Raleigh, NC – The Shaw University football team will hold their Senior Day festivities Saturday as they host the Winston-Salem State University Rams Saturday, October 29 in a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Southern Division matchup.
Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. inside the George Williams Athletic Complex on the campus of St. Augustine's University and can be seen on the Shaw Sports Network.
The Bears (5-3 overall, 4-1 CIAA, 2-1 South) return to play after defeating Johnson C. Smith University 20-14 last week for homecoming. Shaw built a 17-0 lead before holding off a strong second-half comeback from the Golden Bulls. The Shaw running game continues to lead the way averaging 174 yards per game which leads the CIAA with Sidney Gibbs leading the charge with 658 yards and four rushing touchdowns while Andre Brandon Jr. completes the two-headed monster with eight rushing touchdowns on 419 yards total.
Quarterbacks Christian Peters and Torrin Campbell have split time taking snaps the past few weeks with Campbell throwing three touchdowns in the past two contests. Peters leads Shaw in passing on the season with 825 yards completing 57.8% of his passes for seven touchdowns. The favorite target for both has been Ah'Shaan Belcher who leads the Bears in all statistical categories with 24 receptions, 374 yards, and four touchdowns.
The Shaw defense has been a bright spot on the season limiting opponents to just 272 total yards which ranks third in the CIAA while giving up just 13.6 points per game which ranks first overall in the CIAA. Devon Hunt leads not just Shaw in tackles, but the CIAA with 70 total tackles with seven of those being for a loss. Da'Shawn Wallace follows with 37 tackles and is one of three Bears with two interceptions on the season joining Kevin Sherman and Akeythio Carson.
WSSU (3-4 overall, 3-2 CIAA, 3-0 South) heads to Raleigh winners of their last three contests after starting the season 0-4. Most recently, the Rams shut out Livingstone 21-0 last Saturday in Winston-Salem, NC doing all of the scoring damage in the first half. WSSU features the eighth-ranked offense and seventh-ranked defense in the CIAA into Saturday's matchup.
Shaw will see a few familiar faces on the Rams sidelines as WSSU is led by interim head coach Robert Massey who formally served as head coach for the Bears along with defensive line coach Markus McElveen who lettered for Shaw winning three championships as a player before later joining the coaching staff under Massey.
