The Virginia Union Panthers officially began their CIAA championship defense with a dominant 42-7 win over the Shaw Bears.
Virginia Union bounces back from its first Division II loss of the season against Johnson C. Smith, improving its overall record to 2-2.
On the other hand, Shaw has now dropped two of its last three contests to bring their overall record to 3-2, including a 1-1 conference record.
Virginia Union Runs Wild
After rushing for a season-low 40 yards in their last outing, Virginia Union bounced back with a big day on the ground, tallying 305 rushing yards.
Jada Byers led the charge with 173 rushing yards on 20 attempts and a touchdown. He now has 4,552 career rushing yards, needing 457 yards to break Andre Braxton’s school record of 5,008 rushing yards.
Elsewhere, Curtis Allen posted a season-high 91 rushing yards on 17 attempts and a touchdown, while Jerome Jones rushed for 43 yards on eight attempts.
In total, the Panthers gained 582 yards on offense, with quarterback Mark Wright accounting for 256 passing yards, completing 79% of his passes and scoring two touchdowns.
Rough Day For Shaw Offense
Coming off a 48-14 win over Lincoln (PA) in their conference opener, Shaw has its worst performance of the season thus far in its first conference loss.
The 35-point margin of defeat is Shaw’s worst conference loss since losing 35-0 to Virginia State in 2019.
Shaw was ice-cold on offense in the first half, only managing 64 yards on 21 plays. Meanwhile, Virginia Union scored a touchdown on all five of its offensive possessions in the first half.
Unfortunate Virginia Union Injury
In the fourth quarter, Virginia Union special wide receiver Larry Hackey went down with an apparent ankle injury.
The injury occurred as Hackey was blocking ahead on a run play when his leg was rolled on by an opposing defensive player.
Heavy bandages were applied to his left ankle, and he was carted off the field on a stretcher.
Hackey entered this game as Virginia Union’s leading kick returner, averaging 26.6 yards on five kick return attempts.
