DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — There’s just something about the Bethune-Cookman and South Carolina State matchup that delivers.

Different conferences now. Different coaches. Different players. Different expectations.

Same kind of football game we have come to expect between these two since forever.

SC State walked out of Daytona Stadium with a hard fought 31-21 victory, improving to 5-0 on the year.

But the final score doesn’t quite tell the full story.

For BCU, Saturday night felt like another reminder that the Wildcats are getting closer.

They just aren’t quite there yet.

TWO VERY DIFFERENT HALVES

For the first 30 minutes, SC State looked every bit like one of the better teams in FCS football.

The Bulldogs entered the game undefeated and ranked No. 16 in the Stats Perform poll, and they spent much of the first half showing why.

SCSU opened the scoring on a four-yard Josh Shaw touchdown run before B-CU quarterback Tyler Jefferson answered almost immediately, breaking loose for a 63-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7.

Then the Bulldogs took control.

Keely Watson connected with Troy Hillman for an 18-yard touchdown and later found Darius Thompson for a 32-yard score. Jett Jackson’s 34-yard field goal sent B-CU into the locker room staring at a 24-7 deficit.

That could have been it against the top team in HBCU Football.

It wasn’t.

Whatever was said in the Wildcats’ locker room at halftime worked.

Cookman came out looking like a completely different football team in the second half.

The Wildcats put together consecutive touchdown drives in the third quarter, with Rashon Brown and Josh Evans finding the end zone. Suddenly, a game that appeared headed toward another comfortable South Carolina State victory had become a one-possession game.

24-21.

The Wildcat offense got two cracks at taking the lead in the 4th quarter but could only muster a 3 play, 8 yard drive and a 5 play, 7 yard drive.

That is where Saturday night’s game, and perhaps where B-CU is as a program right now.

CLOSE ISN’T QUITE THERE

The Wildcats had climbed all the way back.

Now they needed to finish.

But tSCSU wouldn’t let them.

The Bulldogs showed the difference between a team trying to get there and a program that already knows how to finish games.

The Bulldogs sealed the game on an 11 play, 85 yard drive.

There was no panic.

No need for anything spectacular.

Just a physical, methodical, championship-style drive that ate away the fourth-quarter clock and eventually ended with Shaw powering in from one yard out on 4th down.

31-21.

Ballgame.

THE GAP IS CLOSING

There are no moral victories in HBCU football.

Bethune didn’t come into Saturday night looking to prove it could hang around with the Bulldogs. The Wildcats wanted to beat them.

They had their chances but didn’t.

It was the type of performance that leaves you suspended between encouraged and frustrated. Ultimately, “we’re close” has to become “we’re there.”

NOW THE GAMES REALLY COUNT

Perhaps the most important thing for the Wildcats is that Saturday’s loss doesn’t change what lies directly ahead.

The nonconference schedule is over.

B-CU enters SWAC play at 2-2 and hosts Alabama State next Saturday.

The Wildcats have shown flashes through four games.

They’ve shown they can run the football.

They’ve shown they can be explosive.

And Saturday night, after getting punched in the mouth by one of the better teams in FCS football, they showed they can respond.

Now comes the next step…finish.

The best thing about Saturdays in the Fall aren’t the rivalries on the football field, bands in the stands, or bragging rights won. Those are all awesome. But what makes Fall Saturdays truly special are the people we share those moments with.

For over 16 years, the Bethune-Cookman/South Carolina State game has held a very special space in my heart. Not only because it usually guarantees a great game of football on the field with BCU winning 6 and losing 7 since 2010.

For me, it also guaranteed one other thing:

My phone was going to ring.

But it hasn’t rung this week.

And I know it’s not going to.

This will be the first BCU/SCSU matchup I’ve experienced without my colleague, fellow HBCU football aficionado and diehard Bulldog, Brad Gillens, better known throughout the old MEACFans community as SCSUDog4Life.

Brad wasn’t merely a passionate South Carolina State fan. He was my brother.

