There was potential for tension in the Maynor household this week between Connell Maynor, the football coach at Winston-Salem State, and his wife, Meryl, a graduate of N.C. Central.
Maynor hinted that he thought he had things under control -- "She knows who pays the bills and where I'm working now, so I don't think I'll hear any of that N.C. Central talk" -- but joked that he would have considered having Meryl sleep on the couch if she talked up her alma mater too much.
WSSU (2-0) and Central (1-0) will renew their rivalry at 6 p.m. today at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium in front of what is expected to be a sellout crowd of 10,000.
Both teams have high expectations for the season, and knowing that this could be the last game between the two for a while, because of scheduling issues, gives added meaning.
"They are aggressive," Maynor said of N.C. Central. "Their offense can put up points, and they have played just one game and it was against Johnson C. Smith (a 59-0 win), so they are kind of like us in that you don't really know how good you are because it's early."
The point total against Smith was more impressive given the fact that Central did it without its No. 1 quarterback, Michael Johnson. He was held out because he hadn't been cleared to play by the NCAA. He received clearance earlier this week, and will start tonight.
"We're glad to have our starting quarterback back on the field…," Coach Mose Rison told the Durham-Herald Sun this week.
Maynor said he doesn't know Johnson's strengths, but that it will be important to keep him off balance.
"I haven't seen (Johnson) play, but he's the starter, so he's supposed to be better than the other guy," said Maynor, referring to Keon Williams, who had four touchdown passes in the opener. "I don't know that we are preparing any differently -- we just know we have to play solid defense against them."
Central was 4-7 last season, with an 18-10 win over WSSU, and has won four of the past five in the series. The Eagles have six starters back on defense, including tackle Teryl White, who played at North Forsyth, and several back on offense.
Rison said he wasn't shocked by WSSU's 21-14 win over N.C. A&T last week.
"I give Coach Maynor a lot of credit, he's done an outstanding job already," Rison said.
"They've had two ballgames and have won both of them, and they had a big win over A&T last week."
Kameron Smith, a transfer from Navy, will make his first start at quarterback for the Rams.
He replaced Octavious Hawkins against A&T and scored the winning touchdown on a 7-yard run with 41 seconds left.
"To say I'm not happy with the 2-0 start, I'd be lying," Maynor said.
"I'm ecstatic about our start and the way our guys are playing.
"Everybody is saying you already won more games than last year, so I'm happy for those guys."
Follow John Dell's twitter feed with game updates at www.journalnow.com
jdell@wsjournal.com.
727-4081
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement