The Shaw Bears became the fourth team in the last ten years to win back-to-back CIAA football championships, with a convincing 36-7 win over the Elizabeth City State Vikings this afternoon in Durham.
Balance was the Bears’ key to victory, as they ran up the score and the yards on the hapless Vikings. Aaron Ellison and Raymon Williams ran for a combined 186 yards and one touchdown, and Bears’ quarterback Travis Robinson threw for three touchdowns and 209 yards on the day.
Shaw’s dominance was not as surprising as ECSU’s lack of momentum on offense or defense. Coming into the game, the Vikings were undefeated in conference play and boasted one of the CIAA’s best offenses. Unfortunately, when the Vikings offense was stymied, the subpar Viking defense was unable to respond.
For Shaw coach Darrell Asberry, the legend of his coaching acumen continues to grow. Today’s victory is his fourth CIAA championship in five years, which includes two title he won as an offensive coordinator at North Carolina Central in 2005 and 2006. Vacancies at Virginia Union and Johnson C. Smith became available earlier this week, but its unlikely that he’ll jump ship for a rebuilding project.
So, can you call this a Shaw dynasty? Given the conference’s propensity for repeat champions, no. But give the Bears credit for overcoming out-of-conference losses early in the season to streak towards the finish line, and to break through stronger than anyone could have anticipated.
Brandon Landers Headed to Shaw University | HBCU Sports Blog 3:50 pm on January 2, 2009 Permalink
[...] After the accolades, passing records and acclaim were firmly established to vault Landers among the great quarterbacks in the storied history of Grambling, academic ineligibility knocked him out for the 2008 season. Since then, Landers has earned a degree in Criminal Justice from the university, and set his sights on finishing his career on top with a team that will be going for a third-consecutive CIAA football championship. [...]