Calling him simply a writer or contributor to HailWildcats.com doesn’t tell the full story. Brad helped shape this thing. He helped expand our network and build relationships. Long before HBCU sports coverage became as popular and accessible as it is today, we were part of a small community who talked about, wrote about, debated about and sought to preserve the amazing history of HBCU football and shine a spotlight on our favorite teams.

Sometime during South Carolina State week, the phone would ring. Then the trash talking would start. Our wives would have to endure hours of us reliving this matchup as if either one of us were getting ready to strap up the shoulder pads and play on Saturday.

I would inevitably remind Brad about the 2006 Jarod Rucker 5 touchdown game in which BCU scored 45 unanswered points after trailing 21-0 to get the win in Charleston.

He would remind me of 2014 when Javon Hargrave racked up 6 sacks and 6 tackles for loss in a 20-14 Bulldog win.

I would talk about 2010 when BCU marched into Oliver C. Dawson Stadium undefeated and faced a South Carolina State team sitting at No. 10 in the country. The Bulldogs had won 21 straight games and 13 straight at home at that point.

The Wildcats walked out with a 14-0 victory.

He wouldn’t let me enjoy it for long and would quickly point out that the very next season in Daytona, SCSU turned the tables. Late in that game, senior defensive back Dominique Ellis picked off a Wildcat pass and took it 55 yards to the house, sealing the game for the Bulldogs.

That’s what we did:

BCU story.

SC State story.

Wildcat win.

Bulldog comeback.

One memory led to another until a phone call about Saturday’s game became a three-hour history lesson about the beauty of this matchup and Black College Football as a whole.

After the game, win or lose, he would swing by the tailgate to get his own freshly made batch of my grandma’s broccoli cornbread. You heard that right, skillet cornbread with broccoli and cheese baked into it.

It’s delightful!

That’s what this rivalry became for us. The football gave us an excuse to argue, but underneath the trash talk was almost two decades of friendship, family, memories and a shared love for HBCU sports.

Honestly, I knew this week would be hard with him gone so I booked a cruise to get away.

But you can’t cruise away from memories.

And here I am. Just stepping off the cruise ship just a few days from game day, but the phone still hasn’t rung.

There are moments after losing someone when your mind understands something that it also won’t completely accept. You know the call isn’t coming, but some part of you still waits for one more conversation, one more joke, one more argument about a football game.

That’s the part nobody prepares you for. You don’t just miss the person; you miss the routines that belonged to them…the hangouts, the jokes, the stories you’ve told 100 times but still enjoy telling.

On Saturday, another chapter will be added to a series Brad and I spent years debating. But this one will be different for me.

Thankfully, our friendship grew beyond football a long time ago. My family became his family, and his family became mine.

So while the phone won’t ring this week with SCSUDog4Life on the other end, there will be a phone call Sunday morning.

If the good guys win, Brad’s wife is going to hear about it.

And if the Bulldogs win?

I already know what’s coming.

She’s going to give me just as hard of a time as he would have.

And I’ll take it.

Because if you knew Brad, you know that’s exactly the way he would want it.

So Rest easy, SCSUDog4Life, but just so we’re clear…

Hail Bulldogs?…HELL NO! 👎

It’s always HailWildcats! 👍

We will talk about this in the sweet bye and bye. For now, tell Ms. Mary her black roses said hello and Let’s Go Wildcats! 😇🤣

Volusia County is home to two FCS football programs.

One sits on “The World’s Most Famous Beach” on the east side of the county. The other calls the more small-town, Southern setting of the west side home.

One has been playing football for more than 100 years. The other relaunched its football program in 2013 after a 57-year hiatus.

Saturday evening, Bethune-Cookman and Stetson finally met on the football field, appropriately enough, near the halfway point between the two campuses at Daytona Stadium.

And for a brief moment, the Hatters made things interesting.

Stetson put a scare into B-CU trailing by just four points after 2 quarters. The Hatters skipped into the halftime locker rooms flirting with what would have been a signature victory for its program.

