Virginia Union persisted in giving the football to Elizabeth City State. Now the Panthers’ fate, too, has been placed in someone else’s hands. A macabre offensive effort that seemed somehow appropriate on Halloween—five interceptions and two lost fumbles—doomed the Panthers to a 21-13 loss to the Vikings yesterday at Hovey Field.

Virginia Union wasn’t good enough against Elizabeth City State to earn a berth in Saturday’s CIAA championship game in Durham, N.C. But the Panthers might still be lucky enough. The CIAA will conduct a three-way coin-toss tiebreaker this afternoon at 1 at the league office in Hampton. Athletic directors from VUU (Michael Bailey, who also is VUU’s football coach), Elizabeth City State (Thurlis Little) and Bowie State (Arlene Creek) will represent their respective schools.

Kingston, R.I.
  When: 1 p.m.
  Radio: WTOX (1480), 12:30
  Records: William and Mary 3-1 CAA, 6-1;
Rhode Island 0-4, 1-6
  Players to watch: W &M—RB Jonathan Grimes, 110.5 yards per CAA game, WR D.J. McAulay, 33 catches, 423 yards, 3 TDs, DE Ravi Pradhanang, 3 sacks in last 4 games. URI—QB Chris Paul-Etienne, 133 yards per game, P Tim Edger, 41.6 average punt, DE Steve Weedon, 6 forced fumbles in 7 games this year.

On a perfect night to keep the ball on the ground, the Virginia Union Panthers had the perfect plan. They ran and ran and ran some more in a steady rainfall.

Running backs Christopher Smith and Trevon Winston scored two touchdowns apiece, and Virginia Union cruised to a 35-6 victory over Lincoln (Pa.) yesterday. Smith carried the ball 28 times for 166 yards for the Panthers (4-3), who scored three TDs in the first quarter. Winston rushed for 71 yards against the Lions (3-4).

Saint Paul’s started 6-5, 370-pound Ronnie Dixon at fullback. Think the Tigers emphasized power football yesterday vs. Virginia Union? “Running is the strong part of our game,“ said Saint Paul’s sophomore quarterback Alwan Lee. But it was Lee’s passing that made the difference in the Tigers’ 13-9 CIAA win before 2,753 at Park View High School.

Where: Williams Stadium (cap. 12,000), Lynchburg
  When: 7 p.m.
  Radio: Midlothian (106.9), WREJ (1540)
  Tickets: $25 premium, $20 reserved, $15 general admission
  Records: James Madison 1-1, Liberty 2-1
  Players to watch: JMU - QB Drew Dudzik, 18-28, 355 yards, 5 TDs; QB Justin Thorpe, 8-13, 135 yards, TD; TE Mike Caussin, 6 catches, 197 yards, 4 TDs; LU - QB/WR Mike Brown, 39-48, 313 yards, 2 TDs passing, 139.3 all-purpose yards; QB Tommy Beecher, 25-39, 228 yards, TD; WR Chris Summers, 17-182 yards, TD.

Even though Virginia Union will begin this football season with its third coach in three seasons, the Panthers hardly seem distracted. Two weeks ago, the Panthers put in a hard day of drills without complaint. The offense appeared to click and the defense looked steady. That’s good news for first-year coach Michael Bailey. Bailey, who doubles as the school’s athletic director, is hoping all the hard work pays off when the Panthers open what they hope will be a season of redemption at 7 tonight at Hovey Field against East Stroudsburg.

Virginia Union first-year coach Michael Bailey feels good about his team heading into today’s Maroon & Steel game at Hovey Field. Bailey has tried to plug a number of holes, particularly in the secondary, over the past three weeks. He’s developing depth on the offensive and defensive lines. While he’s pleased with the progress of his young, inexperienced quarterbacks, including freshman recruit Aries McGlone-English, Bailey knows it’ll be tough trying to replace Lamar Little, who was slowed last season by injuries after a player-of-the-year performance in 2007.

Gregg Thondique is the heart and soul of an overachieving Virginia Union team that advanced to its 10th consecutive NCAA Division II tournament. When Thondique came up lame yesterday after banking in an off-balance layup to give the Panthers a 34-33 lead early in the second half, Virginia Union’s long shot national-title hopes were dashed.

Gregg Thondique scored 18 points before aggravating an already tender right ankle during the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region today at the Hammermill Center. Thondique spent most of the last 17:26 on the bench, which enabled Indiana (Pa.) University (22-7) to pull off a 69-63 upset in the teams’ first-ever meeting.

Gregg Thondique and Lemoyne Williams have carried Virginia Union in the first half of its NCAA Division II quarterfinal game against Indiana (Pa.) University today. The Panthers lead at the half 30-28.

Where : Hammermill Center in Erie, Pa. (capacity 3,000)
  Tickets : $10 general admission.
  Projected starting lineups:
  VIRGINIA UNION INDIANA (Pa.)
  Notable : This will be the first meeting between the two schools. The Panthers have won three national championships, most recently in 2005, and 20 CIAA titles. . . . IUP has qualified for the Elite Eight four times and is making its eighth appearance in the NCAA tournament and first since 2005. Coach Joe Lombardi’s rebuilding program began with 19 wins in his first two seasons. . . . IUP has a record of 13-7 in the NCAA tournament, including 11-3 in regional play and 2-4 in the Elite Eight. The Crimson Hawks (21-7) competed in what used to be the East Region but are now in the restructured Atlantic Region along with the WVIAC and CIAA, which replaced Conference Carolinas in IUP’s region. The rest of Union’s bracket has third-seeded Kutztown (26-4) taking on No.6 West Virginia State (24-5). In the other half of the bracket, top-seeded Gannon (27-3) faces No.8 Pitt Johnstown (22-7) and No.4 seed Johnson C. Smith (23-7) plays fifth-seeded Alderson-Broaddus (26-5). The IUP-Virginia Union and Kutztown-West Virginia State winners will play in the first semifinal tomorrow. The championship game is scheduled for Tuesday, with the winner advancing to the Elite Eight on March 25, 26 and 28 in Springfield, Mass.

ERIE, Pa.—On the eve of their first NCAA Division II tournament game with Willard Coker at the helm, the Virginia Union University Panthers endured a rigorous two-hour workout at the Hammerville Center yesterday. The No. 2 seed Panthers are refreshed and seemingly ready to rip and run against No. 7 seed Indiana (Pa.) University in today’s quarterfinals of the Atlantic Region tournament, which tips off at 2:30 p.m.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Virginia Union barely survived a late flurry by St. Augustine’s on Friday night in advancing to last night’s CIAA tournament championship game. The Panthers, getting a game-high 21 points and sterling leadership from Brandon Byerson, escaped with a 57-54 victory in the semifinals. In the championship game, which was played late last night, they faced Johnson C. Smith, a 63-56 winner over Virginia State in the other Friday semifinal.