The top HBCU performances in Week 10 were turned in by teams and head coaches in three conferences that registered their first wins of the season. Additionally, one team punched its ticket to the postseason.
Playing On
Miles claimed its third straight SIAC West title with a decisive 52-23 win over Tuskegee Saturday.
The Golden Bears under head coach Reginald Ruffin will take on Gabe Giardina’s Golden Rams of Albany State this Saturday, Nov. 13 in the SIAC Championship Game. The game will be played in Fairfield, Alabama at the home field of the Golden Bears.
Top HBCU Performances — Rushing
Most of the top HBCU rushing performances for Week 10 did not produce wins.
Norfolk State’s J. J. Davis’s 217 yards, Texas Southern’s LaDarius Owens’ 198 yards and Shaw’s Sidney Gibbs’ 138 yards were three of the top four rushing efforts. Neither resulted in victories.
NC Central spoiled Davis’s output taking two overtimes to halt the Spartans’ six-game winning streak, 38-36. The Eagles came back from an early 21-0 deficit to get the win. Davis averaged 12.1 yards in his 18 carries and scored touchdowns of 2, 31 and 2 yards, with the latter two coming in the overtimes. Davis, a redshirt freshman and Cincinnati transfer, leads the MEAC with 739 rushing yards, averaging 7.9 yards per carry and 82.1 yards per game.
Owens’ nearly 200-yard performance came up short against Jackson State and another outstanding day from quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The freshman threw for 305 yards (25-41-0) and three TDs in the Tigers 41-21 win. Owens averaged 8.6 yards per carry (23 carries) but did reach paydirt.
CIAA rushing leader Gibbs and the Bears came up short against Raleigh rival Saint Augustine’s despite his 138-yard, one-TD effort. Gibbs closes the year with 948 yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry and 94.8 yards per game with five rushing TDs.
The winners
SIAC team rushing leader Kentucky State (339.8 ypg.) also had a winning day. The Thorobreds rolled up 426 yards on the ground and seven rushing TDs in a 63-0 domination of Central State.
Top HBCU Performances — Passing
As opposed to the rushers, the top four passers in week 10, including Sanders, all came away with victories.
West Virginia State junior quarterback Donovan Riddick went on the road to West Liberty and produced a 364-yard passing effort to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 33-28 win. The 6-1, 190-pounder completed 23 of 32 passes and threw two second-quarter TD passes that staked his team to an early 20-7 lead.
Benedict quarterback Eric Phoenix closed out his season with a 334-yard passing day in the Tigers’ 34-30 win over Lane. The Savannah, Ga. junior was an efficient 27 of 35 with one TD pass.
Alabama A&M senior Aqeel Glass was the fourth QB to surpass the 300-yard mark this week. Glass completed 25 of his 35 throws for 332 yards in the Bulldogs’ 42-14 win over Mississippi Valley State. His four TD passes covering 48, 7, 11 and 8 yards was the best performance of the week.
Top HBCU Performances — Receiving
Topping the receivers in touchdowns this week was Alabama A&M’s 6-6 senior wideout Dee Anderson. The Oklahoma State transfer hauled in seven of Aqeel Glass’s passes, three for touchdowns covering 48, 7 and 11 yards. Anderson finished with 122 receiving yards (17.4 yards per catch).
Chowan wideout Imeek Watkins and Tennessee State running back Devon Starling both had 12 receptions to lead all receivers.
Watkins totalled 150 yards on his catches (16.0 yards per catch) and had TD receptions of 1 and 10 yards. Watkins, a 5-10, 190-pound senior, also had a 50-yard punt return TD to account for three of the Hawks four touchdowns in a 28-12 win over Lincoln (Pa.).
Starling’s 12 catches went for 117 yards. He also ran the ball 16 times for 78 yards and one TD in a 41-20 loss to UT-Martin
WVSU sophomore Barry Hill had the most receiving yards on the day. He brought in nine of Donovan Riddick’s passes for 173 yards (19.2 ypc.) and had one 29-yard TD reception.
Top HBCU Performances — Defense
Five players piled up 15 stops this week to set the pace in tackles. Two — NC A&T freshman linebacker Tyquan King and NC Central redshirt senior linebacker Noah Rainbow-Douglas — were part of winning efforts.
King had a monster game as the Aggies snapped a three-game losing streak with a 21-18 win over Charleston Southern. He had six solos and nine assists with two sacks for -14 yards. Rainbow-Douglas had similar numbers with six solos and nine assists with 2.5 tackles for loss including one sack in the Eagles win over Norfolk State. NRD also had a pass break-up.
King’s fellow linebacker at A&T, sophomore Jacob Roberts, was just as effective vs. Charleston Southern. The 6-foot, 230-pounder from Charlotte, N.C. had 11 tackles, six solos with 3.5 tackles for 23 yards in losses. He led all defenders this week with three sacks.
