PETERSBURG, Va. – Chowan University will get crack number two at win number one.

The Hawks’ football team will travel here today (Saturday) to face off with Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) foe St. Paul’s College. The contest has been moved to Cameron Field in Petersburg because of problems with the St. Paul’s field.

Chowan is coming off a 55-3 loss to CIAA opponent Elizabeth City State University last Saturday in first-year Head Football Coach Tim Place’s debut. While he wasn’t satisfied with the results, the coach did see some positives.

“For the most part, we competed hard,” he said. “I don’t know if we competed for the full 60 minutes. Any time you lose by that score, you don’t want your student-athletes to think that’s okay.”

Place said he felt the team played well in the first half, but breakdowns on special teams and turnovers hurt them in the second half.

“ECSU is a good program,” Place said. “We’re now keenly aware of how good we need to be to compete night in and night out in the CIAA.”

While the game was billed as being historic because of Chowan being the first non-HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) to play in the CIAA, Place admitted it had no bearing on his game plan.

“It wasn’t even a thought,” he said. “It’s a great honor to be in that position, but we have to play football. We have to play hard and play fast. We need to get to that level consistently.”

Place said his staff had made some personnel moves, especially on the defensive side of the football, after viewing the film from Saturday’s game.

“Hopefully, from a defensive perspective, we have moved some people around and that will help,” he said. “At this point, we’re not big enough to play base defense for four quarters. We’re going to have to move some people around and get a rotation prepared before the game and stick to it.”

Place said his team was preparing diligently for St. Paul’s and had an idea of what type of opponent they would face.

“They appear to be a big team,” Place said. “All we have is film evaluation. They like to run the football on offense and on defense, they’re aggressive. They like to fly around.”

Place said he would spend Tuesday and Wednesday preparing his team.

“We still have to learn that games are won on Tuesday and Wednesday,” he said. “Those are the days where you practice hard and pay the price to win on Saturday.”

Success for Saturday will depend on how the team plays, Place said.

“Success has so many meanings,” he said. “I want us to play hard. We have to play 11 as one for 60 (minutes). That’s what we tell our young men.

“We have to be willing to continue to work hard,” Place said. “That’s the only way we’re going to get better.”

The Hawks will have their second chance at victory in the CIAA on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.