End game for Rams

Third-ranked Winston-Salem State's historic season ended Saturday with a 21-14 loss to upstart Wayne State in the semifinals of the Division II football playoffs.

The Warriors turned up their defensive pressure and capitalized on key Rams mistakes to win their fourth straight road game in the playoffs. They will play for the national championship next Saturday in Florence, Ala., against Pittsburg State.

After setting the school record for victories with a swashbuckling offense that seemed to score at will, the Rams found things more difficult this time in front of nearly 9,000 at Bowman Gray Stadium.

"We had too many mistakes offensively," coach Connell Maynor of the Rams said. "We were dropping balls, and the turnover on the goal line hurt us, and we were missing tackles.

"We got boggled down in the red zone today. They hit us with some blitzes, and they put a lot of guys on the line of scrimmage and kind of confused our linemen a little bit with which guy was coming."

The Rams ended the best season in school history with a 13-1 record, falling two victories shy of Maynor's summer prediction of a 15-0 record and national championship.

The Warriors hit the Rams early, scoring in just four plays with their first possession and taking a 7-0 lead. The Warriors scored again early in the second quarter, when quarterback Mickey Mohner sneaked in from the 1-yard line on fourth and goal.

Down 14-0, the Rams suddenly faced their largest deficit all season, and they couldn't muster the energy or the offense to come back.

The Rams closed to 14-7 after Jahuann Butler caught a 26-yard pass from quarterback Kameron Smith with 51 seconds left in the half.

Smith struggled most of the game trying to find open receivers, and when he did, several passes were dropped. Wide receiver Jameze Massey had two chances but couldn't make clutch catches, and Tehvyn Brantley dropped what would have been a touchdown pass in the second half.

"We faced a little adversity with them going up early in the game," wide receiver Dominique Fitzgerald said. "We've only been down once or twice this year, but we know how to come back. We just made a few mental mistakes we couldn't overcome."

Smith's biggest mistake came midway through the third quarter, when he tried a delayed handoff to Nic Copper. Smith fumbled on the exchange, and Andrew Matt scooped up the ball and returned it 15 yards to the Rams' 1. Fullback Chet Privett went over for the touchdown, and Wayne State led 21-7.

Smith was 13 of 29 passing for 129 yards but was sacked five times.

"You probably have to ask Kam," Maynor said. "A couple of times, he had time to throw the ball, but like me, he was probably looking at the line of scrimmage or something when we had guys open down the field.

"We didn't get it done. He didn't throw it, for whatever reason I don't know."

Smith, who was unavailable for comment, had two chances to drive the Rams in for a tying score but couldn't. The Rams had just 241 yards of offense, their second-lowest total of the season.

WSSU started its final possession at its 6-yard line with 2:04 left and no timeouts. Smith moved the Rams to midfield, but he threw a little short on a fourth-and-7 pass to Fitzgerald with 17 seconds left, and cornerback Gerren Duhart knocked down the ball.

The Rams also were hurt by missed tackles against a potent running game. Josh Renel rushed for 82 yards on 22 carries, and Toney Davis, who went out with an ankle injury in the second quarter, had 39 yards on nine carries for Wayne State.

"They were kind of holding the ball loose and we were trying to strip instead of just wrapping up," linebacker Carlos Fields of the Rams said.

Senior rover Alton Keaton said: "We just missed a lot of tackles. My hat's off to Wayne State, they came in here to play, and they made big plays when they had to."

The Rams cut the margin to 21-14 after Cooper scored on a 1-yard plunge on fourth and goal with 10:34 left, but the Warriors did enough down the stretch to protect their lead.

"It didn't end the way we wanted it to," Maynor said. "We wanted to win two more, but it didn't happen, so that's life.

"We beat 13 other teams, and we are in the position they were when they lost.

"So we've got to shake their hands and tell them 'good job.' They out-coached me, and they outplayed our players."