Rams, Blount beaten in finale

As was the case all season Winston-Salem State fought to the end, but it wasn't enough.

The Rams, hoping to send veteran coach Kermit Blount out a winner, lost 28-21 to Norfolk State at chilly Dick Price Stadium.

Blount, who was forced to step down earlier in the week after 17 years at his alma mater, tried to hold back tears when it was all over.

"I feel good about what these kids accomplished," said Blount, 51. "They did something that none of my teams had ever had to do and that's start out one way (transition to Division I) and end another way during the season. And they hung in there with it."

If not for two missed field-goal tries by the Rams' Landen Thayer in the second half and a 67-yard touchdown pass from Dennis Brown to Chris Bell of the Spartans, the Rams might have turned the tables.

Offensive lineman Travis Taylor said that with everything that's gone on this season it would have been easy for the Rams to mail in this game. Despite starting Jean Julmiste, the third-string quarterback, and moving slotback Omar Kizzie to quarterback, the Rams stood toe to toe with the Spartans.

"We made too many mistakes in the first part of the game," Taylor said. "Playing a good team you can't do that. We could have bagged this game with what's gone on around here but we didn't do that -- we fought."

The Rams, who finish 1-10, the worst record in Blount's tenure, had five turnovers yesterday and finished with 14 turnovers over the past three games.

Kizzie caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Julmiste with 7:44 left in the third quarter that tied the game at 21. Later in the quarter the Rams had a chance to go ahead but the usually reliable Thayer, their top scorer, pushed a 30-yard field-goal attempt.

The Spartans (7-4) took advantage on the next series, with Brown finding Bell racing down the right side for the game-changing touchdown. Bell beat Alex Chandler, who had single coverage on the play. It was Bell's 13th touchdown catch of the year.

Other than getting beat-en on the play, Chandler, a fifth-year senior, played probably his best game of his career. He had a blocked punt and two interceptions, and helped hold Bell to just four catches.

Chandler said he knew that the Rams would fight to the end. They had two overtime losses and lost three more games by four points or less.

"I'm not surprised because we played like this all season and we fought hard again," he said. "We got hit with a bunch of adversity all season, and we were hoping to send out Coach Blount with a bang."

Blount stood at midfield answering questions afterward, and again was given the opportunity to talk about being reassigned by the university. Instead, he gave credit to his players for not giving up on him.

"It's been a good run," Blount said. "I've been here at Winston-Salem State for 17 years and that doesn't happen too often in this profession. I'm just happy to have the opportunity here and appreciate what this university gave me….

"I feel good, I'm OK. They played hard for me until the end and that's all I can ask out of them."

After Brown's touchdown pass with 1:26 left in the third quarter gave the Spartans the lead for good, the Rams had another chance to score. With 10:47 left in the game Thayer pushed another 30-yard field-goal attempt that would have cut the margin to four.

The Rams got the ball back at their 32 with 3:02 left, but with 40 seconds left, on a third-and-10 from their 44, Julmiste was intercepted. Julmiste, seeing his first extended action at quarterback since last season when he was at Dodge City Community College, was 6 of 17 for 67 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Kizzie, who operated out of the Shotgun when he was at quarterback, rushed for 49 yards on 14 carries and had a nice 9-yard up-the-middle run for a touchdown to tie it 7 in the first quarter. Kizzie did have all three of the Rams' fumbles, with two of them coming when he tried to pitch the ball on option plays.

While the Rams allowed 388 yards to the Spartans, they did score their first defensive touchdown of the season. Lineman Josh Newkirk deflected a pass, tipped it to himself, and ran 61 yards to tie the game at 14 in the third quarter.

jdell@wsjournal.com

727-4081

WSSU 7 7 7 0 -- 21

Norfolk State 14 0 14 0 -- 28

First Quarter

NSU--Whitehead 58 interception return (Castellat kick), 9:55.

WSSU--Kizzie 9 run (Thayer kick), 6:02.

NSU--D.Branche 10 run (Castellat kick), :01.

Second Quarter

WSSU--Newkirk 61 interception return (Thayer kick), 4:36.

Third Quarter

NSU--D.Branche 19 run (Castellat kick), 14:13.

WSSU--Kizzie 12 pass from Julmiste (Thayer kick), 7:44.

NSU--Bell 67 pass from Brown (Castellat kick), 1:26.

A--6,573.

TEAM STATISTICS

WSSU NSU

First downs 18 18

Rushes-yards 42-156 35-128

Passing 67 260

Comp-Att-Int 6-17-2 12-28-3

Return Yards 165 85

Punts-Avg. 3-44.0 5-33.8

Fumbles-Lost 4-3 1-1

Penalties-Yards 6-53 16-174

Time of Possession 29:36 30:24

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Winston-Salem State, J.Harris 8-69, Kizzie 14-49, Munford 11-24, Julmiste 8-8, Fitzgerald 1-6. Norfolk State, D.Branche 24-118, Brown 5-16, Cotton 4-3, Team 1-(minus 2), Hayden 1-(minus 7).

PASSING--Winston-Salem State, Julmiste 6-17-2-67. Norfolk State Brown 12-28-3-260.

RECEIVING--Winston-Salem State, Kizzie 2-37, J.Harris 2-2, Whidbee 1-18, Fitzgerald 1-10. Norfolk State, Bell 4-124, Wicker 3-38, D.Branche 2-62, Hayden 2-24, McCowan 1-12.