UNC Pembroke Braves football

Last updated
UNC Pembroke Braves
UNC Pembroke Braves alternate logo.svg
First season2007
Athletic directorDick Christy
Head coach Mark Hall
1st season, 7–3 (.700)
StadiumGrace P. Johnson Stadium
(capacity: 4,000)
Field surfaceGrass
Location Pembroke, North Carolina
Conference Mountain East
All-time record89–74 (.546)
ColorsBlack and gold [1]
   
Website UNC Pembroke Braves Football

The UNC Pembroke Braves football team represents the University of North Carolina at Pembroke in college football, competing in the Mountain East Conference. Pembroke plays its home games at the 4,000 seat Grace P. Johnson Stadium at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Field, which is located on-campus in Pembroke, North Carolina. Although only fielding a modern team since the 2007 season, Pembroke previously fielded teams between the 1946 and 1950 seasons as Pembroke State. [2]

Contents

History

Pembroke State fielded their first team in 1946. [3] Having played only five games in the inaugural season, James Sampson served as head coach. [3] Sampson served as head coach through the termination of the football program following the 1950 season.

Without sanctioned football since the 1950 season, on December 1, 2004, the UNC Pembroke Board of Trustees voted unanimously to proceed with the development of a football program to begin play by the 2007 season. [4] With stadium expansion complete by summer 2005, Pembroke announced the hiring of Pete Shinnick as the reinstated program's head coach on December 13, 2005. [5] With the team in place, the Braves lost their inaugural game on the road to the Davidson Wildcats 31–21 on September 1, [6] and notched their first win in their first home game after they defeated Greensboro College 26–20 on September 8 en route to completing the 2007 campaign with a 4–7 record. [7]

Pembroke improved upon their 2007 record through and finished the 2008 season with a record of 9–1. The 2008 squad featured a defense that lead all of Division II in scoring defense that only allowed 11.20 points per game; was second in total defense with 226.60 yards per game; and was fourth in rushing defense with 71.60 yards per game. [8]

In 2017, Pembroke entered into a scheduling alliance with the South Atlantic Conference. The agreement was originally set to run through the 2020 season, [9] but Pembroke ended the agreement a year early after reaching a larger agreement on associate membership with the Mountain East Conference (MEC). Under the MEC agreement, Pembroke became an associate member in all five of the school's varsity sports that are not sponsored by its full-time home of the Peach Belt Conference, including football. [10]

Seasons

YearTeamOverallConferenceStandingBowl/playoffs
UNC Pembroke Braves(Independent)(2007–2019)
2007Pete Shinnick4–7
2008Pete Shinnick9–1
2009Pete Shinnick9–2L 41–13 vs. Arkansas Tech (Division II First Round)
2010Pete Shinnick5–5
2011Pete Shinnick8–3
2012Pete Shinnick6–4
2013Pete Shinnick9–2L 37–13 vs. North Alabama (Division II Second Round)
2014Shane Richardson2–8
2015Shane Richardson6–4
2016Shane Richardson10–2L 41–17 vs. North Alabama (Division II Second Round)
2017Shane Richardson2–8
2018Shane Richardson2–8
2019Shane Richardson4-7
UNC Pembroke Braves(Mountain East Conference)(2020–2023)
2020Shane Richardson2-22-23 (South)
2021Shane Richardson6-56-44
2022Shane Richardson5-65-58
2023Mark Hall7-36-33
Total:96–77
      National championship        Conference title        Conference division title or championship game berth

Rivalries

While Pembroke was not a football member of any conference before 2020, they do share a rivalry with geographically close schools, such as the Fayetteville State University and Wingate University.

Fayetteville State and Pembroke are separated by only 47 miles (76 km), with the rivalry named for the Lumber River near Pembroke and the Cape Fear River near Fayetteville, NC. Both schools square off for bragging rights, as many of the players on both teams come from the surrounding Robeson, Cumberland, Richmond, Scotland, Hoke and Moore counties. [11]

One of Pembroke's first games in 2007 was against Wingate, and they have played every year since. With both schools located just off of US-74, and a little over 80 miles (130 km) apart, these two schools have experienced a close rivalry over the past years.

Primary UNCP Football Rivalries: All-Time Records
Name of rivalryRivalGames playedFirst meetingLast meetingUNCP WonUNCP LostTiesStreakLatest win
Two Rivers Classic Fayetteville State Broncos 4200920124004 wins2012, 31-21
Battle for 74 Wingate Bulldogs 6200720122401 win2012, 49-35
Totals10640

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References

  1. ↑ UNC Pembroke Style Guide (PDF). February 18, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  2. ↑ McGhee, Khary K. (January 22, 2005). "Revitalization project". The Fayetteville Observer.
  3. 1 2 The Indianhead. Digital North Carolina Library. 1947. pp. 39–40. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
  4. ↑ McGhee, Khary K. (December 2, 2004). "Football returns to UNCP". The Fayetteville Observer.
  5. ↑ Pope, Tomas (December 14, 2005). "Braves hire Shinnick as coach". The Fayetteville Observer.
  6. ↑ Friedlander, Brett (September 6, 2007). "Time to celebrate at UNCP". The Fayetteville Observer.
  7. ↑ Graff, Michael N. (September 9, 2007). "Home, sweet home: Braves win". The Fayetteville Observer.
  8. ↑ NCAA. "UNC Pembroke Football Ranking Summary" . Retrieved December 28, 2008.
  9. ↑ "South Atlantic Conference announces football schedule with UNCP" (Press release). University of North Carolina at Pembroke. May 17, 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Davis & Elkins To Join MEC; UNC Pembroke To Be Associate Member" (Press release). Mountain East Conference. August 30, 2018. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  11. ↑ http://robesonian.com/view/full_story/20063709/article-Braves-gear-up-for-fourth--Classic--against-Broncos [ dead link ]
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