Florida Sports Wire

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: EWC Tigers fall to WSSU as Rams score 45 unanswered points

Winston-Salem State gained 562 yards of total offense, while holding Edwards Waters College to just 130 yards, as the Rams roughed up the Tigers 59-7, Saturday at Bowman Gray Stadium.

With the win, WSSU moves to 8-0 overall, 6-0 in the CIAA Southern Division. The Rams are 8-0 for the first time since 1978. EWC fell to 2-5.

On Tuesday Winston-Salem State cracked the American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches’ Poll Top Ten for the first time. The Rams are now ranked number nine after their win against EWC.

The Rams were extremely efficient on Saturday afternoon offensively, as they scored on seven of 10 possessions in the game.

WSSU took the opening kickoff and marched 64 yards in 1:42 in four plays, capped off by a 25 yard touchdown pass from QB Kameron Smith to Juhuann Butler, and five minutes later, found the end zone once again, this time on a Nicholas Cooper one yard run to jump out early, 14-0 over the visiting Tigers.

Edward Waters would come back and put points on the board of their own, going 59 yards in six plays, and EWC's Brandon Turman found Dalton Dixon from 14 yards out for a touchdown to pull the Tigers to with seven at 14-7 in the first quarter.

Turman was 8 of 12 for 88 yards in the air. Charles, Samuel Charles caught four passes for 63 yards. Philip Teamer was the Tigers’ leading rusher with 11 carries for 49 yards.

From that point, the Rams would go on to score 45 unanswered points.

Offensively for the Rams, Cooper rushed 29 times for 120 yards and a touchdown. Maurice Lewis also topped the 100-yard mark with 12 carries for 113 yards and two rushing scores.

Smith rushed seven times for 43 yards, while Tyrone Goldston finished with 33 yards on four carries. Smith also threw for 196 yards and three touchdowns, going 12 of 22.

Dominique Fitzgerald led the receiving corps with six catches for 99 yards and a touchdown, while Tehvyn Brantley finished with four catches for 59 yards and a touchdown.

The Tigers host Shorter College on Senior Day Saturday at 2 p.m. at Raines High School.

(Thanks to the Winston-Salem State Sports Information Department for contributing to this report.)

UNF volleyball swoops past JU, 3-2

The North Florida volleyball team rallied from two sets down to hand crosstown rival Jacksonville a 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22, 21-19) loss Friday night in front of a racuous crowd of 822 in UNF Arena.

“We've been working the last couple of weeks on playing under pressure, keeping our confidence, and playing to the next point. We executed that tonight,” said head coach Kevin Campbell. “We are coming together and know how to make each other better.

Three UNF players finished with a double-double. Paige Pridgeon, Anna Budinska and Casey Giovanazzi each had double-doubles that either set or tied career marks. Pridgeon had a career night, with a career-tying 26 kills and a career-high 29 digs. Budinska had career-highs for both kills (19) and digs (18). Giovannazzi put up a career-high 65 assists, while making a career-high 13 digs.

Kathryn Kane led the Dolphins with 11 kills and 21 digs.

UNF and Jacksonville went back-and-forth throughout the first set with the largest lead being three points. The Dolphins held several three-point advantages late in the set, including at 23-20. Back-to-back kills from Pridgeon sparked a 3-1 run that pulled the Ospreys to within one. However, Kylie Jacob had a kill to conclude the set and give Jacksonville the 25-23 win.

UNF rallied from a six-point deficit midway through the second set. With Jacksonville up 16-10, a Pridgeon kill started a 6-1 UNF run. UNF continued to chip away at the Dolphins' lead. Trailing by two, Budinska had a kill that was the first for three-straight UNF points. During that run, the Ospreys took a 21-20 lead behind a Budinska kill. Jacksonville responded with a 3-0 run if its own to regain the lead. UNF fought back, even pulling to within one on a Budinska kill, but an Osprey error gave Jackonsville another 25-23 win.

The Ospreys had an explosive third set, hitting .324 for the set. UNF used a 9-0 run midway through to power them to a 25-16 victory. With the set deadlocked at 15-15, a kill by Carolyn Jenkins broke the tie and began UNF's run. During that run, Jenkins and Marija Pantovic combined for six kills and two blocks.

In the fourth set, UNF withstood a late Jacksonville rally to win the set and force a deciding fifth set. The Ospreys built up several late seven-point leads, but the Dolphins gradually chipped away at UNF's advantage. Jacksonville eventually used a 7-0 run to pull to with one and make it 22-21 in favor of UNF. However, the Ospreys got three of the set's last four points to take the set.

The excitement continued throughout the fifth set which included nine chances at match point. UNF and Jacksonville fought back and forth. Jacksonville took a three-point, 10-7, but UNF came back from that deficit as the teams battled for the match's final point. Six ties occurred as the teams tried to get the match's final point. With the score tied 19-19, Pentovic broke the tie with a kill to give UNF the advantage. On the next point, UNF sealed the win with a Pridgeon kill.

“There was great energy tonight. All day today, the team kept saying how they wanted to get a Barrel point,” said Campbell. “However, the real significant part was how we played with confidence.”

JU's women's soccer ends regular season with 2-1 win over UNF

Two substitutes scored goals for the JU women's soccer team, allowing the Dolphins to surge to an early lead in a 2-1 victory over cross-town rival UNF in a SunTrust River City Rumble matchup on Friday night at the Ashley Sports Complex.

Freshman Kaitlyn Bassett and junior Eva Leeper scored off the bench to help the Dolphins enter the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament on a three-game winning streak. Sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Sierra posted three saves as JU (11-5-2 overall) ended the regular season 7-1-1 in league play. UNF fell to 8-9-2 and 4-4-1.

