Coach Kermit Blount of Winston-Salem State has faced adversity this season, but the latest blow caught him off-guard.
Key running backs Brandon McRae and David Ahola quit the team last week, leaving the Rams very thin at the position. Days later, WSSU fell to 0-6 with a 45-14 loss at California Davis.
Blount, in his 17th season, hasn't had key players quit during the season in a long time.
"When you deal with some of the adversity that we've dealt with, there's always going to be a few guys who don't buy into what we are doing," Blount said. "…We expected to go through adversity during the transition, and we expected to lose one or two guys. Surely, I'd much rather lose a guy who isn't 100 percent with us now instead of going through the whole season."
The Rams will play their fifth straight road game Saturday at Bethune-Cookman and will be trying to stop an eight-game losing streak. The offense has been inconsistent, and last Saturday, WSSU had three first-half turnovers that led to three UC Davis touchdowns.
Blount has talked often about the need to keep his young team focused -- WSSU has just 18 upperclassmen.
"Sometimes you are more than a football coach, you have to be a mother, father, uncle, brother to all these kids," Blount said. "They are looking for direction from us, and we are trying to motivate them to come to work every day and that's what I like about this team, they are working hard every day."
The Rams have struggled on the offensive line, where three freshmen and two sophomores start, and the group is younger than the lines of most of WSSU's MEAC opponents.
"Those are the kids we recruited and I know Coach (Kevin) Downing is working hard to get them better," Blount said.
One bright spot Saturday could be the return of running back Ced Hickman. He has been out with a shoulder injury, but Blount said yesterday that Hickman is expected to go through full practices this week.
jdell@wsjournal.com.
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