Contact: Harry “Trae” Stinson III

SIAC Director of Communications

404-606-8095

Week 1- SIAC Football Week Preview

Pioneer Bowl VIII

SIAC vs. CIAA

American Legion Memorial Stadium

Charlotte, NC

December 2, 2006 @ 2:00 pm

www.pioneerbowl.com



MILES vs. SAMFORD (Aug. 31st)

The Golden Bears of Miles College opens up this week’s action against Samford (DI-AA), their cross town rival. Miles is coming off a tough off season that saw them lose 33 players virtually reorganizing the entire squad, however coach Wade Streeter has the Golden Bear faithful thinking SIAC Championship with his new team, new attitude, new vision outlook. Samford is coming off a 5-6 season last year and is hoping to jump to the top of the Ohio Valley Conference. Samford has big play ability with a veteran quarterback and some of the fastest WR’s in the OVC. Defensively Samford has a shutdown corner in Jay McCurty who was tops in the OVC in tackles and was tops in the team in interceptions. However Miles has Jasman Necence, one of the SIAC’s best line backers to shutdown any offensive attack. While Miles have a very young team (27 freshmen) but veteran leadership on the offensive line, defensive secondary and not to mention three All SIAC Preseason Team members, Miles should open up the season with a victory.

Players to watch:

MC (LB Jasman Necence, OL Kareem Guiley, SS Jesse Bailey, QB Darryl LeBeaux)

SU (QB Jefferson Adcock, WR Jeff Moore, DB Jay McCurty)

#23 ALBANY STATE vs. #6 VALDOSTA STATE

Rankings based on AFCA

Albany State has to win this game if they are going to have any chance of going to the Playoffs this year. After an embarrassing lost last week at the hands of NCCU now ASU is preparing to play arguably one of the toughest teams in DII in the last decade. Valdosta State is ready to start their 2006 season with a bang and get back not only to the DII playoffs but to the national championship game. Albany State will have to answer their questions on offense to make this game competitive, defensively ASU played a solid game versus NCCU however giving up a few big plays mixed with being on the field for close to 34 minutes will do it. Valdosta State will be opening up against back to back SIAC schools (ASU & FVSU) but hopefully they won’t take lost as a guarantee for victory and look past ASU. VSU has a new quarterback and who knows the SIAC very well, Willie Copeland, yes FVSU’s QB from last year has transferred and has a veteran offense to lead. Defensively VSU is very solid but very young with only 6 upper classman and 2 seniors, however their defense is one of the top in the GSC. Although ASU struggled last week offensively look for the home crowd to rally behind the team and make the game close.

Players to watch:

ASU (DL #91 Alton Pettway, CB #14 Marcus Jefferson, OL #66 Michael Livingston)

VSU (QB Willie Copeland, DE Kelvin Roberts, WR Tyler Aurandt, RB Chad Bryant)



BENEDICT vs. SAVANNAH STATE (Palmetto City Classic)

Go Tigers!!! The Palmetto City Classic is back and Benedict is looking to win this game and secure their first victory of the year, much like last year when this game provided their first win of the season. Benedict is coming off a tough lost to Morehouse who came back to win by 1 point in last week’s action. Elijah Clark and Jeffrey Nobles will attempt to make the game even more interesting as their duo has a very lethal running attack. Defensively BC will have to stop Anthony Huntley, SSU’s #1 offensive option, but with Titus Curry controlling against any offensive game plan BC shouldn’t have a problem shutting down Huntley. Savannah State is coming off a winless season but they have an improved offense and will definitely try to put it to the test against BC. This game should not be much of a test for BC and they should win easily over the less talented SSU.

Players to watch:

BC (RB Jeffrey Nobles, LB Titus Curry, DB Carl Spellman, KR Richard Siders)

SSU (WR Anthony Huntley, RB Chad Cone, QB Garrett Williams, LB Calvin Leonard)

MOREHOUSE vs. FORT VALLEY STATE

The only conference game of this week will be a vital test for both teams. Both teams had to overcome many obstacles in last week’s game but hopefully this week will be a better showcase of what each team’s season will look like. Morehouse is on the road once again but will have its hands full trying to stop the run against Fort Valley State. Morehouse had a stellar game out of Eddie Rowe and QB Carlos King. Rowe stepped out of the shadow of JD Washington and showed BC that he could run the rock too, rushing for 178 yards on 27 carries and 2 touchdowns. Carlos King even though he didn’t have to pass much was very effective passing for 7-13 gaining 106 yards and 1 touchdown. Defensively Morehouse struggled a little stopping the run allowing 147 yards to BC, and that rush defense will surely be tested against FVSU. Fort Valley although not impressive on the scoreboard with a 9-8 victory over Clark Atlanta last week did not have problems going up and down the field, just putting the ball across the goal line. FVSU racked up 190 yards rushing but couldn’t get their passing game going. Defensively, though they shut down any attempt of advancement by CAU, holding the panthers to 66 yards of total offense, a signature of a Deondri Clark team defense was the key to the victory. Look for this game to be low scoring in the first half but a barn burner in the second half and FVSU gets its offense on track and they score quick and often against the MHC defense.

