Winston-Salem State 35, Saint Augustine's 33

October 29, 2005

Winston-Salem, NC – DeRon Middleton’s 74-yard interception return for a touchdown sealed the win for the Rams as they held on to defeat the Saint Augustine’s College Falcons by the score of 35-33 at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC on Saturday evening in the 2005 Homecoming Game.

The first half of play would prove to be just as fans expected as the two teams traded blows, proving to be the two football powerhouses that they were tabbed to be prior to the contest.

The Rams struck first as Stan Wright caught his first touchdown of the season as he powered his way into the endzone from 30 yards out, carrying a pair of Falcon defenders with him. Wright used his 6’6”, 250 pound frame to turn a seven-yard catch into a 30-yard touchdown as the Rams pulled ahead 7-0.

The Falcons struck back only six minutes later as Darrell Nesbitt found DeAndre Jenkins in the endzone from seven yards out to cap a seven-play, 70-yard drive as Saint Augustine’s cut the WSSU lead to 7-6 following a Arthur Lemon blocked PAT.

It would then be the Rams two-headed rushing monster that would strike next as Martin Hicks and Jed Bines scored a pair of rushing touchdowns less than four minutes apart as Bines used a five yard run, while Hicks powered his way in from one yard out, to give the Rams a 15 point cushion at 21-6 with only 37 seconds to play.

It looked as though the Rams would take that 15 point lead to the locker room at the half as WSSU would need to kill off only 37 ticks of the clock to preserve the lead. However, the Falcons’ very next play from scrimmage saw Nesbitt hit speedster Eddie Montgomery, brother of World Champion sprinter Tim Montgomery, for a 68 yard touchdown that cut the Ram lead to 21-13.

The Rams took the eight point lead to the lockeroom at the half as WSSU led 21-13 at the intermission.

The second half of play saw the Rams add to their lead as they outscored their opponent 7-0 in the third quarter as Homecoming MVP Jed Bines scored his second rushing touchdown of the day to put WSSU ahead comfortably 28-13.

The fourth quarter started in exactly the same manner as the scenario was the same with WSSU ahead 28-13 looking to put the finishing touches on homecoming by handing SAC their second loss of the season.

The victory would not be as easy as fans may have predicted as the Falcons stormed back, scoring three touchdowns in the final stanza of play to get back into the contest.

However, it would be DeRon Middleton’s 74-yard interception return and a Darrell Nesbitt failed two-point conversion try that would prove to be the game’s deciding factor.

Middleton, who saw limited playing time during the season snared a Nesbitt pass and raced 74 yards, untouched, as he increased the Ram lead.

Five minutes later, after a rapid SAC rally, with the score 35-33 in favor of the Rams, WSSU stopped Saint Augustine’s possible game-tying two-point conversion try as Darrell Nesbitt’s rush to the right side of the line was stopped three yards short of the endzone.

Three kneel-downs later, the Rams would improve to 6-4 overall (6-1 in the CIAA) and would effectively end Saint Augustine’s CIAA title bid as the Falcons dropped to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the CIAA.

WSSU finishes the season at 6-4, two games above .500 as Head Coach Kermit Blount moves to 77-57-3 overall at WSSU. With yet another win over a CIAA opponent, Blount improves to 62-29-2 versus league teams while the Rams as a team move to 254-155-16 versus the CIAA with eight CIAA football championships.