Oct. 30, 2004
Raleigh, NC - The Rams used a well-rounded offensive attack on Saturday afternoon to earn a 31-13 CIAA football victory over the Falcons of St. Augustine's College at Granger Stadium in Raleigh, NC. For the first time in 2004 the Rams' offensive output was nearly even as they passed for 124 yards and ran for 168 more en route to the season-ending win as they saw the dynamic running-back duo of Martin Hicks (Jr./Oxford, NC) and Jed Bines (So./Winston-Salem, NC) finish the season ranked one-two in CIAA rushing yardage.
WSSU would get on the board early as Hicks would cap a five-play, 80-yard drive that took only 1:44 with a 44-yard touchdown run, his fifth touchdown run of 40-plus yards in 2004, to put the Rams ahead 7-0.
Undaunted by the early Ram offensive performance, the Falcons seized an opportunity only eight minutes later as they used an eight-yard touchdown pass from Duane Smith to Kevin Perry to even the score at 7-7 as the first quarter of play came to a close.
Heading into the second quarter, the game looked to be a close one, but the Rams used the CIAA's best running game and the senior leadership of quarterback Josh McGee (Sr./Winston-Salem, NC) to outscore the host team 14-0 in the quarter and take a 21-7 lead to the locker room for halftime, a lead that they would never relinquish.
The second-quarter scoring opened with a three-yard Hicks' touchdown run that saw the Rams go 97-yards in 11 plays as WSSU ate 6:11 off of the game clock. Not to be outdone by the running game, Josh McGee completed a senior-to-senior connection only 2:24 later as he hit senior wider-receiver Brandon Free, the WSSU all-time leader in receptions, (Sr./Oxford, NC) for a 24-yard score.
Following halftime, the Rams would do something that they hadn't done all season as they scored a defensive touchdown when Edwin Jones intercepted a Duane Smith pass and ran it 94-yards for a touchdown. The Jones' interception was the second of three total interceptions that the Rams would record on the afternoon and brought the Rams season total to nine. WSSU closed out their scoring as Matt Hind (Jr./Clemmons, NC) booted a 33-yard field goal only six minutes later.
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Trailing by 24 points with only a quarter to go, the Falcons could muster only six points in the final quarter and fell in defeat as the Rams used a balanced attack to down one of the CIAA's best teams. Though he sustained several injuries in a car accident last Saturday, Jed Bines proved how resilient a football player he is as he ground out 75 yards on nine carries despite playing with 13 stitches in his right leg. Bines' 75-yard performance kept him from falling to third in the CIAA in rushing and propelled him to a runner-up finish for the CIAA rushing crown with 1,137 yards on 176 carries and 12 touchdowns with a long rush of 58 yards.
Earning the CIAA rushing crown for the second consecutive season was Bines' teammate Martin Hicks who, despite carrying the ball eight less times than Bines, earned 1,148 yards on 168 carries and scored nine touchdowns with a long rush of 57 yards. The two running backs propelled the Rams to yet another rushing offense title and will set up a very bright 2005 football season.
With the win, the Rams finish 2004 with a 4-6 (4-3 CIAA) record and end the year on a two-game win streak while the Falcons end the year with an identical 4-6 record (3-4 CIAA).
For additional information on WSSU Football, contact the WSSU office of Sports Information at (336) 750-2143.
