WSSU will seek to stop its home slump

By: By John Dell | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: November 07, 2009

The friendly confines of Bowman Gray Stadium haven't been that friendly to Winston-Salem State.

The Rams have just one win in their last 10 games at Bowman Gray, making their home more like a house of horrors. They'll try to start a new trend at 1 p.m. today against Delaware State.

"As usual there's not a team in the MEAC that you don't have to prepare for," Coach Kermit Blount of the Rams (1-7) said of the Hornets (2-6). "This is going to be another tough, physical football game."

It's also likely to be low-scoring. The Hornets rank eighth in scoring in the nine-team MEAC (13.5 ppg), and the Rams have the lowest scoring average in Blount's 17 season (10.8 ppg).

WSSU is coming off a 16-13 overtime loss to Hampton. Delaware State lost 52-10 to S.C. State, the defending MEAC champion, in its last game but won the one before, defeating Morgan State 35-22.

Coach Al Lavan's Delaware State team has battled injuries all season and has lost three starting tailbacks.

"In 35 years of coaching I've never seen anything like it," said Lavan, who is in his fifth season with the Hornets. "The major problem has been just on the offensive side and our inability to make more big plays."

Lavan said that the Rams are a solid football team, especially on defense.

"They don't give up many points," he said. "They've probably struggled a little on offense, so I would like it to be a low-scoring game."

The teams have met the last two seasons. Delaware State won 23-20 on a last-play field goal at Bowman Gray in 2007; WSSU won 27-26 in Dover, Del., in one of its most impressive games last season.

In last week's loss to Hampton, WSSU had a 10-0 lead with six minutes left, and the defense was superb for 3½ quarters before running out of gas. Led by lineman Akeem Ward (51 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles), the WSSU defense allows 21.8 points a game.

"We played extremely well considering we lost in overtime," Blount said. "We had opportunities early in that game to put it away, and we came away empty with no points. With a young team, it eventually comes back to haunt you."

One concern for Blount is the availability of running back Ced Hickman (groin injury). Hickman is the team's leading rusher, but he missed most of the practices this week, and it's not known if he'll be 100 percent. Hickman said Thursday he didn't know if he would play and that whether he does would be a game-time decision.

"I'm not sure if I can play," he said. "I've been running a little bit trying to work it out, but it's a sharp pain with the groin so we'll see."

jdell@wsjournal.com. | 727-4081