CANTON, Ohio — The maiden voyage for new head coach
Chris Goode and the 2025 Golden Bears hit some rough seas early as Virginia Union dropped anchor in the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic.
The No. 19 Panthers (1-0) amassed more than 500 yards of total offense en route to a 45-3 win Sunday afternoon at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. While the Golden Bears (0-1) entered the game ranked 24th, the roster is filled with an extremely young crew that barely resembles the squad that brought home the SIAC championship last season. Only three players had started a single game for the Golden Bears prior to this tilt, and it was difficult to mask the growing pains.
Still, Miles had some building blocks that it was able to lay down in hopes of building the foundation towards a championship-level squad.
Senior quarterback
Kamren Ivory completed 21-of-39 passes for 174 yards, making some tough throws under pressure while his offensive line - all making their first collegiate starts - tried to get their collective sea legs. Wide receivers
Tifton Dobbs (four catches, 46 yards),
James Gatewood (2-46), and
Glen Williams (2-36) each had at least one catch for 29 yards. Williams also had a monster return for 56 yards which set up the only score of the game, a 39-yard field goal by freshman Reid Grek in the second quarter that cut the deficit to 10-3 with 7:34 remaining.
But the running game behind
Edward Osley and
Jonero Scott failed to gain much traction as the running lanes struggled to open. On the other side, the defense had trouble stopping the run as Virginia Union rushed for 375 yards behind some missed tackles and quarterback scrambles.
Tre' Jones and
Braylen Jones each recovered fumbles and
Mitchell Moultrie had five tackles - two of them for loss - and a sack. But it was not enough to give Miles a spark to get back into the game.
The Golden Bears are back in action on Saturday when they open SIAC play at Edward Waters. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically black colleges and universities with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.