South Carolina HBCU Sports This Week

**LCHS Homecoming Weekend October 27 - 30, 2022**

**MEAC Announces Weekly Football Honors**

NORFOLK, Va., Sept. 26, 2022 – North Carolina Central junior quarterback Davius Richard was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Football Offensive Player of the Week, presented by Coca-Cola, the conference announced today. South Carolina State linebacker BJ Davis was named Defensive Player of the Week, while Norfolk State's Jordin Lennon was named Rookie of the Week. North Carolina Central's Robert Mitchell was named Offensive Lineman of the Week and the Eagles' Adrian Olivo was named Specialist of the Week.

Richard (QB, 6-3, 215, Jr., Belle Glade, Fla.) accounted for four of the Eagles' eight touchdowns in a win over Virginia University of Lynchburg, passing for three and rushing for one score as North Carolina Central posted its highest single-game point total since 2016. Richard was 12-for-17 through the air for 148 yards (12.3 per completion) while rushing six times for 41 yards (6.8 per carry).
Davis (LB, 6-2, 190, r-Jr., Blair, S.C.) racked up a game- and career-high 17 tackles – including 12 solo stops – against North Carolina A&T State. He also broke up a pass against the Bulldogs' former MEAC rivals.
Lennon (RB, 5-10, 211, Fr., Yorktown, Va.) carried the ball 10 times for 80 yards (8.0 per carry), both career highs, against Saint Francis. He also scored his first collegiate touchdown with a 26-yard run in the second quarter.

Mitchell (OL, 6-4, 305, r-Sr., Millsboro, Del.) graded out at 97% against Virginia University of Lynchburg, anchoring an offensive line that allowed the Eagles to amass 465 yards of total offense (7.5 yards per play), 272 rushing yards and 59 points. In 52 offensive snaps, he recorded seven pancake blocks and did not give up a sack.
Olivo (PK, 5-10, 185, Jr., Plant City, Fla.) connected on all eight of his extra-point attempts and made a 34-yard field goal in the Eagles' win over Virginia University of Lynchburg. For the season, Olivo is 2-for-2 on field goals and 23-for-24 on PATs.

**Tigers Pull Away From Kentucky State, 40-14**

The Benedict College Tigers remained undefeated by outscoring Kentucky State 26-7 in the second half and defeated the Thorobreds 40-14 on Saturday night in Charlie W. Johnson Stadium.
The Tigers broke away from a 21-14 game at the end of the third quarter by scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to improve to 4-0 on the season and 2-0 in the SIAC. Kentucky State falls to 0-4 on the season and 0-1 in the SIAC.
"I'm just proud of our football team and our staff," said Benedict head coach Chennis Berry. "We started off slow. We didn't play our best football in the first half. And the guys really picked it up in the second half. They came out with the right mindset and were able to finish the game. Ultimately, at the end of the day we are 1-0, and that's all we want to be every week."
The Tigers were able to break open the game in the second half with some big plays, including a 45-yard pass from Eric Phoenix to Reginald Harden, which set up a 23-yard touchdown run by Noah Zaire Scotland as Benedict broke a 14-14 tie to take the lead for good.
Phoenix then completed fourth-quarter touchdown passes of 42 yards to Tayven Grice, 13 yards to Nicholas Sowell and 5 yards to Steven Campbell. Phoenix finished the game with 14 completions on 24 attempts for 188 yards and four touchdowns. John Lampley added two completions on four attempts for 55 yards and a touchdown.
"We wanted to stretch the field vertically," Berry said. "We feel we've got some long, athletic receivers who can take the cover off the roof and stretch the field vertically. We wanted to be aggressive and felt if we gave our big, long, tall receivers a chance down the field, that would soften things to open up our running game. We're grateful to have guys who can really, really run and quarterbacks who can put it on them."

Scotland finished with 91 yards rushing on 12 carries and one touchdown.

The Thorobreds, with their ball-control triple option offense, held on to the ball for a good part of the game. Kentucky State finished with a time of possession of more than 38 minutes, while Benedict managed just 21:48. The Thorobreds finished with 227 yards rushing on 52 attempts.

