Sep. 20, 2003

Montgomery, WV - The Winston-Salem State University Rams have been described as a second-half team, many times. Fans of the Rams have seen them fall behind early in the first half and dig themselves out of a hole many times before, most recently last Saturday evening at home in Bowman-Gray Stadium versus the Virginia State University Trojans. In that game, the Rams fell behind 21-0 before going on a 33-6 run and coming from behind to defeat Virginia State 33-27. However, this weekend's contest would be an entirely different story.

The Rams would come out of the gate early and often and pull ahead of the host Bears of West Virginia Tech, racing out to an early 28-10 halftime lead. Winston-Salem State would benefit from a superior performance out of running back Martin Hicks (So./5'8"/170/Oxford, NC) who would find his way into the end zone twice in the first half of play to help the Rams out to what appeared to be an insurmountable early lead.

West Virginia Tech would mount several threats in the first half, yet the Ram defense would come up huge with two interceptions deep in WSSU territory, limiting the Bears to only a field goal in the first half of play. For the second week in a row, the Rams running game would once again prove to be the strength of the team as running backs Martin Hicks and Willie "Pedie" Byrd (Jr./5'9"/215/Leland, NC) would come up with very productive games.

The Rams looked as though they were well on their way to blowing out the host team, but West Virginia Tech had other ideas as they would allow the Rams only one more touchdown in the second half of play, and would then mount a run reminiscent of the Rams game-breaking run from last weekend.

The game would eventually draw as close as two points when West Virginia Tech would punch the ball into the Ram end zone with 1:41 remaining in the fourth quarter to bring the outcome of the contest into doubt. The ensuing two-point conversion try was denied, and the Rams escaped very hostile territory with their third win in a row.

The Ram running backs once again paved the way for WSSU as Willie "Pedie" Byrd Tallied 175 yards on 24 carries and found his way into the end zone once. Not to be outdone, the other half of the Ram running back double-threat, Martin Hicks, had a career day as he had 20 carries for 141 yards and four touchdowns.

It was not only the Ram running backs who turned in career performances as Ray Barksdale, the sophomore cornerback for the Rams would snag a WSSU record three interceptions in one game, returning one 37 yards to help preserve the very important Ram victory.

With the win, the Rams improve to 3-1 overall (1-0 CIAA) and tally their third straight win. West Virginia Tech falls to 1-3 overall (1-1 WVIAC). WSSU is in action again next Saturday as they travel to Richmond, VA to take on arch rival, and CIAA football powerhouse, Virginia Union University. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 pm as the Rams look to avenge last season's last-second loss at the hands of the Panthers.