Sep. 13, 2003

Winston-Salem, NC - What started out as a lopsided affair that saw the home team Rams trailing the Virginia State Trojans 21-0 midway through the second quarter, turned into a fairytale ending as WSSU was able to pull out a 33-27 victory in front of over 5000 fans at Bowman-Gray stadium on Saturday evening.

The Rams, who were coming off of a very big win last Saturday night over Fort Valley State University, showed signs of being lackadaisical in the first twenty minutes of play, and it cost them as they would trail 21-0 and look to be on the verge of getting blown out.

However, the Rams, playing in front of a large home crowd, awoke midway through the second quarter of play when Jared Brevard (So./6'1"/205/Charlotte,NC) was the beneficiary of an 11-yard pass from WSSU quarterback Josh McGee (Jr./6'0"/180/Winston-Salem, NC) to earn WSSU's first points of the evening. The Rams then rattled off three more touchdowns to pull ahead 25-21 with only 9:07 remaining in the contest.

Brandon Hussey (So./5'10"/175/Pine Top, NC) would run a punt back 75 yards for a touchdown, his receiving teammate Brandon Free (Jr./5'11"/180/Jamestown, NC) would snare a nine-yard TD pass from McGee, and Willie "Pedie" Byrd (Jr./5'10"/205/Leland, NC) would pound the ball in from 1-yard out to score the Rams fourth straight touchdown.

Virginia State did not quit however, as they mounted a drive late in the fourth quarter to regain the lead at 27-25 with 5:23 remaining in the fourth quarter, setting up the Rams for one final drive attempt.

WSSU, led by McGee, and a trio of effective running backs, looked to stage a final drive and set up some late game heroics. Though the Rams trio of running backs (Jed Bines, Martin Hicks and Pedie Byrd) were all effective, none was more effective than Byrd, who would come up huge on the final drive of the game and finish the contest with 23 carries for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

He repeatedly ran straight into the Trojan defense, and drag Virginia State defenders with him as he chewed up yardage. The final drive of the game saw Byrd rush the ball eight times and earn 42 yards before punching the ball into the end zone from five yards out for the go-ahead score. The Rams would convert on the two point attempt and close out the game with the 33-27 victory.

With the win, the Rams improve to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the CIAA and are currently on a two-game win streak going into next weekend's match-up with West Virginia Tech in Montgomery, WV. Game time for that contest is slated at 6:00 pm.