By james art Johnson C. Smith will be coming to Bill Hayes Field at Bowman Gray Stadium on Saturday – and it’s not the same old Golden Bulls.
These Golden Bulls come with a lot of talent, momentum and an undefeated record. They are 7-0 overall and 4-0 in CIAA play and will face the 6-2 Winston-Salem State Rams, who are 4-1 in league play.
Coach Morris Flowers, in his third season, was asked where he was in 1969, the only year the Golden Bulls won the CIAA championship.
“It’s actually the year I was born,” said Flowers, a former quarterback for the Golden Bulls in the late 1980s who is a proud alum who is reviving his school’s football program.
The Golden Bulls are the only CIAA ranked team in the Division II Coaches Poll at No. 19 and are having a historic season. They are coming off a 21-14 home win over lowly Shaw last weekend.
Quarterback Darius Ocean, a junior from Raleigh, is a Johnson C. Smith CIAA Offensive Player of the Year candidate.
Photo by JC Smith
“I think it’s the biggest crowd we’ve ever had for one of our home games and it was just a great atmosphere,” Flowers said.
The offense for the Golden Bulls was led by quarterback Darius Ocean, a junior from Raleigh, who was 24 of 32 passing for 265 yards and three touchdowns. He was named BOXTOROW’s HBCU National Player of the Week and has 14 touchdown passes against just one interception so far this season.
The winner of the Rams and Golden Bulls will advance to the CIAA championship game
The Rams and Golden Bulls built their program through the transfer portal. The Rams have 37 transfers and the Golden Bulls have 23.
“The reality is you have to get the proper form even though you’re going into the portal,” said Flowers, who coached with WSSU’s Robert Massey when they were both at Shaw.
On Sunday night, