Bowie State Football Week #8 Preview: Virginia Union

BOWIE, Md. - The Bowie State Bulldogs are coming off its first loss of the season at the hands of the Virginia State Trojans by a score of 47-35. The setback places the Bulldogs third in the Northern division with a record at 1-1. This week the Bulldogs, who are now ranked the 23rd team in the nation, take on the Virginia Union Panthers who are second in the North after defeating Chowan 35-10 and remain unbeaten the conference.

Virginia Union enters this game with a lot of “DMV” talent on both sides of the ball. On defense the Panthers are led by junior defensive lineman Lonte Morton (Bowie, Md.) and sophomore defensive back Sterling Hammond (Caret, Va.). Morton and Hammond were named CIAA Players of the Week at their respective positions. In addition to Morton and Hammond, three other guys in the secondary are from the area. Don’t be surprised if former Baltimore Ravens and Super Bowl MVP Ray Lewis is in the standsSaturday as his son Ray Lewis, III, is one of the starting cornerbacks for the Panthers. The Virginia Union secondary versus the Bowie State receivers group led by Brandon Britton will be a key match-up. Britton leads the nation in touchdown receptions (D1 and D2).

On offense the Bulldog defense will be facing the best receiving group they’ve faced all year. The Panthers on offense have the reigning CIAA Receiver of the Week in Jaiden Reavis. Reavis is coming off a career game against Chowan in which he had five catches for 129 yards and three touchdowns. Also in the Panthers receiving corps they have Lavatiae Kelly who was a preseason All-CIAA selection and rated the number one receiver in the conference according to HBCUGameday. At quarterback the Panthers are led by Washington, D.C. native and Bowie State transfer Darius.

The Bulldogs need this key match-up to keep their national title hopes alive as they are still in the hunt for the playoffs. The Bulldogs will look to make a statement win in this CIAA game of the week match up. Saturday’s (10/21) kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Bulldogs Stadium.