But then the second half happened.

Bethune-Cookman reminded everyone who still runs football in Volusia County.

The Wildcats pulled away after halftime, turning a four-point game into a convincing 43-18 victory and flattening the Hatters in the first-ever cross-county showdown.

THE GOOD

Rashon Brown scores three rushing touchdowns.

That pretty much speaks for itself. Brown found the end zone three times and provided the Wildcats with a balance of tough and explosive running averaging 5.0 yards per carry.

True freshmen Isaiah Daniel added two more rushing touchdowns and averaged 5.1 yards per carry.

After scoring just 6 points in the season opener against UCF, seeing B-CU put 43 points on the scoreboard was a welcome sight.

The defense did its job.

Two forced turnovers. Three stops on fourth down. And, most importantly, the Wildcats held Stetson to fewer than 20 points.

Stetson had its moment late in the first half, but the defense never allowed that moment to change the game.

Amari Jones provided a fourth-quarter spark.

With the offense struggling to find consistency for much of the afternoon, B-CU made a change at quarterback to begin the fourth quarter.

FIU transfer Amari Jones replaced Tyler Jefferson and immediately changed the complexion of the game.

Jones led the Wildcats on three consecutive scoring drives, helping stretch what had been a 21-10 lead into a commanding 37-10 advantage.

Whether that performance was enough to earn Jones the starting job remains to be seen, but it certainly gave the coaching staff something to think about heading into next week.

Welcome back, Rod Z.

The official hype man of B-CU home games was back where he belongs, helping bring some familiar energy to Daytona Stadium. Welcome back sir!

And how about the Marching Wildcats?

They sound so GOOD don’t you agree?

THE BAD

The passing game sputtered for 2½ quarters.

Don’t let the final score hide what happened before the fourth quarter.

B-CU’s offense struggled to find any rhythm through the air for much of the game.

By our count, there were at least four missed throws with receivers open by five yards or more. To add insult to injury, we counted at least four drops as well.

That’s eight opportunities in the passing game where the Wildcats either didn’t deliver the football or didn’t finish the play.

Against Stetson, B-CU was able to survive it.

Against the better teams remaining on the schedule, those missed opportunities could be the difference between winning and losing.

The inconsistency ultimately forced a change at quarterback, with Jones replacing Jefferson to start the fourth quarter.

And after Jones directed three straight scoring drives, suddenly there is a legitimate quarterback conversation in Daytona Beach.

Head coach Raymond Woodie didn’t name a starter afterward.

“I am not a fortune-teller, so I don’t know who will start at QB next week … but guys have to compete if they want to keep their job.”

That’s probably the biggest storyline coming out of a 25-point victory. B-CU scored 43, but the quarterback position is anything but settled.

Welcome to late summer in Central Florida.

The scheduled 4 p.m. kickoff became a 5:15 p.m. kickoff thanks to an hour-and-15-minute weather delay.

Rain delays and Florida football in September go together like beans and rice; if you see one, expect the other.

The penalties.

And this wasn’t just a Bethune-Cookman problem.

Both teams gave away too much yardage through penalties. For B-CU, the 9 penalties for 77 yards need to be cleaned up.

THE BOTTOM LINE

For a half, Stetson made the first-ever meeting interesting. For the second half, Bethune-Cookman made the pecking order clear.

But somewhere between those two realities, another storyline emerged.

The Wildcats may have walked into Daytona Stadium with Tyler Jefferson as their starting quarterback, but they walked out with a decision to make.

Amari Jones got his opportunity and did exactly what you’re supposed to do when your number is called: he made the decision harder for the coaches.

That’s a conversation for next week.

For now, the Hatters crossed the county looking for a signature win. They went home with a reminder: there may be two FCS football programs in Volusia County. But, at least for now, there’s still only one baddest team in the county.

Three Things We Learned From Bethune-Cookman at UCF – Week One

The 2026 season is officially underway for Bethune-Cookman.

And after one night in Orlando against UCF, there are things to talk about for sure.

