HU caps 7-3 season; Apprentice easily gets to NCFA final
Hampton University closed its season as an FCS independent with a 44-17 victory over Division II St. Andrews of North Carolina.
Delmon Williams was 13 of 20 for 264 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Smithfield High product Will Robinson ran for 124 yards and two HU touchdowns on 12 carries.
The Pirates (7-3) closed coach Robert Prunty's season on a sixgame winning streak, though only two of those triumphs were against FCS opponents. They will be in the Big South next season.
Apprentice 43, Middle Georgia State 7: The Builders (8-3) scored all their points by the third quarter's end and beat the Knights (7-3) in Charlotte, N.C., to advance to the National Club Football Association championship game Dec. 1 in Wheeling, W.Va. They improved to 7-0 against NCFA foes and haven't been seriously threatened in any of those games.
James Madison 38, Towson 17: Warwick High graduate Cardon Johnson, in his final regularseason game, ran for 162 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries as the FCS No. 7 Dukes (8-3, 6-2 Colonial Athletic Association) ran over the No. 15 Tigers (7-4, 5-3) near Baltimore.
Johnson was part of a rarity — three 100-yard rushers on the same team. JMU quarterback Ben DiNucci ran for 104 yards and three touchdowns (and was 15 of 22 for 181 yards passing), while Trai Sharp had 107 yards and a score on 15 carries.
JMU, the national champion in 2016 and the runner-up last season, is a lock for an at-large FCS playoff bid when the field is revealed on ESPNU at 12:30 p.m. Sunday..
Morgan State 44, Norfolk State 27: D.J. Golatt Jr. threw for three touchdowns and ran for a fourth at Dick Price Stadium as Morgan State doomed the Spartans to a losing season.
Dominick Trigg picked off a Juwan Carter pass and returned it 57 yards for a score to put the Bears up 17-6 early in the second quarter. Carter was 28 of 44 for 467 yards to lead NSU (4-6, 2-5 MEAC).
Maine 27, Elon 26: Earnest Edwards returned two kickoffs for touchdowns as the 16th-ranked Black Bears (8-3, 7-1) clinched the outright CAA championship, holding off the 14th-ranked Phoenix in Orono, Maine, to gain an automatic FCS playoff berth. Elon (6-4, 4-3) is on the bubble.
Villanova 42, Delaware 21: The visiting Wildcats (5-6, 2-6 CAA) put the 17th-ranked Blue Hens (7-4, 5-3) on the playoff bubble, getting 269 yards passing and a TD from Zach Bednarczyk.
ACC
Pittsburgh 34, Wake Forest 13: Kenny Pickett threw a careerbest three touchdown passes, all in the second half, in WinstonSalem, N.C., as Pitt clinched its first berth in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.
Pickett finished 23 of 30 for a career-high 316 yards with scoring passes of 4 yards to Rafael AraujoJones, 63 yards to Taysir Mack and 23 yards to Maurice Ffrench.
The Panthers (7-4, 6-1) won their fourth straight. They will play in their first title game since joining the league in 2013, taking on No. 2 Clemson on Dec. 1 in Charlotte.
N.C. State 52, Louisville 10: Ryan Finley threw for 316 yards and a career-high four touchdowns for the Wolfpack (7-3, 4-3). N.C. State rolled up 518 yards and 45 straight points in the debut of Louisville interim coach Lorenzo Ward.
North Carolina 49, Western Carolina 26: The Tar Heels scored 35 first-half points against the FCS Catamounts in Chapel Hill, and Nathan Elliott had 308 yards passing for the day.