Meadowbrook product Davis Black invited to participate Trillion Tropical Bowl in Florida

California (Pa.) State Vulcans' QB also gains Honorable Mention All-American honor

By Jeff Harrison

Meadowbrook High product Davis Black, who recently completed his senior season at California (Pa.) University, is one of a select few NCAA Division II players invited to participate in next week's 10th annual Trillion Tropical Bowl in Florida.

   The Trillion Tropical Bowl includes primarily FBS level players including many from Power 4 conferences as well as other Division I FBS and FCS teams, with less than 10 from Division II players invited this year.

  Black and the others will arrive in Florida on Thursday, January 16th and will have practice sessions Friday and Saturday in and around Orlando in front of an expected 100-plus scouts from the majority of the NFL teams. The game is set for Sunday, January 19th in Daytona Beach.

 In addition, Black recently was named honorable mention on the Don Hansen NCAA Division II All-America Team. The team is named after Don Hansen, a former college football player (All-Big Ten linebacker at the University of Illinois), and players are selected based on their statistical performance, impact on their team and overall contribution to the game.

  Black, who was earlier named first team All-PSCA West and that division's Offensive Athlete of the Year along with first team All-Region, finished with the third-most yards of total offense in single-season school history after amassing 3,377 yards. He finished with 2,948 yards passing with 21 touchdowns, completing 63.3 percent of his passes (231-of-365) while also rushing for 429 yards and a team-leading 12 TDs.

  During his two years at California (Pa.) University, Black completed 393 of 641 passes for 5,473 yards with 40 touchdowns and 16 interceptions and he rushed 212 times for 557 yards and 17 TDs, giving him 6,030 all-purpose yards.

  Black led the Vulcans to a 10-3 record, including the PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) championship and a berth in the NCAA Division II Playoffs where they beat East Stroudsburg (Pa.) and Ashland (OH) before falling to Slippery Rock (Pa).