int/Rushing 105 yds 1 td
Miles—Total yards 276 yds/First downs 14/Passing 217 yds 1 td 0 int/Rushing 59 yds 1 td
Delta State 21 Fort valley State 16
Game Totals
Delta State—Total yards 281/First downs 20/Passing 209 yards 0 td 2 int/Rushing 72 yds 3 td
Fort Valley State—Total yards 250/First downs 18/Passing 164 yds 1 td 0 int/Rushing 86 yds
Bethune-Cookman 35 Edward Waters 9
Game Totals
Bethune-Cookman—Total yards 437/First downs 15/Passing 209 yds 3 td 1 int/Rushing 228 yds 1 td
Edward Waters—Total yards 247/First downs 20/Passing 173 yds 1 td 4 int/Rushing 74 yds 0 td
Allen 49 Clark-Atlanta 38
Game Totals
Allen—Total yards 496/First downs 24/Passing 237 yds 3 td 1 int/Rushing 259 yds 4 td
Clark-Atlanta—Total yards 409/First Downs 17/Passing 326 yds 4 td 0 int/Rushing 83 yds 1 td
Alabama A&M 49 Lane 7
Game Totals
Alabama A&M—Total yards 397/First downs 21/Passing 205 yds 2 td 3 int/Rushing 192 yds 4 td
Lane—Total Yards/First downs 11/Passing 73 yds 0 td 2 int/Rushing 82 yds
Week 4 Matchups (SIAC teams in bold)
Allen (2-2, 2-0) at Albany State (2-1, 1-0)
Allen comes into this game riding a two-game winning streak after defeating Clark-Atlanta this past weekend. Allen trailed in the fourth quarter by three at one juncture but the offense led by running back Fabian Duncan brought them back for victory. Duncan epitomized the term workhorse against CA, carrying the ball a whopping 46 times for 229 yards while also seeing the endzone on three different occasions. Quarterback Jamir Dismukes was the other Yellow Jacket to touch paydirt, managing four touchdowns with three coming through the air. Allen’s defense got stops when they needed late but did yield over 300 yards passing and four touchdowns to Clark-Atlanta.
The Golden Rams are coming off of a bye where they took their first loss of the season to FCS Florida A&M. ASU was quite dominant in their first two games and they will look to get back on the winning track at home Saturday. Both Allen and Albany State are undefeated thus far in conference play and this is a vital game for both squads here at the end of September.
These two teams have both been very good offensively this year. This game will likely come down to who can get the most stops.
PREDICTION
Albany State 38 Allen 21
Central State (0-4, 0-3) vs Lane (0-3, 0-1)
Central State enters this week coming off the heels of laying its third straight bagel. The third game in a row the Marauders did not put a point on the scoreboard. Tison Hill took most of the snaps at quarterback, completing 10 of 15 passes for 83 yards and a pick. Three different receivers had three catches. But unfortunately, CSU only managed 15 rushing yards on 32 attempts. Defensively, Dominique Davis II continues to shine for the Marauders as he led the team with 14 tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss and a sack.
Lane had a tough game with Alabama A&M last week. It’s usually a tough task when stepping up to FCS competition and Lane was outmanned. But this will only be the Dragons second conference game of the year, Nick Billoups continues to take the majority of the snaps under center for Lane. Offensively, Lane couldn’t find the endzone against A&M, but John White was able to take an interception back for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to get the Dragons on the board.
This contest will be a neutral site affair as both teams head to Rochester New York to play in the Fredrick Douglas HBCU Football Classic. The better offense this week looks like it could get their squad of the shneid!
PREDICTION
Central State 20 Lane 16
Benedict (3-0, 2-0) at Clark-Atlanta (2-2, 1-1)
I must start this preview off by saying that I missed the Benedict/Tuskegee game by a mile when I made a prediction of 13-3 last week. Benedict was fantastic offensively against a very good Tuskegee defense. Benedict, who won their first two games both by a score of 10-0, made a quarterback change and it worked out tremendously. Darius Ocean took over for Jackson Jensen and the Tigers offense exploded. Ocean completed 19 of 29 pass attempts for 213 yards with four touchdowns and no picks. Malachi Jones caught five of those passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. Troy Hillman also caught two touchdown passes. Benedict has been stout defensively all season. After the Tigers went down 17-7 early in the second quarter, they didn’t yield another point defensively. They scored 38 unanswered points before Tuskegee ran a kickoff back as time expired in the fourth quarter.
All Clark-Atlanta does is seem to play in close games. Unfortunately for the Panthers they were on the wrong end of one this past weekend. The Panthers couldn’t hold a fourth quarter lead against Allen as they gave up two touchdowns in the final period to lose 49-38. Offensively, CA was outstanding in the passing game. Xzavier Jackson did most of the work, connecting on 15 of his 23 pass attempts for 244 yards and four touchdowns. David Martin and Armone Harris combined for 11 catches, 174 yards and all four receiving touchdowns. CA allowed almost five hundred yards and 49 points against Allen. They’ll have to be much better against benedict if they hope to come out victorious.
These two different Cats are trying to claw their way to a SIAC championship. This game means more for CA at this point, but Benedict would love to stay in first place.
