Myriad story angles abound, as Rams denied three-peat

There was justifiable tension during the CIAA Championship loss; Virginia State broke the Rams CIAA winning streak with a score of 21-17 Nov. 15.

The Rams were denied a conference three-peat and will not participate in the Division II national playoffs for the first time since 2010, effectively ending the Winston-Salem State careers of 29 Ram seniors.

And there was just as much chaos present off the field.

The teams’ match-up was highly anticipated after they were robbed of the chance to meet last year.

Nov. 15, 2013 quarterback Rudy Johnson was assaulted allegedly by VSU football players during the annual CIAA banquet in the Anderson Center at WSSU.

Though Johnson reported at least five players assaulted him, only one player, a running back Lamont Darnell Britt, 22, of Portsmouth, Va. was arrested and charged with assault and inflicting serious injury.

photo/ WSSU Media

According to the Winston- Salem Journal, Britt pled guilty to simple assault and was sentenced to 45 days in jail, suspended for a semester and put on probation for a year.

The court imposed the condition that Britt complete or be in the process of completing his education.

Britt apologized to Johnson in court.

According to the University Herald, Britt was suspended from VSU for one semester.

Despite the sensitivity surrounding last year’s incident, "offensive" Instagram pictures featuring Johnson’s battered face circulated before the teams met for the championship Nov. 15.

In addition, a press release was posted on VSU's Facebook criticizing the Ram players’ behavior during Nov. 14 banquet. According to the post, VSU’s "class, dress and dignity were on full display,"

It also mentioned that WSSU players were "whooping, chanting, and barking" and that their actions were "suitable for a middle school assembly."

"We have no comment on what Virginia State chose to put on their social media page," said Kevin Manns, WSSU’s assistant athletic director of media relations.

"This is the same school that jumped someone in the bathroom to get out of a loss," said Jamal Haizlip, a senior interdisciplinary studies major Haizlip is a tight end for the Rams. "We expect them to be ghetto."

Haizlip said [VSU] were on their best behavior because of what happened last year.

Thomas Reed said they have no comment about the press release. Reed is the director of university relations at VSU.

"It was a hard fought game between two well-disciplined and well coached championship football teams. The fans and alumni of VSU and WSSU both showed great support to their respective schools. We are all fortunate to have been a part of such a great game," said Latrell Scott, VSU’s head football coach.

Reed said it was an excellent event for both the CIAA and HBCU football.

"Hats off to our team, although both teams fought a hard game," Reed said.

"It was a clean game. The coaches should be commended. Both teams played well."

The Rams are not going to the playoffs.

"We are not going to the playoffs this year because simply, we were not selected," Manns said.

"Our previous winning streak [31 consecutive games] has nothing to do with the selection to the playoffs."