Bowie State University and Miles College could not have taken more divergent paths to their respective conference football championship games, but the Bulldogs and Bears shared a common thread of decisive victory in claiming respective titles in the CIAA and SIAC last weekend.
Bowie State never trailed in a runaway 30-10 win over Fayetteville State University in the CIAA title game this afternoon.
From HBCU Gameday:
(BSU Quarterback Amir) Hall is known for his passing from the pocket but it was his two first-quarter rushing touchdowns that gave BSU an early lead. He scored on runs of 14 and six yards to put the Bulldogs up 14-0 heading into the second quarter. In maybe the most spectacular run of his career Hall broke out with an 80-yard run to give the Bulldogs a 21-3 lead heading into the break.
BSU’s 4-1 start to the season contrasted Miles’ 0-5 start, but four wins in their last five regular-season games catapulted Miles to the SIAC title game and a 50-23 victory over Albany State University on its home turf.
Justin Hardy rushed for 128 yards and three touchdowns, Daniel Smith threw two touchdown passes to DeionTray Fagin and the Golden Bears forced three turnovers and turned them into touchdowns in the second half as Miles won the SIAC title with a 50-23 beatdown of Albany State in front of 5,461 at Sloan-Alumni Stadium. The conference championship was the third for the Golden Bears (5-6) under coach Reginald Ruffin, and all have come against the Golden Rams (7-4).
The title win gave the Bulldogs a fourth-seed in the NCAA Division II football playoffs and a home game against West Alabama this Saturday.
On of the 4 HBCUs in the Divison II playoffs should make it to the finals.