Players to watch:

MHC (DB Johnny Eubanks, OL Bryant Ervin, RB Eddie Rowe, QB Carlos King)

FVSU (RB Rashod Moulton, RB Brian Knighton, DB Junior Taliaui)



CLARK ATLANTA vs. CHEYNEY

Clark Atlanta is coming off a very tough loss to FVSU however the one point loss gave them more speculation than anything else as they could not stop the run and could not move the ball. However, high hopes are still there in CAU camp and a victory is sure to come quick especially with Cheyney University fresh off a 2-9 record from the 05 season. CAU’s offense will not struggle this week and Terrin Usher will run and run often. Defensively CAU can be proud of their output last year keeping FVSU out of the endzone and this week they will try to put a 0 on the scoreboard next to Cheyney’s name. Cheyney has a new offensive coordinator but pretty much a similar team. Defense is Cheyney’s strong point and their second year coach will have Cheyney ready for this week’s action however many questions remain as they have a ton of new faces on campus and new faces in their system. That smells like a CAU victory.

Players to watch:

CAU (LB Michael Porter, RB Terrin Usher, WR Antwan Bell, OL Jonathan Didler)

CU (LB Brandon Hawkins, DL Jamar Johnson, DB Tyree Cooper, WR Dominique Curry)

KENTUCKY STATE vs. FERRIS STATE

Kentucky State is coming of an impressive win versus Kentucky Wesleyan and will look to move to 2-0 with Ferris State coming to town. KSU racked up 234 yards of total offense and put back to back to back touchdowns on the board in the third quarter to take the victory 21-7. Defensively they played well but still allowed 206 yards including 126 yards passing, but got 3 interceptions and held KWU to only 2-13 3rd down conversions. Brandon Adams had a solid performance after moving over to the receiver position the QB turned WR caught 5 balls for 82 yards. Hopefully their QB will settle down and be more accurate in this game as Jerimy Watson went 13-33 passing for 183 yards and 2 touchdowns. Ferris State is coming off a sub par year after going 3-8 for the season but their coach has them believing in a new system as they are returning many players from last year and also have had one of their biggest and best recruiting classes in the history of the school. The Bulldogs are led by their LB Mike Klobucher and QB Ryan Kaul and they will look to turn it all around against KSU in their season opener.

Players to watch:

KSU (WR Brandon Adams, RB Roni Robinson, WR Jermone Bryant, DB Robert Brown)

FSU (QB Ryan Kaul, LB Mike Klobucher, DB Jim Skodak)



LANE vs. SAINT AUGUSTINE

SIAC vs. CIAA part 2: The Lane Dragons are 1-0 and looking to be back atop the SIAC like they were in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Standing in their way of an undefeated season is the CIAA’s Saint Augustine College Falcons. Lane played great on offense, defense, special teams and the band was great as well. Lane had it going on last week, led by their All SIAC WR Jacoby Jones who scored as a receiver and returning a punt in last week’s game. QB Sherard Ellis was poised and threw 2 touchdowns in the game and rushed for another 59 yards. The offense for Lane gained 450 yards, tops in the SIAC. Defensively they allowed 56 yards¸ which also leads the SIAC and could go down as the best defensive outputs of the entire season at any level. Saint Augustine is slated to finish 3rd in the CIAA but is returning many of the teams starters from last year, including 2 Preseason All Conference members. This will be a tough test for Lane and if this game results in a victory look out SIAC. Lane will try and bring the bragging rights back to the SIAC in the SIAC vs. CIAA challenge that will ultimately be determined in December at the Pioneer Bowl.

Players to watch:

LC (WR Virgil Union, WR Jacoby Jones, WR Edward Williams, QB Sherard Ellis)





FANS DON’T FORGET TO VISIT WWW.PIONEERBOWL.COM TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE BAND, AND A CHANCE TO COMPETE IN THE PIONEER BOWL BATTLE OF THE BANDS, DEC. 2, 2006 IN CHARLOTTE, NC.





Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

3469 Lawrenceville Highway Suite 207

Tucker, GA 30084

Office: 770-908-0482


Harry "Trae" Stinson III

Director of Communications & Marketing Assistant

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC)

Tucker, GA

770-908-0482 (office)

hstinson@thesiac.com

www.thesiac.com