PREDICTION
Benedict 27 Clark-Atlanta 21
Miles (0-4, 0-2) at Morgan State (1-3, 0-0)
The Golden Bears were much better this week than in previous weeks for a good portion of the game. Miles and Savannah State were tied at 17 with under a minute to go in the first half. In the early part of the fourth quarter Miles was trailing 31-19 and had the ball in plus territory before stalling out. A couple of late scores by SSU and the scoreboard showed a lopsided loss. But Miles quarterback Brinley Vandiver was able to pass for 217 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Defensively, Miles must get better if they want to turn their season around as they are giving up an average of 42,3 points per game.
Morgan State, a Division I FCS team in the MEAC will be playing a SIAC opponent for the second straight week. Last week they defeated Central State 27-0 for their first win of the season and this week they will look to make it two-in-a-row against Miles.
I think Miles showed improvement last week. They’ll need much more improvement this week if they want to upend Morgan State.
PREDICTION
Morgan State 34 Miles 13
Fort Valley State (0-3, 0-1) at Tuskegee (2-2, 1-1)
If you look at FVSU’s record, it would be easy to conclude that they’re not a good team. But this team is extremely close to being 3-0. They have had leads in the fourth quarter of all three games they contested this year. Rashadan Tebyassa made a field goal with 1:14 seconds left in regulation to take a 16-14 lead last week against Delta State. Unfortunately, the Wildcats yielded a touchdown with only 27 seconds left and lost another heartbreaker. Quarterback Don Hudson tallied 157 of Fort Valley States 250 yards and scored their only touchdown. Defensively, six Wildcats had three tackles or more. As a unit, they also combined for six tackles-for-loss and three sacks.
I thought Tuskegee and Benedict would have been a defensive battle last Thursday night, but the offenses decided otherwise. The Golden Tigers led Benedict 17-7 with great playmaking from wide receiver EJ Hall who had 117 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Tuskegee would continue to move the ball, but did not get into the endzone again until a kick return for a touchdown that ended the game. By then it was out-of-reach and Benedict had won convincingly. Tuskegee has been sound defensively all season until last week and we’ll find out if that was more of an anomaly than a consistent occurrence.
Both teams are still in thick of it in the SIAC, and I think this game will come down to the fourth quarter.
PREDICTION
Tuskegee 20 Fort Valley State 17
Kentucky State (2-2, 2-1) at Savannah State (2-1, 1-1)
The Thorobreds are coming off a very solid outing against Morehouse where they won 35-17. The quarterback duo of Torrence Bardell and Denim Johnson were at it again last week as they combined to complete 75 percent of their passes for 218 yards and 3 touchdowns with no turnovers. Chad Elzy had an impressive 7.8 yards-per-carry average and also touched paydirt once. Jordan Thompson wreaked havoc on the Morehouse offense, garnering 10 total tackles, four of which were behind the line of scrimmage and also three sacks. The Thorobreds seem to be improving every week.
Savannah State has really found their rhythm after a tough opening season loss to Edward Waters. Even though the Tigers defeated Shorter 13-0 in week two, SSU coach Aaron Kelton decided to make a quarterback change. Fabian Walker was in and Christian Burks was out. Walker played outstanding, completing 17 of 27 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns. Joseph Hampton continues to bulldoze his way through defenses, picking up 51 yards on only 11 carries. Arik Gilbert and Sincere Clark were playmakers in the passing game, catching 10 balls for 153 yards and three touchdowns combined. After giving up 41 points in the opener, SSU has only allowed 19 points in their last two games.
This will be a real litmus test for both of these teams on Saturday night.
PREDICTION
Savannah State 34 Kentucky State 23
Morehouse (0-3, 0-1) at Edward Waters (3-1, 2-0)
Morehouse played their first conference game this past weekend and came up short in a fairly competitive game against Kentucky State, losing 35-17. The Maroon Tigers first two games were against out-of-conference competition and while they’re 0-3, their margin of defeat continues to improve. They've lost by 36, 28 and 18 points, respectively. There seems to be improvement. Offensively, Morehouse can really throw the ball around the yard as quarterback Miles Scott completed 25 of 31 passes for 334 yards and two touchdowns to go along with one pick. But the Maroon Tigers must do a better job of scoring points. Defensively they gave up 61 less yards of offense than they gained and still lost by 18 points. They must play better in the redzone if they want to make the scoreboard look as good as the box score.
The Tigers from Edward Waters took loss number one on the year when they moved up in class and played Bethune-Cookman. Noah Bodden, who has been outstanding for EWU thus far, finally came back down to earth against B-C. He passed for 167 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions and completed less than 50 percent of his passes. I foresee that as being a tough game against a good opponent rather than anything to forecast moving forward. Johntarrius Thomas continues to pound the rock for the Tigers as he averaged 7.4 yards-per-carry with a touchdown on only eight attempts. Defensively, EWU struggled to stop the big plays against B-C. They’ll need to shore that up moving forward to stay atop the SIAC standings.
EWU looks to stay unbeaten in conference play while Morehouse looks to get that first coveted win of the season.
PREDICTION
Edward Waters 41 Morehouse 31
SEASON PREDICTIONS
Last Week 6-2
Overall 26-8