Monday, November 26, 2012

Defense shines in WSSU’s playoff win

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  Winston-Salem State made a serious statement Saturday afternoon in blowing out Shippensburg 37-14 in the second round of the Division II football playoffs.

The main talking point was about the defense.

The Rams were without injured starting quarterback Kam Smith, and although Anthony Carrothers more than held his own, the key was an aggressive defense that had the Red Raiders figured out.

Defensive coordinator Kienus Boulware didn’t do much that was different from the regular season, despite an opponent that had the most potent Division II offense in the country.

A four-man rush and occasional blitzes kept the pressure on quarterback Zach Zulli. The Rams sacked him just twice, but they funneled their coverage to force Zulli outside, and that’s where he had trouble.

“We just got pressure on him,” Coach Connell Maynor of WSSU said. “We said if we could rush four and get pressure on him, it would be a long day. That’s what we did, and we forced him to throw out routes instead of in the middle of the field.”



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