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Jada Byers and the Virginia Union Panthers put on a show in Canton, Ohio, on Sunday.
The fourth iteration of the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic saw Virginia Union take on Morehouse College and it was all Panthers.
Virginia Union put up a touchdown in each of the first three quarters and exploded for three more in the final quarter to take a 45-13 victory and start the season 1-0.
Byers was hyped up going into the matchup after an outstanding 2022 season and did not disappoint in the opener. He ran for 147 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries and took home offensive MVP honors.
Quarterback Christian Reed was solid as well, going 11-15 for 153 yards and a touchdown. He also had five tackles and a pass breakup on the defensive side of the ball.
Jabrill Norman was named the defensive MVP for Virginia Union as he made six tackles, recorded a sack and had an interception that he returned 68 yards for a touchdown.
Morehouse struggled on offense, not scoring a touchdown until the fourth quarter, but the special teams unit produced a highlight-reel moment when Delvin Olawumi Jr. blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown in the third quarter to break the scoreless skid.
Virginia Union will take the big victory into a new season where they hope to improve on a 9-2 record and a first-round exit in the Division II NCAA Tournament. Morehouse will look to rebound after playing a difficult team and improve on a 1-9 record in 2022.
Morehouse is back in action next week when they take on Division I FCS opponent Howard University in Washington D.C. Virginia Union is also back in action next week, traveling to Raleigh, NC to face Shaw University.
Albany State head football coach Quinn Gray issued an apology on Saturday for offering a scholarship to former Florida commit and 2023 4-star quarterback Marcus Stokes, though his statement didn't mention Stokes by name.
His apology read, in part:
Let me start with a humble apology. An apology for not honoring the tradition and history of ASU and for letting many of you down. I didn't uphold the Ramily standard that I know you expect. Please know that my decision to speak with a student that did not meet your expectations was unacceptable. I only wanted the best for our team, athletes, and institution when I invited the student to visit ASU. As I say to our players, "there is a consequence to every action." The consequences of my actions brought pain to our University. I was trying to help a student get back in competition, and in my haste, I did not consider the impact the decision would have on all of you. Frankly, it wasn't my place to use ASU as the platform for redemption in this case. I regret that I used flawed judgment. If given the opportunity, I will do better.
He added in his statement that "ASU expects excellence" and that school president Marion Ross Fedrick "made it clear that my actions did not meet that standard."
HBCU Gameday's Steven J. Gaither reported the scholarship offer has been rescinded.
On Jan. 24, Stokes tweeted that he had received an offer from Albany State, an HBCU:
Gray retweeted Stokes' announcement at the time.
Stokes, who is considered the No. 31 quarterback in the Class of 2023 and the No. 93 player from the state of Florida, per 247Sports.com's Composite Rankings, had his scholarship offer from Florida pulled in November after video surfaced online of him rapping an anti-Black slur along with a song. Stokes is white.
"I deeply apologize for the words in the song that I chose to say," he wrote in a since-deleted tweet. "... I fully accept the consequences for my actions and I respect the University of Florida's decision to withdraw my scholarship offer to play football."
Stokes has since tweeted that he's received offers from Alabama A&M—also an HBCU—and the University of West Florida.
Morehouse College has announced it will not participate in fall sports this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
School president David A. Thomas said in a letter to the Morehouse community:
"I write to inform you that due to the COVID-19 virus, Morehouse College will not participate in intercollegiate athletic competition sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) this upcoming Fall. This will affect our cross country and football sponsored athletic teams. I want all of our scholar-athletes, parents, and alumni to know that the College will honor all athletic scholarship awards.
"Like all of the decisions we've made related to COVID-19, this was a difficult one but was made with the health and well-being of our students and community in mind. It follows my intention to maintain a safe campus in hopes that our students will be able to return in August. Our Maroon Tiger teams travel to other NCAA institutions and cannot compete without breaking from social distancing guidelines still maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sporting events also invite individuals to our campus who will not be subject to the testing and monitoring that we plan to implement for our students, faculty, and staff."
Morehouse participates in football and cross-country during the fall season, as well as six other sports over the winter and spring campaigns.
The Maroon Tigers participate in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, an NCAA Division II league consisting mostly of historically Black colleges and universities.
The football team was scheduled to open its 10-game season Sept. 5 versus Edward Waters College at home and finish against Clark Atlanta University on Nov. 7 on the road.
Per ESPN's Chris Low, Morehouse is "believed to be" the first scholarship football program to sit out the 2020 season.
Morehouse, which is located in Atlanta, is the United States' only private, historically Black liberal arts college for men, per the school website.
Morehouse's location complicates its ability to hold athletic events in the fall with the state of Georgia now considered a COVID-19 hot spot. Per Graham Cawthon of WJCL ABC 22, the state had 1,900 new cases over a 24-hour period prior to the Department of Public Health's Friday announcement on the latest figures.
Deaths also increased by 25 over the previous day, and hospitalizations rose by 148.
A vaccine is not currently available and may not be until early 2021, per Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
