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Rams look to continue winning ways

By Matt Parmesano

On October 9, 2013

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The Winston-Salem State football team has had a strong season and looks poised for more success.

The Rams (4-1) have won four straight after losing their opener at UNC Pembroke.

Their average margin of victory is 36 points.

Head Coach Connell Maynor said that the key to the team's turnaround after the loss to UNCP has been

game experience.

"We said all along that some of these guys who hadn't played in a while needed to get back to playing football again, and we've got some young guys that we depend on, and those guys now have five games under their belt. We still have room for some improvement, but we're starting to play a lot better in all three phases."

Another key to the Rams' improvement has been

the play of junior quarterback Rudy Johnson in his

first three starts.

Johnson, a transfer from Texas Southern, replaced redshirt junior and captain Anthony Carrothers as starter in the second week of the season and has held the job ever since.

Johnson has completed 65 percent of his passes for 11 touchdowns and only one interception.

Despite Johnson being the starter, he has split time with Carrothers, who has also played pretty well. Coach Maynor said that he likes having options at quarterback.

"Both quarterbacks, [Rudy] Johnson and [Anthony]

Carrothers, are playing well," he said.

"Rudy is the starter, of course, but it's good to have

two guys you can depend on to make plays at the quarterback position."

The defense has also been key. The Rams are only allowing 18.4 points per game and have surrendered just 10 touchdowns in five games.

Two leaders on the defense are senior defensive back Everett Proctor and junior linebacker Terry Ross.

"We started off rocky, losing to [UNC] Pembroke," Procter said.

"We have a lot of new guys that transferred in from different places, but we've really come together and we're starting to get this thing to work."

Ross said that the team as a whole is starting to click.

"The rhythm has picked up so much because we have

been able to play so many more guys on both sides of the ball," he said.

"Every day in practice, we're getting better as a team,

and it's helping us on game days. The chemistry has

really picked up since the first game."

The players and coaches have CIAA and national

championship aspirations and are convinced they can reach their goals despite the opening loss.

"The loss actually helped us in certain ways," Ross said.

"It was a reality check. At the beginning of the season, we were somewhat overconfident, but after the loss, we became more hungry for the rest of the season."