CIAA Week Two: Players And Trends

Keahn Wallace picked right up where he left off in 2012, throwing for four touchdowns in his 2013 debut. (Johnson C. Smith photo)

Offensive Player Of The Week
Keahn Wallace, Johnson C. Smith

Keahn Wallace saw his first action on Saturday after sitting out his team’s season-opener against Livingstone. The junior made quite the debut, showing why he was selected to the preseason All-CIAA team. Wallace completed 28 of 37 passes for a career-high 425 yards and four touchdowns in Johnson C. Smith’s 58-41 win over Bowie State.

Notables: Tehyvn Brantley (WSSU) 5 catches, 139 yards 3 TDs
Casey Turner, Elizabeth City: 5 TD passes
Marquise Grizzle (Shaw) 120 rushing yards, 1 TD

Defensive Player Of The Week
Darnell Evans, Shaw

Evans was a big reason for Shaw’s 33-21 win, recording four tackles and four pass breakups, including two interceptions. The first pick set a new Shaw record, and the second one helped seal the game.

Notables: Darrius Moffet, Shaw-The linebacker recorded 12 stops against VUU, including nine solo.
Devin Wallace, Virginia Union-Cornerback broke up seven passes in loss to Shaw
Alpha Lamin, Elizabeth City-Linebacker had eight tackles and 2.5 sacks in a loss to Tusculum

Freshman Of The Week
Alpha Lamin, Elizabeth City

The 6’3, 225 pound linebacker from Fayetteville came up big for his team in Week Two, coming up with eight tackles and two sacks in a loss to Tusculum.

Notables: Willie Bailey, Virginia Union–Redshirt-freshman transfer from the University of Florida had 13 tackles (8 solo), one for loss.

Trending Up:
Johnson C. Smith’s Offense

In two weeks, JCSU is averaging 46 points per game and has scored on all but one of its 11 redzone attempts. They have outscored their first two opponents by a score of 44-3 in the second quarter. It was one thing to do so against a traditionally less-than-stellar Livingstone defense, but with starter Keahn Wallace back in the fold, it looks like more high-scoring affairs could be in this team’s future.

Trending Down:
Virginia State and St. Aug’s Offenses

After solid showings in Week One, both the Trojans and Falcons fell off on Saturday. Virginia State failed to score in the second half ground game was held to just 62 yards in a 30-14 loss to Benedict. St. Aug. A week after giving NCCU all it could handle. St. Aug was held to a field goal and threw two interceptions to no touchdowns.