by Lut Williams
Special to the Roanoke Tribune
South division champ Winston-Salem State used big plays on offense and defense to stymie high-scoring North Division champ Bowie State and come away with a 43-33 win and its second straight CIAA title in the league’s championship game Saturday before a crowd over 3,400 that basked in the sunny but chilly day at Salem (VA) Stadium.
Unlike the defensive struggle in last year’s 17-14 WSSU title-game win over BSU, this one had plenty of offensive fireworks.
All six of the Rams’ (9-2) scoring plays were of over 35 yards and despite giving up three touchdowns and 457 passing yards thru the air and a championship game record 610 yards of offense, WSSU also picked off four of CIAA Offensive Player of the Year Amir Hall’s passes, three by freshman defensive back Tyrell Flemming, and registered three sacks while never allowing the Bulldogs to take the lead.
“Hats off to the defense,” said victorious WSSU head coach Kienus Boulware who has led the Rams to the title game in each of his three years at the helm and has now won back-to-back titles. WSSU won its eighth straight game, fourth CIAA championship in six years and 12th title overall.
“We had to force some turnovers because if we don’t force those turnovers they’d be out there still passing the ball up and down the field right now,” Boulware said. “For those guys to come in ranked in the top ten in the country offensively, we knew we had our hands full defensively.”
The BSU offense came in averaging 510 yards and 41.8 points per game.
On offense, the Rams deftly mixed the pass and the run, scoring on runs of 42 and 68 yards and getting scoring passes of 50, 39 and 36 yards from quarterback Rod Tinsley (11 of 25, 194 yards) to repeatedly answer BSU comeback attempts. The Rams rushed for 272 yards and got an 87-yard kickoff return from Canard Brown in the second quarter just after BSU had tied the game at 14. It was the game’s only tie.
Bowie State (7-4) was plagued for most of the game by poor tackling as Rams’ runners and receivers repeatedly broke away for extra yards.
“We knew what we had to do to win the game and that was stop the run and we didn’t do a good job of that,” said BSU head coach Damian Wilson. “And I knew we had to be sound on special teams.
“We were 4 of 15 on third down conversions, that’s not us. We had 610 yards offensively but we have to have a higher percentage on third down. Of course, the turnovers played a factor as well. We’re not a team that turns the ball over, but they made the plays.”
The WSSU defense knocked Hall (27 of 46, 348 yards, 3 TDs) from the game late in the first quarter after he had completed his first touchdown pass, a 39-yarder to Gordon Clark that pulled the Bulldogs within 14-7 with 1:12 left in the period. After the play, Hall took off his jersey and went into the locker room holding his right arm.
He emerged at the beginning of the third quarter with the Rams up 28-14. In BSU’s first three possessions, they picked Hall off at the WSSU 2, picked him off again at the BSU 29 and finally forced a safety when the Bulldogs’ were called for offensive holding in their own end zone. The safety increased the Rams’ lead to 30-14. But Hall was far from through.
He responded by leading the Bulldogs on a six-play, 80-yard drive capped by his 27-yard strike to Jordan Garrison that cut the lead, after Gene Carson’s PAT, to 30-21. WSSU answered right back four plays later on Tinsley’s 36-yard scoring strike to Reggie Wilkins giving the Rams a 37-21 lead.
BSU (8-3) pulled within 37-27 as Hall engineered a drive that stretched into the fourth quarter and covered 84 yards in 16 plays capped by Robert Chesson’s 3-yard scoring catch with 11:08 left.
The final nail for the Rams was a weaving 68-yard run to paydirt by running back Kerrion Moore with 8:19 to play.
The Bulldogs’ last gasp came on Hall’s 2-yard scoring run with 1:35 left that reduced the lead to 43-33. The Rams broke up a two-point conversion attempt in the end zone and then recovered the ensuing onside kick to run out the clock.
Moore finished with 177 yards on 22 carries to lead the WSSU ground attack. He was named his team’s MVP for the game. Pickett added 54 yards on four carries. Walton’s two catches covering 50 and 39 yards both went for touchdowns. Brown led the WSSU receivers with four catches for 32 yards.
Chesson led the BSU ground attack with 107 yards on 24 carries. Garrison had 111 yards on six receptions. Star BSU receiver Nyme Manns had 10 catches for 176 yards but was kept out of the end zone.
On Sunday, WSSU was named to the 28-team NCAA Div. II playoff field. The Rams are seeded seventh in Super Region I and will play on the road at 11-0 LIU-Post Saturday in Brookville, NY.