But conclusions? Nah. We aren’t ready to rush to any conclusions after last night.

Here are three things we learned and are worth discussing from the Wildcats’ season opener.

1. We Didn’t Learn Much — And That’s Okay

If you walked away from Thursday night’s game believing you now know what Bethune-Cookman will be in 2026, you’re probably mistaken.

The truth is, we didn’t learn much.

UCF is a Big 12 football program. Bethune-Cookman is an FCS. And when the two teams lined up Thursday night, it looked like it.

That’s not an insult. That’s simply the cold reality of modern college football.

The Knights were bigger. Stronger. Deeper. Faster.

They have advantages in recruiting, facilities, nutrition, strength and conditioning, staffing and, perhaps most importantly, money.

Then add UCF’s offensive tempo.

The Knights snap the ball, line back up and come at you again before you’ve had much time to process what happened on the previous play. Against a team already dealing with disadvantages in size and depth, that tempo eventually becomes suffocating.

Put all of that together, and it’s simply too much for Bethune-Cookman — and probably 99.9 percent of FCS programs — to overcome.

Were there individual plays and moments from B-CU that I liked? Absolutely.

But I’m not going to use a game against a Big 12 opponent to determine what this Wildcats team can or cannot become.

Ask me again after Saturday.

2. Let’s Be Done With These Money Games against the Big Boys

I understand why money games exist.

Athletic departments have bills to pay, and I don’t carry the responsibility of balancing athletic budget. There are financial realities involved in scheduling that are much easier to criticize from the outside than manage from the inside.

But if B-CU has to play these games, I would much prefer that they be strategic about which games they take.

Last season, Bethune-Cookman played both Miami and FIU.

Give me FIU.

Give me Western Michigan.

Give me the Group of Five — or whatever we’re calling that level of college football these days.

Those are still uphill battles. They’re still opportunities to collect a check. But they’re games where the physical disparity doesn’t have to become the primary story.

There is a difference between playing up and simply being physically overwhelmed.

We’ve seen Miami.

We’ve seen UCF.

I’m good.

Take the check, but whenever possible, find a check attached to a game in which you have a reasonable chance to compete.

3. Hopefully, The Biggest Loss Was Only On The Scoreboard

For me, the primary objective Thursday night was simple:

Get your check.

Get your reps.

And get back to Daytona Beach healthy.

I’m not certain Bethune-Cookman accomplished the third one.

On B-CU’s final offensive play of the first half, returning leading rusher Kamani Robinson went down with what appeared to be a significant leg injury.

We won’t diagnose it. We won’t speculate about its severity.

But we can say what everyone watching could see: it didn’t look good.

Robinson couldn’t leave the field under his own power and appeared unable to put meaningful pressure on his right knee. The same right knee that sidelined him during his high school career.

Hopefully, the scene looked worse than the eventual diagnosis.

Because if the cost of Thursday night’s money game includes losing one of your most important offensive players, that’s an awfully expensive check to cash.

Our prayers are with Kamani, and hopefully we’ll get good news about him and the rest of the Wildcats who came out of a physically demanding night in Orlando.

Because now?

The real season starts.

Bethune-Cookman comes home Saturday to face Stetson, which arrives in Daytona Beach after taking its own 70-7 beating in Week 1.

And yes, South Dakota State is technically an FCS program — although calling the Jackrabbits an ordinary FCS team feels like calling a Lamborghini “transportation.”

So Stetson knows something about mismatches, too.

But Saturday won’t be one.

It’ll be Bethune-Cookman and Stetson.

Daytona vs DeLand.

A little Volusia County business to attend to.

Call it the I-92 Showdown.

Maybe the Volusia County Collision.

We’ve got until Saturday to figure out the name.

More importantly, we’ve got until Saturday before we really begin finding out what the 2026 Fighting Wildcats are made of.

Thursday was the money game. Saturday starts the football season.

