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Vol. XI, No. 2
WINSTON-SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY
WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA
December, 1977
Rams Lose Defensive Game
By Mike Mulhern
RICHMOND - A startling
defensive battle went down to the
final seven seconds as
South Carolina State snapped
Winston-Salem State’s 11-game
winning streak, escaping with a
10-7 victory when Derek
Brewington’s 48-yard field goal
attempt against a 20-mph wind
fell short as time was running out
in the Gold Bowl game.
“I just didn’t have time to set
up for the kick,” said
Brewington, “because we didn’t
have any more time outs left. If
we’d have had another time out, I
could have made it.”
Brewington’s shot, one yard
longer than his previous best this
season, was straight but short. It
followed a Ram recovery of a
South Carolina punt attempt.
Winston-Salem had taken over
a first-and-ten on the Bulldog 27
with 48 seconds to go.
Quarterback Kermit Blount and
Randy Bolton got nowhere on two
running plays, then Blount was
sacked while attempting to pass.
“We were taking the delay of
game penalties, trying to run out
the clock, and then we got
screwed up on that snap to the
punter,” explained South
Carolina State coach Willie
Jeffries of the closing seconds.
“That put us under a lot of
pressure. I really thought they
were going to throw three
straight passes.”
But, the Rams’ final series
went similarly to most of the
other series of the rather warm
second half. The game belonged
to a pair of rubberband defenses
that gave up considerable
yardage but seldom the big play.
Winston-Salem had scored on
its first drive of the day, getting
the ball on the South Carolina 48
following a 19-yard punt by
Malcom Montgomery. The Rams
went 48 yards in eight plays,
Arrington Jones getting the
touchdown on a one-yard plunge.
South Carolina State promptly
scored six plays later, on a 65-
yard dash around right end by
quarterback Nate Rivers.
And Montgomery made up for
his poor afternoon by punting by
hitting a 24-yard field goal with
3:15 left in the third period for the
eventual winning points.
Bulldogs lineback Eugene Grant
had set up that opportunity by
recovering one of Blount’s two
major fumbles of the game on the
Ram 33.
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But wrapped around those brief
scoring drives was a wild
afternoon of defensive football.
South Carolina ran 82 offensive
plays and Winston-Salem ran 56,
and for all that running - only 13
passes were thrown all day-the
score was much lower than
expected.
“We are used to scoring more
points,” conceded Jeffries. S.C.
State, now 9-1-1 and bucking for
J:he black national college
championship (depending on the
outcome of games next week),
averaged almost 40 points a
game during the regular season.
“But the way things were going,
we were just happy with 10
points.”
Florida A&M and Grambling
both have one more football
game to play, and Mutual Black
Network sportscaster Ron
Pinkney will announce his final
results after next weekend.
Winston-Salem State has been
ranked No. 1 among the black
colleges by Pinkney for the past
three weeks.
Blount’s passing was far off
form Saturday, though three of
five first half passes were simply
dropped by the receivers. Blount
ended up with only 18 yards
passing, and missed on all three
second half attempts. His
running, too, was flat; on 19
carries he gained only 27 yards.
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But, aside from that 65-yard
scoring romp. Rivers’ stats were
not that impressive, either. He
had only 70 yards on his other 15
carries.
Yet, it was Rivers’ threat and
the speed of Rickey Anderson
that taunted the Ram defense.
“We wanted to stop the home
rxin,” said Ram defensive coach
Charlie Griffin, “and we did,
except for that one play - that
play happened before we realized
just how fast those guys were.”
“Our defensive tackles are
supposed to cover the quarter
back on the option, and they were
always in the right place.... it’s
just that Rivers was so-o-o-o
fast,” added Winston-Salem
State head coach Bill Hayes.
“But then, that’s the way South
Carolina has played all year - the
big play. Now, our drive, that was
a real march.”
Indeed the crisp opening series
Blount directed would have been
the winning drive, if Rivers had
not broken loose that one time.
But, unable to mount a successful
passing game, Blount’s handoffs
kept gaining less and less
yardage. Part of the Rams’
problems in passing was South
Carolina’s pass defense, which
had eight men dropping off in
zone coverage while three
linemen tried to pressure Blount.
Blount seemed frustrated with
his early problems passing, and
he threw an interception to
Tommy Brown on the Rams’
second series. The Winston-
Salem defense retaliated three
plays later sacking Rivers on a
vicious hit by WiUie Jordan as
Rivers released the ball - into the
arms of Ram comerback Dennis
Bullock.
The Rams couldn’t move on
that series, and the Bulldogs
settled for a 48-yard field goal
attempt by Montgomery that
failed. Another long, 14-play
drive by Winston-Salem wound
up with Brewington trying a 54-
yarder against the wind.
The Bulldogs rallied in the
closing minutes of the first half,
driving 60 yards to ihe Winston-
Salem 20, where Reggie Sherard
intercepted a Rivers’ throw on
the goal-line as time ran out.
Blount fumbled and Angelo
King recovered on the Winston-
Salem 45 six plays into the second
half, setting up another field goal
shot by Montgomery, a 47-yard
that missed. Then came the
Blount fumble that Montgomery
successfully turned into the
Cent, on pg. 2
Rams Complete Best Season
The Winston-Salem State
Rams, under the leadership of
Bill Hayes in his second year as
head coach, finished their best
season ever on November 12
when they defeated Shaw
University 46-6. They chaptured
their first CIAA Championship
with a 8-0 record in league play
and 11-0 overall, defeated three
rivals for the first time ever and
earned national ratings in the
NAIA and Division II of the
NCAA.
The Rams met MEAC
Champion South Carolina State,
December 3, in the Gold Bowl in
Richmond, Virginia. An account
of that game follows.
The Rams earned the league
crown in rushing and total
offense, gaining 2686 yards on the
ground and 1048 yards through
the air for a total offense of 3734
yards. They were second in the
conference in scoring offense
with 327 points for an average of
29.7 points per game.
Running back Timmy
Newsome was the league leading
Cent, on pg. 3
Happy Holidays From
The News Argus Staff