WSSU appears loaded on paper

Winston-Salem State is expecting to contend for the CIAA football title and will find out starting today if its expectations are realistic.

WSSU will open with a CIAA game at Elizabeth City State's Roebuck Stadium^[1] at 6 p.m.

Coach^[2] Connell Maynor^[3] of WSSU seems to have it all depth, speed and experience after an 8-2 finish in his debut season. But he's quick to point out that, despite how things look on paper, it's what's done on the field that counts.

"We have a veteran team coming back, and we'll be ready to go," said Maynor, who returns 18 starters.

Quarterback Kameron Smith, running back Nic Cooper and wide receivers Tehvyn Brantley and Dominique Fitzgerald are weapons on offense.

"I'm so excited about the season getting started," Brantley said. "We are tired of playing against our defense. I mean, it's hard when we have the best offense and the best defense and you have to play against each other all the time in practice. It gets old."

Elizabeth City State lost its opener last week, 28-21 to No. 2-ranked Delta State in overtime. The Vikings led 21-7 at halftime but couldn't put away the road win. Still, coach Waverly Tillar is feeling good about his team.

"We've been battle tested," Tillar said. "We did get to compete already, and the kids got to go out and play, so we have that advantage."

Maynor said he doesn't think his team not having played is a disadvantage.

"To them, they probably think it is an advantage because they got to play one game and make some of those mistakes," Maynor said. "But for us, I don't think it's a disadvantage because we have to be ready to play."

Maynor said he'll be interested to see what kind of shape his team is in.

"That's one of the first things you find out in your opener, if you are in shape or not," Maynor said. "I think we were in better shape than anybody last year, and I think we will be again."

Cooper (1,134 yards, 15 touchdowns last season) said he doesn't think the Vikings have an advantage because they've played.

"That will be over after the first series," he said.



"We'll be back in it, and it's kind of like kids at Christmas Eve, and we are right on the brink of playing. Once we get those initial jitters out, we'll be fine."

Quarterback Creven Powell leads the Vikings. He had three touchdown passes last week, all in the first half, but Elizabeth City managed just 6 yards of offense in the second half. Linebacker DeWitt Dixon, a senior from Charlotte, had a career-high 17 tackles and forced two fumbles and had an interception.

The game will be the first meeting between the programs since 2005.

"All we have is film from last year on them, we don't have film on their first game, but they have a lot of players back, and we expect them to be wide open on offense with three or four wide receivers," Maynor said.

Maynor said that his experienced defensive line, led by Akeem Ward, will have to get after Powell, especially in obvious passing situations.

"We'll have to get some pressure on their quarterback, and if we can do that, we can make life easier for the rest of the defense," Maynor said.

Maynor said that the Vikings like to crowd the line of scrimmage to take away a team's ability to run. One weapon the Rams have this year is a veteran tight end senior Michael Byrd graduated from East Carolina and is playing as a graduate student.

Smith, a redshirt junior who had 20 touchdown passes last season, expects the Rams to have their hands full.

"We've watched some film on them, and they look pretty good," Smith said. "So we have to respect all and fear none. We're going to go out and play our game and hopefully come out on top."

References

1. ^{^} Topic - Elizabeth City State's Roebuck Stadium (www2.journalnow.com)
2. ^{^} Topic - Coach (www2.journalnow.com)
3. ^{^} Topic - Connell Maynor (www2.journalnow.com)