Sept. 5, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Young football teams make mistakes and the relative youth of the Winston-Salem State University football team was apparent on Saturday evening at Bowman Gray Stadium as two lost fumbles and a pair of special teams miscues hurt the Rams in a 19-10 loss to arch rival North Carolina A&T in the Time Warner Cable I-40 Showdown in front of a capacity crowd.
The offensive missteps coupled with a senior-laden Aggie defense held the Rams to only 90 yards of total offense in the loss as WSSU was outgained more than three to one.
"Mistakes. That is what hurt us tonight. We had errors tonight that hurt us and as a football team, you cant win games when you do that" WSSU head coach Kermit Blount commented in post game interviews.
Both the Rams' and Aggies' defenses stole the show in the first quarter of play as the two teams held each other scoreless through 15 minutes of play despite North Carolina A&T's glaring possession time advantage, an advantage that saw them control the ball for over 11 minutes in the quarter.
The second quarter of play saw each team record 10 points as the Rams recorded a Landen Thayer 24-yard field goal and a Jarett Dunston one yard touchdown run and the Aggies tallied a Patrick Courtney 24-yard kick and a Carlton Fears two yard touchdown run as the first half of play came to a close with the score knotted at 10-10.
"I thought we played fairly well in the first half of play, despite our mistakes" WSSU head coach Kermit Blount said.
"I told our young men prior to the game that the team that made the fewest mistakes would win this battle. That was true in the second half when we made our mistakes. We would hold them and then not capitalize. We forced three fumbles and didn't recover any. Those little things win games, and that showed in the second half" Blount added.
The Rams' defense, predicted to be the strength of the team prior to the season's opening kickoff, would prove the sporting pundits correct as they forced three Aggie fumbles. However, North Carolina A&T recovered all three as the Rams were unable to capitalize on their rival's mistakes.
The failure to capitalize would haunt the Rams in the second half as another Patrick Courtney field goal, this time from 25 yards, would put the Aggies ahead for good at the 7:54 mark of the fourth quarter.
A Mike Mayhew one yard touchdown run with only 1:55 to play in the contest would put the game on ice for the Aggies as they won their second consecutive game over the Rams, increasing their all-time lead in the series to 37-11.
The Rams were led by Brandon McRae who rushed for 20 yards in the contest as Winston-Salem State was held to 33 yards on the ground, their lowest rushing total since making the move to Division I.
In his first collegiate action, redshirt freshman quarterback Branden Williams completed four of his 13 passes for 42 yards after entering the game in relief of the injured Jarrett Dunston with just under 11 minutes to play in the third quarter.
The loss drops the Rams to 0-1 on the season while the Aggies improve to 1-0 with the victory.
WSSU returns to action on Thursday, September 10 at 7:30 p.m. as they play host to the Rattlers of Florida A&M at Bowman Gray Stadium in a contest that will be broadcast live on ESPNU and ESPNU-HD.
For additional information on WSSU football, contact the WSSU Office of Athletic Media Relations at (336) 750-2143 or log on to the Official Website of WSSU Athletics at WSSURams.com.
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