Livingstone game recap

photo/ WSSU Media

Winston-Salem State football continues its reign in the CIAA. The team comfortably defeated the Livingstone College Blue Bears, 34–17 on Senior Day Oct. 25.

The Rams are 7-1 overall and 4-0 in conference.

Running back Mustafa Greene scored the first touchdown of the game with a 59-yard run with 10:30 left in the first quarter, and the Rams never looked back. WSSU’s defense held Livingstone star quarterback Drew Powell, who came into the matchup leading the CIAA in passing yards per game, to only eight passing yards in the first quarter. Powell’s favorite target, wide receiver Jalen Hendricks, was held to only two yards in the first quarter.

The same defensive intensity by the Rams translated to the rest of the game. Linebacker Terry Ross led the way with 10 tackles, followed by linebacker James Hickman with eight tackles. WSSU’s defense was simply too much for Livingstone, totaling 78 tackles to the Blue Bears’ 53.

WSSU wide receiver Brendan Felder had the best game performance of his career, with his most impressive highlight coming in the second quarter when he ran a kickoff back 105 yards for a touchdown. The play propelled the Rams to a 17-3 halftime lead.

The Blue Bears did, however, show persistence in the second half with several big plays down the stretch. Powell threw two touchdowns, one to tight end Austin Higgins and another to Hendricks. His touchdown to Hendricks came with 5:08 left in the game and made the score 34-15. Powell and Hendricks then connected again for a two-point conversion to make it 34-17. Powell finished with 281 passing yards and 85 rushing yards. Hendricks caught six passes for 67 yards, and Higgins had eight catches for 94 yards.

Even though Livingstone showed great effort in the second half, the Rams matched their intensity as they maintained a comfortable lead throughout the remainder of the game. Phil Sims made his first career start for the Rams, and the WSSU coaches seemed to ditch the dual-quarterback approach they had previously relied on. Sims got most of the snaps at quarterback, completing 12 of 20 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns, both to Felder. Felder amassed 240 all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns. Rudy Johnson, who started last season and the first seven games of this season, was used as more of a utility player than a quarterback. He completed one of three passes for 24 yards, rushed five times for 66 and caught a pass for seven.

The Rams’ next game will be Nov. 1 against the Shaw Bears (3-6, 2-3), who just came off of a one-point homecoming win over Johnson C. Smith, 35-34. The Rams could be in for a challenge against Shaw quarterback Trey Folston and running back Marqui Grizzle. Folston is averaging 217.8 passing yards per game, and Grizzle has rushed for 7 touchdowns on the season