Newspapers / Winston-Salem State University Student … / Oct. 26, 1983, edition 1 / Page 16
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Page 16 Sports Photo by K. Hilliard Leonard Horn, Rams’ freshman running back, breaks through a gaping hole in the Fayetteville State defense. Horn gained 149 yards in 16 carries against the Broncos. CIAA Standings North Won Lost Tied Won Lost Tied Virginia Union 4 1 0 7 1 0 Hampton Institute 3 1 0 4 3 0 St. Paul’s 3 2 0 4 3 0 Elizabeth City 2 2 0 3 4 0 Norfolk State 2 3 0 3 4 0 Virginia State 0 4 0 2 5 0 South Won Lost Tied Won Lost Tied Winston-Salem State 3 0 1 5 1 1 North Carolina Central 4 1 0 6 1 0 Livingstone 2 2 0 4 2 0 Johnson C. Smith 1 3 0 1 6 0 Fayetteville State 1 3 1 1 5 1 Bowie State 0 5 0 0 7 0 Rams Escape With Narrow 16-10 Win At Bowie by Sam Davis Bowie State College gave the WSSU Rams all they could handle last Saturday at Bowie, Md. as the Rams escaped with a narrow 16-10 victory. The Bulldogs, playing in front of an overflow homecoming crowd, came out pumped up with their thoughts of an upset. Bowie took the Rams by surprise in the early going, scoring a field goal on their first possession of the game. Arthur Lee, the Bowie quarterback, led his team to the initial score, hitting Mile Gaskill on a 41-yard deep into Rams ter ritory. Employing a no-huddle offense, the Bulldogs moved quickly downfield before becoming bogged down at the WSSU 14-yard line. With only 1:28 elapsed from the first quarter, the Rams found themselves down 3-0 to the Bulldogs, who were a decided underdog going into the game. But, the Rams came back on their first possession to tie the game. Mike Winbush, starting in place of Karlton Watson (the Rams incumbant signal-caller of late), ran 56 yards on a quarterback keeper to put the Rams in Bulldogs territory. The fi!ams moved to the Bowie 8-yard line, but could not punch home the touchdown. The Rams then called on much- maligned place-kicker Ron Bethune to at tempt a 25-yard field goal. Bethune nailed the kick through the uprights to deadlock the game at 3-3. But Bowie went ahead again on the final play of the first period. Lee found tight end Rory Francis in the endzone for a 10-yard touchdown strike. Lamont McCray kicked ^^h^xtr^oinH^iv^h^Bulldog^^lfl^ advantage. The Bulldogs threatened to widen the margin, but freshman defensive back Masha Paul blocked a 31-yard field goal at tempt by McCray to keep the Bulldogs trom opening a bigger margin. Behind the running of freshman phenom Leonardo Horn, the Rams quickly stormed back. Running over senior linemen Alvin Powell and Jonathon Nimmons, Horn scored two second quarter touchdowns to put the Rams back in the driver’s seat. Horn tallied his first touchdown of the day from 30 yards out and came back minutes later to score on a 42-yard run. Bethune was accurate on 1 of 2 P.A.T.’s to put the Rams on top 16-10 at halftime. The Bulldogs played WSSU to a scoreless second half, holding the Rams potent offense in check the remainder of the way. On the other hand, the Bulldogs were able to mount several serious scoring threats. But, the Rams defense arose to the occasion with Derrick Beasley and Bruce Dunlap making two key intercep tions. Eddie Sauls, Rams defensive captain provided the most exciting play of the game, going 65-yards with a pass for an ap parent touchdown. Vincent Jones, the Rams punter, bobbled the snap from center and passed to Sauls who lumbered the distance to the goal line. But, the play was nullified as a result of a lineman- downfield penalty. Despite the lack-luster performance, the Rams moved a game closer to the CIAA southern division title. The Rams record now stands at 3-0-1 in conference play and 5-1-1 overall. On the other side of the coin, the Bulldogs suffered their seventh Rams Signal-Caller A Long Way From Home By Sam Davis Why would a talented, highly recruited football star from Detroit come to a small black university in North Carolina to play football? When you consider the schools that of fered Karlton Watson a scholarship to play football, that question inevitably has to come up. After completing a very successful prep career at Chadsey High School in Detroit, Michigan, Watson earned all-city honors and was considered a blue-chip propsect. All of the Big Ten schools offered Watson an opportunity to enroll in their football programs, yet he chose to head south to Winston-Salem State. Watson at 6’4” and 208 lbs. had the size to play major college football, but chose not to. “I wanted to play against my brother who was starting at A&T,” Watson says in explaining why he signed with WSSU. All of my life, since I’ve been playing football, 1 had always played with my brother or behind him. So I saw an opportunity to finally compete against him.” Watson says he also decided on WSSU because of the opportunity to play early in his career. “I figured at a bigger school I would have to wait awhile before I could play,” he says. “I was impressed with the facilities at the larger universities but that didn’t sway my decision.” “The University of Michigan recruited me heavily and that was one of the schools I visited (the others being New Mexico State, Bowling Green, San Diego State, University of Toledo and WSSU),” Watson says. “Michigan probably has the best facilities in the country. All of the schools I visited had better facilities than we have here.” Making the transition from the urban north was not a big challenge for Watson, but the change from a passing team to an option-oriented attack did create a serious problem for him. “It wasn’t a major pro blem adjusting to Winston-Salem,” Wat son says. “It’s a slower life style than in Detroit, but I’ve really enjoyed it since I’ve been here.” “The most difficult part was adapting to the option-type offense,” he says. “I was a passing quarterback in high school, but I came to an option-oriented school. In high school, I was accustomed to throwing the football 65 percent of the time,” says Wat son. “My first love is throwing the football and that’s what I think I do best.” “I’ve had my share of second-thoughts about coming to WSSU,” Watson admits, “but I’m happy to be playing here. The team is doing prety good this year and we’re doing the things to win.” Watson says the Rams’ attitude so far in 1983 has been good and the team thinks they have a good shot at the conference ti- tle.” The team is much more together this year, both on and off the field,” says Wat son. “We’re communicating and that is really helping out a lot. I feel if we play with consistency and don’t take anyone lightly, we can make it to the champion ship game/’ Although Watson’s statistics are not up to the level he expects, he says he still thinks he will get a chance to play profes sionally (which as been one of his goals since at a very early age). “My individual play has not been as good as it could be, but I’ve been more of a role player this year,” he says. “I’m trying to do whatever is necessary to win and not about personal statistics.” “I’ve been getting mail from pro scouts since my sophomore year and I’ve gotten calls from scouts this year. So I’m going to just wait and see what happens. If I had to go as a free agent then I’ll probably go where I think I can contribute and make the team.” The two-quarterback system Coach Bill Hayes has employed this season has caus ed Watson some concern, but he says it will make him a better quarterback. “I like being the number one quarterback,” says Watson. “But I know that in order to stay on top I have to work harder, because if I don’t produce, I won’t be in the game.” Watson says the problems he has been continued on page 18 ■ Slffflit Photo by K. Hilliard Karlton Watson, WSSU’s strong-armed quarterback. Watson’s ability to throw with pin-point accuracy has landed him the label “The Detroit Hit-Man.”
Winston-Salem State University Student Newspaper
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Oct. 26, 1983, edition 1
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