CI AA
Rams
eyes on another prize
Get ready for an everlasting
debate For the first time in a
decade, the CIAA will not stage a
championship game pitting the
Northern Division winner against the
Southern Division victor.
Instead , the champion will be
determined by conference and/or?
overall record . The league nptai fnr
this format so that a round-robin
schedule will be put in place in time
for the *92 season .
Still, it appears that there's only
two logical choices in predicting this
year's division winners ? Norfolk
State in the north and Winston
Salem State in the south. Of course,
there are others who definitely feel
differently. But that's why they have
these pre-season reports and that's
why they play the games in the first
place.
Here's a look at how the CIAA
stacks up for the '91 campaign.
NORTHERN DIVISION
Norfolk State
With 18 starters returning/opti
mism is running very high in Spartan
land. Coach Williard Bailey's crew
?&me close to being the dominant
force last year, but fell just a wee bit
short.
This time it figures to be different.
As always, you can bet your last
money that Norfolk will impose its
ground game on opponents. There's
no reason why they shouldn't. In '90,
the Spartans rushed for nearty 2,000
yards, second-best in the CIAA.
Blessed with an offensive line
that weighs as much as a half-ton
pick-up truck, the Spartans are sure
to overpower folks in the trenches.
Jason Winningham (320 lbs.) and
Anthony Kearney (330 lbs.) join Doug
Edwards and Jonathan Bizzell up
front.
Lawrence Pinckney (576 yards)
will get most of his yards between the
tacKies wrote taiioack Karlsten Skin
ner works the outside.
Joe Bryant appears to be the
likely starter at quarterback. But in
case he falters or is injured, Kermit
Buggs is a very able replacement.
Gary Morris (29 catches, 508
yards, 6 TDs, 17.5 ypc) leads a reli
able group of receivers which
includes Mike Howard and Travis
Ramseur.
The defense, which was the
ClAA's stingiest a year ago (allowing
17.3 ppg), is set to resume its miserly
- ways in *91.
Free safety Leroy Haynesworth is
the ring leader of a feisty secondary
tnat allowed only 9 TD passes last
season. Joining Haynesworth are
Anthony Williams, Jesse Chavis and
Rod Brown.
NSU has a solid set of lineback
ers in Daryl Franklin, Chris Booker
and Henry Lawson. But on the line,
?there are some question marks. Mor?~
ris Jones is expected to bolster the
Spartans' defensive front.
Virginia Union
The Panthers are missing a few
key people that helped produce a 10
0 regular season record last year. But
there's enough skilled people coming
back to make Union a strong con
tender for league honors this year.
Offensively, coach Joe Taylor's
team is almost unstoppable with
CIAA Player of the Year Carl Wright
at quarterback. Wright did very few
things wrong last season, completing
55.4 percent of his passes for 2,484
yards and 21 TDs.
Wright gets tremendous coopera
tion from a solid supporting cast
which includes all-star center Marcus
Hodges. Rodney Hounshetl (853
yards, 8TDs) has established himself
as one of the circuit's most danger
ous pass catching threats. His 53
receptions led the CIAA last season.
In the backfield, fullback Jerome
Johnson is productive and consistent
(863 yards, 7 TDs, 6.6 ypc). Kurt
Greene, who scored 11 touchdowns
last season, just may be the league's
best all-purpose running back (551
rushing yards, 347 receiving yards).
With that necleus, Union fans can
expect their favorite team to score 30
Photo by Max DunhiU
Ronald Beverly is one of tour highly productive running backs for Win
ston-Salem State's Rams.
or more points and gain 400 or more
total yards a game like they did last
year.
Defensively, Union isn't quite as
spectacular as the offense. But they
are respectable overall, being one of
those bend but don't break type of
defenses. VUU does give up a lot of
yardage (171.5 rushing and 322.5
total was next to last in the league
stats). But they do manage to keep
people off the scoreboard enough to
win consistently.
The secondary is the defense's
strong suit. Cornerman Paul Deberry,
plus safeties Arthur Brown and Myron
Knox, an all-rookie pick, all ranked
among the CIAA interception leaders
last season.
Ellis White is the major returnee
at linebacker who will benefit from the
experience of line vets Ricky Deberry
and William Dixon.
In the final analysis, how well
Union fares this year depends on
how they handle a very tough sched
ule. In addition to the usual confer
ence scraps, they square off against
two Division 1-AA schools ? Gram
bling (in the Whitney Young Classic)
and Morgan State plus Central State,
last year's NAIA champion.
Bowie State
The sour taste of a disappointing
'90 season should serve as strong
motivation for coach Sanders Shiv
er's Bulldogs to make an about face
this time around.
The Dogs finished last .season in
Please see Page 12