TOP PERFORMANCES
PASSING ATT-COMP YDS TDS (YDS)
Donovan Riddick, WVSU 23-32-2 364 2 (29, 19)
Eric Phoenix, BEN 27-35-1 334 1 (14)
Aqeel Glass, ALA&M 25-35-0 332 4 (48, 7, 11, 8)
Shedeur Sanders, JSU 25-41-0 305 3 (6, 4, 8)
Felix Harper, ALCST 24-33-1 300 1 (34)
Bryce Witt, CHOW 30-50-0 275 2 (1, 10)
Michael Huntley, LANE 19-26-0 242 2 (35, 25)
Desmond Hunter, LINCM 12-22-0 238 2 (81, 60)
Rasean McKay, FAMU 15-26-0 231 2 (31, 48)
Claude Newell, MILES 13-20-1 226 2 (75, 19)
Geremy Hickbottom, TNST 20-35-1 219 1 (12)
Jalen Fowler, NCA&T 10-26-2 211 0
Shannon Patrick, B-CU 16-25-0 210 2 (81, 33)
Neil Boudreau, MSU 17-26-2 210 1 (72)
Shariif Brown, CAU 15-35-0 209 2 (13, 6)
John-P. Pierce, GSU 14-32-1 189 1 (42)
Khari Lane, FSU 14-21-1 187 1 (46)
Glen McDaniels, SOU 20-39-0 183 1 (5)
Davius Richard, NCCU 10-23-0 182 2 (22, 29)
Jawon Pass, PVA&M 21-33-0 171 0
Skyler Perry, ARKPB 11-22-0 163 2 (34, 43)
Juwan Carter, NSU 22-36-0 155 0
RUSHING CAR YDS TDs (YDS)
J. J. Davis, NSU 18 217 3 (2, 31, 2)
LaDarius Owens, TXSU 23 198 0
Skyler Perry, ARKPB 15 146 2 (67, 3)
Sidney Gibbs, SHAW 17 138 1 (31)
Calil Wilkins, BSU 14 137 3 (1, 4, 31)
Kendon Walker, KSU 10 133 1 (60)
Frank Bailey Jr., MHS 23 110 0
Emmanuel Wilson, FVSU 26 108 0
Stadford Anderson, ALCST 26 115 3 (1, 4, 19)
Ryan Whitaker, LANE 17 115 1 (26)
Donte Edwards, MILES 19 114 2 (1, 2)
Jada Byers, VUU 21 112 2 (5, 1)
Peytton Pickett, JSU 15 104 2 (54, 1)
Kam Ward, ALBST 9 104 0
Donshel Jetton, FSU 19 97 0
C. J. Russel, GSU 16 95 0
J. D. Martin, JSU 12 94 1 (51)
Dan’te Jones, WVSU 20 94 2 (6, 28)
Franklin Hosea, LINCM 20 91 1 (1)
Kevon Campbell, BSU 2 86 1 (62)
Caleb Johnson, MVSU 20 84 0
Dariius Hagans, VSU 20 83 0
Issaiah McCray, ALBST 8 79 1 (51)
Alfonzo Graham, MSU 5 79 1 (70)
Brett Sylve, KSU 13 78 1 (3)
Devon Starling, TNST 16 78 1 (5)
RECEIVING REC YDS TDs
Barry Hill, WVSU 9 173 1 (29)
Imeek Watkins, CHOW 12 150 2 (1, 10)
Greg White, GSU 10 135 1 (42)
Zabrian Moore, AA&M 3 133 0
Dee Anderson, AA&M 7 122 3 (48, 7, 11)
Drakar Jerry, CSU 6 120 0
Jayden Thomas, BEN 7 117 0
Devon Starling, TNST 12 117 0
Tyrone Lyte, WVSU 8 112 0
Keith Corbin III, JSU 9 111 0
Bhayshul Tuten, NCA&T 3 108 0
Chrisshun Robinson, LINCM 2 107 1 (81)
Anthony Evelyn, LANE 7 99 0
Charles Hall, VUU 7 96 0
Christopher Brown, MILES 2 94 2 (75, 19)
Kemari Averett, B-CU 5 92 2 (31, 33)
Jahmare Sheread, FAMU 5 86 1 (48)
Winston Ausmer, LINCM 4 82 1 (60)
Jacorey Rankin, MVSU 8 82 1 (7)
Ryan McDaniel, NCCU 4 81 1 (29)
Abdul-Fattai Ibrahim, AA&M 7 78 0
C. J. Bolar, ALCST 8 78 0
Xavier Smith, FAMU 4 77 0
Dylaan Lee, B-CU 2 77 1 (81)
Harold Jemison Jr., AA&M 5 76 0
Craig Nelson, SOU 5 74 0
Marcus Thomas, MSU 1 72 1 (72)
TACKLES
15 Delontae Jones, WSSU; Noah Rainbow-Douglas, NCCU;
Keandre Powell, CSU; Tyler Brown, TUSK; Tyquan King, NCAT;
Jaylon Mosley, LINCM;
14 Manny Smith, NCCU;
13 Payton Lunsford, WVSU;
12 Jeffrey Johnson, LANE;
11 Domantay Rhem, VUU; Christian White, HOW; Irshaad Davis, ALST;
Cory Rahman, TNST; Jacob Roberts, NCAT; Markquese Bell, FAMU;
10 Gilberto Ortiz, CHOW; Amari Holloway, AA&M; Keyvon Johnson, ARKPB;
Ali Shockley, HAMP;
SACKS
3.0 Jacob Roberts, NCAT;
2.0 Joseph Murray, BSU; Jarrett Sumiel, VUU; Patrick Godbolt, SCSU;
Andrew Farmer, LANE; Daniel Norman, MHS; Sundiata Anderson, GSU;
Tyquan King, Stephan Davis, NCAT;
1.5 Kolby Hunter, VSU; Jimmy Edwards, KSU; Antwan Owens, JSU;
KeShaun Moore, JahDon Jenkins, HAMP;
INTERCEPTIONS
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