WSSU: 47-13 Winning Debut over VUU Panthers

HIGH POINT, N.C. - Winston-Salem State came home to the CIAA and looked quite comfortable, routing Virginia Union 47-13 last night in front of about 9,000 at Simeon Stadium.

Playing at their home away from home, the Rams (1-0, 1-0 CIAA) dominated in their first game as a Division II program since 2005. It was such a festive atmosphere that those four previous lost seasons in transition trying to go Division I seemed like a distant memory.

Coach Connell Maynor did something not even Bill Hayes had done. Hayes, the school's athletics director who hand-picked Maynor to replace Kermit Blount, lost his first game as head coach of the Rams in 1976. Maynor was all smiles after opening with an easy victory.

"We can't live in the past," Maynor said. "These are the 2010 Rams and we have a great defense with Coach (Kienus) Boulware and we just have to keep scoring points every week."




READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

WSSU Rams will turn to Hawkins, a transfer‎

And the winner is…. Octavius Hawkins.

Coach Connell Maynor, who has been oscillating for the last two weeks about who would be his starting quarterback for Winston-Salem State's opening game on Saturday, made the decision after practice yesterday.

"We're going to go with Octavius," said Maynor, whose Rams will play at Simeon Stadium in High Point on Saturday against Virginia Union.

Hawkins, a transfer from UMass, signed as a quarterback but never played that position at UMass in a game. Maynor originally was recruiting another player at UMass who was thinking about transferring and that player told Hawkins about WSSU.

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

Four-way QB battle at WSSU: Season opens on Saturday but still no starter

Coach Connell Maynor of Winston-Salem State was hoping to have named a starting quarterback by now. But after going through the team's final scrimmage yesterday, none of the four players vying for the job has done enough to please Maynor.

"I'd like to name a starter on Monday," said Maynor, whose Rams will open the season on Saturday against Virginia Union at Simeon Stadium in High Point.

The four players who saw action in the scrimmage were all first-year players in the program. Three of them are transfers and one is a freshman, Vernon Brandon, who actually started the scrimmage that lasted about 90 plays. Transfers Jamie DeGeare (Appalachian State), Cameron Smith (Navy) and Octavious Hawkins (UMass) have all been battling it out with Brandon for the starting job.

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

WSSU Rams are excited about return to CIAA this season

As Winston-Salem State tries to settle into a groove in the early days of preseason football practice, Coach Connell Maynor is leaning heavily on veteran players. Linebacker Shawn Kearney and defensive back Marvin Bohannon, both redshirt seniors, are leading an 88-man roster that has plenty of new faces -- a move that Maynor calls natural because of their experience.

Kearney, a starter most of his career, said that there have been changes in attitude since Maynor, in his first season, and his new staff took over. "We have a different outlook with the new coaches, and they are talking about CIAA and winning the title, and winning the national championship in future years, and we've never heard that here before," Kearney said. "So we can't wait, and it excites us, especially the veterans on this team."

Despite last season's 1-10 record, the defense was a constant bright spot for the Rams and kept them in most games. Although the core of that defense -- a talented line -- is gone, some key parts remain. I

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

WSSU Defense to have familiar style under Boulware

Winston-Salem State hasn't changed its style on defense much, said new coordinator Kienus Boulware. Mike Ketchum, now the defensive-line coach, was the coordinator the past five seasons. "What Coach Ketchum's defense was based on last year is very similar to what we have this year," Boulware said. "He had more three-man fronts, but in the package we are running now, we have some of the same stuff."

Linebacker Shawn Kearney, the top returning tackler from last season, said he's encouraged by what he has seen. "There's not too much of a difference because we have the same type of packages, but they have different names," Kearney said. "We are still going to be that fast defense you have always seen."

When new head coach Connell Maynor heard the suggestion that he might win the Rams' quarterback derby, he laughed, then said: "No, I don't have any eligibility left." Maynor -- an All-MEAC quarterback during his days at N.C. A&T -- is closely watching the competition between transfers Octavius Hawkins, Kameron Smith, Jamie DeGeare and freshman Vernon Brandon, and said he hopes to name a starter by late next week.

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

WSSU Maynor excited about camp‎

When Connell Maynor put away his golf clubs, it meant one thing -- time for football practice. Maynor, who plays to a 2 handicap, will open his first preseason camp as Winston-Salem State's coach -- and his first as a head coach -- at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. "I'm excited about the start of camp," Maynor said. "I want to get out there and see how the guys have been doing in offseason conditioning and while they might not be in full football shape yet, they should be close."

The Rams, coming off a 1-10 finish last fall, have a lot of holes to fill after losing nearly 30 players from last season. Some graduated, but others transferred or didn't have their scholarships renewed. The turnover turns WSSU into an unknown commodity in its return to the CIAA. Maynor was hoping to have veteran Akeem Ward back to lead the defensive line, but Ward, a junior who started the last two seasons, is academically ineligible.

"It's unfortunate, but no one player is bigger than the team," Maynor said. "We have to overcome that loss of Akeem. He would have helped us, but we have to move on."

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.