The Virginia Union Panthers are headed back to the CIAA championship game for the third straight year following a 70-14 win over Bluefield State.
As a result of Fayetteville State’s loss to Johnson C. Smith, Virginia Union is the last remaining team with an unbeaten conference record in the CIAA, improving to 6-0 with the win.
Curtis Allen was the star of the game for the Panthers, finishing with an astonishing 369 rushing yards on 26 attempts and scoring five touchdowns.
This included rushing for 225 yards and scoring four touchdowns in the first half.
His 369 rushing yards broke the CIAA record for rushing yards in a game, overtaking Winston-Salem State running back Richard Huntley’s 31-year-old mark of 361 yards.
This gives Allen 1,947 rushing yards on the season, bringing him within 114 yards of breaking the CIAA record for rushing yards in a season set by Jada Byers last season.
The result of this game was never in doubt as the Panthers scored touchdowns on each of their first three and their last five offensive drives.
On 65 offensive plays, they averaged 11.1 yards per play, with their 721 offensive yards marking the most by a team in the CIAA this season (bested their own mark of 611 set against Shaw).
Having secured a spot in the CIAA championship game ahead of their regular-season finale against Virginia State, the Panthers will now await the results of Johnson C. Smith and Fayetteville State’s respective games.
If Johnson C. Smith wins against Livingstone, they will advance to play Virginia Union in the title game. If Fayetteville State beats Winston-Salem State and Johnson C. Smith loses, the Broncos will advance to the title game.
Virginia Union is looking to become the first team to three-peat as CIAA champions in consecutive years since Hampton from 1992-1994 (Bowie State’s three-peat came with a gap in between due to 2020 COVID pandemic).