WSSU Rams Notebook: Rattlers' Chester will call it quits

COMPILED BY JOHN DELL

■ Albert Chester II, Florida A&M’s starting quarterback, has quit football. He told the Tallahassee Democrat that he was leaving the team because his body could no longer withstand the rigors of game.

“I spoke with my physician and my family, and we’ve come to a decision that it will be in my best interest to no longer play football,” Chester said in a statement he released to the newspaper before Tuesday’s practice.

Chester, who has battled various injuries since becoming the starter in 2005, started all four games for the Rattlers this season, 10 of 11 last season and four games in 2005. He’ll be replaced by Leon Camel (5-6, 170) on Saturday when FAMU plays Winston-Salem State at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

“They can’t change a whole lot of their offense,” defensive coordinator Mike Ketchum of WSSU said. “I know Leon Camel came in and scored the game-winning touchdown on a 9-yard run against Tennessee State.”

Ketchum said that preparing for the Rattlers will be a little different with Chester gone.

“Camel is more of a runner than Albert, but he can still throw the ball some,” Ketchum said.

Chester completed 164 of 264 passes for 1,986 yards last season. He was 57 of 95 passing, with three interceptions, in four games this season.

■ Winston-Salem State has one player on its roster from Florida - David Irizarry, a kick returner and defensive back who transferred from Allen University before last season and knows quite a bit about Florida A&M. He grew up near Miami and is good friends with Demetrius Lane, a defensive lineman at FAMU.

“We haven’t talked this week since we are playing them,” Irizarry said. “We’ll talk to each other after the game.”

■ WSSU probably will play in front of its biggest crowd Saturday. Circle City Classic officials say they’re expecting 50,000 or more fans, but the number of tickets sold was unavailable yesterday. The RCA Dome seats 60,000.

The Rams have played in big stadiums before - Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego (1998 and ’99) and the Georgia Dome in Atlanta (2000 Pioneer Bowl). But those games drew crowds of about 10,000 a game.

“You know being at this level it certainly it gives us the opportunity to showcase our university and team, and I think that the status of being Division I helped us in to be able to play in the game,” Coach Kermit Blount said.

■ One of the most heated competitions in Indianapolis will come at halftime, when the WSSU band and the renowned Florida A&M band perform. Asked yesterday about the bands, David Irizarry of the Rams said: “Our band is pretty good, but the Marching 100s (FAMU’s band) has a reputation of being the best. I’ll just say I think our band can hold its own.”… The Rams will play their fifth straight road game Saturday.

They’ll have an open date next weekend, then play at Bethune-Cookman on Oct. 20. “We need a week off,” Blount said. “So I think the week off is coming at a perfect time.” Blount said that quarterback Monte Purvis (shoulder) and running Jed Bines (ankle) have practiced this week. Purvis had a string of 23 straight starts end last week, but he’s expected to start Saturday