But Benedict dominated the fourth quarter, holding the ball for 8:28 and out-gaining Kentucky State 148 yards to 12 yards in the final quarter.

"The defensive staff came in at halftime and made some adjustments," Berry said. "They slowed some things down. Defending that triple option is tough. But our defense staff did an awesome job of slowing it down. The hard thing about the triple option is it's hard to get possessions because they hold the ball so long. We started off a little slow offensively, but we were able to pick it up at the end."

Benedict will travel to Fort Valley State, also 4-0, in a battle of SIAC undefeateds next Saturday in Fort Valley, Ga. Kickoff is 2 p.m.

**Benedict Women's Cross Country Team Wins Queens Invitational**

Charlotte, NC - The Benedict College women's cross country team won the Queen's University of Charlotte Invitational Cross Country Women's Open Race on Friday at McAlpine Creek Park. Benedict scored 56 points to beat second-place Belmont Abbey College and beat out 15 other teams.
Purity Kibet led the way for the Lady Tigers with a season-best time of 19:09, only two seconds behind the winner from Savannah State.

Megan Thompson ran a lifetime best time of 19:24 and finished fifth overall

Jane Kiborus finished ninth with a lifetime best time of 20:09

Floma Okumu finished 22nd with a lifetime best time of 20:58

Torriann Noad finished 27th overall with a lifetime best time of 21:21

Cavel Barnett ran a lifetime best time of 22:37 and finished 45th overall

Lydia Kosgei ran a personal best of 22:52

Sinia Massillon ran a lifetime best of 25:50

** Allen U. Football's Rally Falls Short In Loss At Tuskegee**

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Allen University football team rallied from a 14-point first quarter deficit to fall just 8 points shy 35-27 at Tuskegee University in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) play on Saturday afternoon inside the Cramton Bowl.
Tuskegee (2-2, 1-0 SIAC) led for the whole game after jumping out to an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a pair of quick scores despite trailing the Yellow Jackets in total offense as well as time of possession. Allen (0-3, 0-2) then added their first score of the game on QB David Wright's 11-yard touchdown scamper to complete a 12-play 70-yard drive.

The Yellow Jackets responded again in the second quarter, taking up just over four minutes of action to cut into TU's lead as freshman WR Armone Harris caught a 14-yard TD pass from Wright completing a 10-play 76-yard drive and getting AU within 7 at 21-14.
AU would then score with 47 seconds remaining before half with a seven-play 77-yard drive ending on a Wright touchdown pass to WR Bobby Moore as they entered the locker rooms with Tuskegee holding a 28-21 lead.

The second half was then much more low-scoring with the teams combining for just 14 points as they traded touchdowns in the third quarter. Tuskegee again struck first in the second half to go up by 14 again at 35-21 but the Jackets answered back as WR Montrell White caught a 30-yard pass from Wright for the 4th score of the day for Allen. However, Allen would miss the extra point and trail by just 8 heading into the fourth.

Unfortunately, Tuskegee would then hold off the Jackets at the goal line as AU drove 95 yards in 10 plays getting all the way to the 1 yard line before RB Beau Herrington was stopped short of the goal line with 8 minutes to play. Allen then began their final drive of the game at their own 8 with 3:20 remaining. AU would drive all the way down to the TU 8 yard line before teh drive stalled with 3 incompletions.

Wright ended up throwing for season highs of 373 yards and 3 touchdowns while rushing for 17 and another score. Freshman WR Armone Harris then had a career day catching 11 passes for 145 yards and a score while sophomore WR Jayden Horace caught 8 balls for 57 yards. Herrington also ran for 91 yards in the backfield.

Defensively, the Yellow Jackets were led by 4 solo tackles from Terrell Lumpkin and two sacks from sophomore DB Justin Eaton. Senior LB Gary Bourrage also had 4 tackles while LB Kayleb Pierce had 4 tackles and a sack.