WSSU may be without QB Purvis at Howard

Photo: QB Monte Purvis

By John Dell, JOURNAL REPORTER

Coach Kermit Blount of Winston-Salem State will have to adjust his offense this week because of an injury to quarterback Monte Purvis.

Purvis, a fifth-year senior, sprained his left shoulder late in Saturday’s 20-7 loss to S.C. State. His arm was put in a sling on Sunday, and Blount said yesterday that he didn’t know if Purvis could play this week.

“We are going to have to take it on a day-by-day thing with Monte,” Blount said. “I think he may be OK, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

Blount said that Purvis didn’t practice Monday.

“One thing about Monte is we’ll see how he feels toward the end of the week, because he’s so competitive he would play with a broken arm if he had to,” Blount said.

The Rams (2-2) will play at Howard (0-3) on Saturday in their fourth straight road game.

After Purvis went out, transfer Jarrett Dunston saw his first action of the season and was 0 for 2 passing.

Dunston (6-3, 220) spent last season at Temple, where he played running back and some at wide receiver. He spent the season before at Hargrave Military Academy and passed for 1,400 yards and 17 touchdowns, with four interceptions.

Dunston, who is from Raleigh, transferred to WSSU in the spring, went through spring drills and has shown flashes of good play in practice, according to Blount. He is a second cousin of Shawon Dunston, a former major-league baseball player.

“I really feel good about Jarrett because he’ll get a lot of reps in practice this week,” Blount said. “We aren’t afraid to put him out there. He’s a little bigger than Monte and probably has a stronger arm. But on the flip side, he’s probably not as fast as Monte.”

The Rams also will have to keep an eye on center Michael Helton, their most experienced lineman. He went down with a sprained knee in last week’s game, but Blount said that he is getting better.

“With both Michael and Monte, we’ll let our trainer (Darrell Turner) do his job, and I’ll listen to what he says about how they are progressing,” Blount said.

Getting the offense going in the right direction has been a problem for the Rams all season. Last week, they gained just 200 yards against S.C. State.

“Offensively we have to be consistent,” Blount said. “That’s the biggest thing we have to worry about.”