In what can only be explained as an instant classic, South Carolina State overcame a 21-0 halftime deficit to outscore the Prairie View Panthers 40-17 in the second half and four overtime periods to win the thrilling 2025 Cricket Celebration Bowl 40-38 in front of a crowd of 26,708.

The Bulldogs (10-3) were led to victory by reserve quarterback Ryan Stubblefield who was inserted after starting quarterback William “Billy” Atkins, IV sustained a shoulder injury late in the second quarter that would sideline him for the duration of the game. Stubblefield immediately came in and engineered five scoring drives including the game winning two point conversion to running back Tyler Smith en route to Celebration Bowl MVP honors. The graduate quarterback from Houston, TX finished the game 15-29 for 234 yards with two touchdown passes and an interception. The moment was full circle for the signal caller as he was one of the few returning players from last year’s Celebration Bowl defeat to Jackson State.

Not to be outdone, Prairie View (10-4) was paced by quarterback Cameron Peters, who accounted for 447 yards of total offense (412 passing, 35 rushing) and five touchdowns to keep the SWAC Champions in the game until the very last play. The Panthers outgained the Bulldogs 491 to 357, but in the end, it was the assertiveness and championship experience of Stubblefield that proved to be the difference.

Quick Hits

The Controversial Call Heard Round the World

In a call that is sure to be talked about and debated for the foreseeable future, in the fourth overtime period Stubblefield threw a pass to Tyler Smith that was ruled a successful two-point conversion as the running back stretched his arms over the pylon. The side judge standing right where the play was happening ruled the conversion successful, however upon instant replay, it appeared Smith never crossed the goal line and/or pylon with the football. After review, the call was upheld and gave SC State a 40-38 advantage, much to the chagrin of the Prairie View fans and supporters. On the ensuing two point try, Peters was tackled by a host of Bulldogs attempting a quarterback keeper that secured the victory for SC State. Almost immediately, fans and supporters took to social media to express their views on whether the play was a successful try or not, even having former FAMU and current FIU head football coach Willie Simmons chiming in and offering his thoughts. In a game where the margins were razor thin, the Bulldogs were again able to rise to the challenge and secure the victory.

Cameron Peters Shines on the biggest stage

Although Prairie View suffered a heartbreaking loss, quarterback Cam Peters put on an offensive masterclass. The senior signal caller from Missouri City, TX was 24-36 for 412 yards and four touchdown passes along with nine carries for 35 yards and a score en route to shattering a Celebration Bowl record for most passing yards in a game. For the season Peters finished his season with 2,798 yards and 23 touchdown passes with seven interceptions.

Stubblefield’s Redemption

Graduate quarterback Ryan Stubblefield was thrust into action late in the second quarter and delivered an amazing performance en route to Celebration Bowl MVP honors going 15-29 for 234 yards with two touchdowns as well as a rushing touchdown on 28 yards. The Houston, TX native, who ironically grew up in the backyard of Prairie View’s campus, proved to be the difference maker in the game for the Bulldogs. 

Mr. Reliable delivers again

Every time the Bulldogs needed an offensive spark, it seemed that the ball kept going to Jordan Smith. The senior wideout from Clover, SC finished his game as a Bulldog with nine catches for 152 yards and two touchdown receptions along with 28 yards rushing and a touchdown. Smith is also the only active player on the SCSU roster that was a member of the 2021 Celebration Bowl team which means he will be the only Bulldog with two Celebration Bowl rings in his coffers.

All in all, this was arguably the best Celebration Bowl since inception to include the pageantry, ebbs and flows of the game, as well as the greatest comeback in the bowl’s history. If you were one of the many outside of the 26,708 fans and supporters that attended, you truly missed a game for the ages. 

Final Thoughts

To the fans and supporters of the SWAC and MEAC; come out and support your respective institutions! These teams have come out to represent their respective conferences and whether your team is there or not, the Celebration Bowl is more than just a game. It’s an opportunity for all of our respective schools to come together in the “Black Mecca” to celebrate the accomplishments of our schools, fanbases and bands, respectively.