The Dolphins earned 22 out of a possible 27 points against conference competition and improved to 7-0 at home. Depending on how the rest of A-Sun play unfolds, the Dolphins could earn a top-two seed and a first-round bye. A first-place showing would also allow JU to host the championships.

"I thought they came out with a great energy in front a high-energy homecoming-weekend crowd," JU coach Brian Copham said. "We're really starting to play the way we want to. But we're not done yet. We need to continue to progress over the next couple of weeks."

JU jumped to a strong first-half start, building a 9-3 edge in shots before halftime. Bassett opened the scoring 29:56 in, drilling a rebound attempt from about eight yards in front of the left post. The freshman forward picked up her team-leading seventh goal of the year.

Leeper extended that edge to 2-0 in the 53rd minute, taking Liz Fink's pass and sending a long-distance shot from the top-left side of the box. But the high-velocity shot crept past UNF goalkeeper Megan Dorsey (six saves) for Leeper's second goal of the campaign.

But a fast UNF squad made the final 10 minutes a nerve-wracking affair. Michele Larrinaga broke Sierra's bid for her eighth shutout when she slammed home Lauren Hopfensperger's crisp crossing pass near the right post for an 85th-minute goal.

UNF out-shot JU in the second half, 12-5, but Sierra made two of her three saves in the final 45 minutes to improve to six games over .500 on the season.

Before the game, the Dolphins honored four seniors before their final scheduled home game. Fink, Jessica Hurtado, Kelli Brougham and Susanne Klungtveit all received flowers and had their career accomplishments read to the crowd.

Fink, who was playing in her 80th career game, earned a point in front of more than 300 home fans and Brougham made her first start of the season. The senior class has posted more than 40 victories and the Dolphins are 15 games above .500 during the last four years.

"The senior class has been a great group and have contributed so much to this program," Copham said. "It's one of the winningest classes we've had in a long time. The commitment they've put in has made them special."

Copham's team had the honor of being victorious in the opening game in the River City Rumble between the Dolphins and the Ospreys. JU has won the Old Wooden Barrel the last three seasons, taking home the trophy that goes to team with the most victories in the rivalry.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: JU coaches not buying 'homecoming distractions'

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - With homecoming week firmly entrenched on campus and an off week upcoming, the Jacksonville University is having nothing to do with the "potential distractions'' issues that crop up about this time each year.

"Our deal is that if you're a football team that's really after a championship, you take these three days, understand the process, and that is to get better this week and prepare yourself to go play a great football game,'' coach Kerwin Bell said. "I think we've done that.''

The Dolphins are going after a championship, the Pioneer Football League title, and this week face Davidson in homecoming at D.B. Milne Field today at 1 p.m.

JU (5-2, 4-0) is locked in a battle with unbeaten San Diego and once-beaten Drake for the conference lead and would look on paper to be a big favorite over the Wildcats (2-5, 0-3).

Bell is having none of that, either.

"Davidson is one of those teams that always plays us tough,'' he said. "We are 2-2 against them since I got here.''

The Dolphins have won the last two meetings but Davidson took the previous three.

In Davidson, the Dolphins will find another passing team as they average on 26 yards a game rushing and throw the ball about 82 percent of the time.

Last week, JU shut down the nation's top-ranked Morehead State passing game allowing no TDs through the air, and solidified their hold as one of the country's top five passing defenses.

"That's one area (the secondary) we feel like we're strong at,'' Bell said. "We've got a lot of depth and talented kids who can run, who can cover and who can come up in run support. We play these passing teams and it truly plays into our hands as a defense. We've got to make sure we are stout enough against the run to shut it down and get teams in passing situations.''

Offensively, the Dolphins have been on a roll the past several games and have scored 162 points in their last four contests including last week's 50-14 win over MSU.

Quarterback Josh McGregor has thrown eight TD passes the last two games including five last week. He threw for 346 yards against MSU and junior running back Keith Dawson tallied 104 yards rushing on 13 carries, his second 100-yard game of the season.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Seminoles quite wary of Maryland QB run threat

A new season and a new challenge. That is what Florida State will be facing Saturday at home against a Maryland team that has turned to quarterback C.J. Brown in favor of 2010 ACC Rookie of the Year Danny O’Brien.

A year ago the Seminoles rallied from a 16-13 third quarterback deficit against the O’Brien-led Terrapins, to win 30-16, despite his 269 yards.

Saturday the ‘Noles will be challenged by Brown, whose running ability in the Terps’ read option could be problematic for the defense. With Brown at the helm Maryland rolled up 45 points on Clemson, but couldn’t hang on last week in a 56-45 loss.

“On some of those plays, Clemson had him [Brown],” Fisher said. “Oh, no they don’t. There he goes. … That’s a scary thing, when the other team is doing good things and he’s still making plays. …

“When that guy is making plays, he’s a scary guy and he’s given them a spark.”

Containing Brown, who has rushed for more than 100 yards in each of the last two games, will require defensive execution on every snap; something the Seminoles have focused on every day in practice.

“That’s a challenge,” said junior defensive tackle Everett Dawkins. “It’s going to be a real key for us to focus on our assignments this game. As long as we do it we’ll be fine.”

Fisher liked the way the Seminoles came away from Wednesday’s practice, with one more full session of preparation to go.

“I just like where we’re headed toward this weekend,” Fisher said.

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. (ABC/ESPN2) at Doak Campbell Stadium, where the Seminoles will be playing for the first time in 35 days.

(Thanks to Bob Thomas of FSU Sports Information for contributing this report.)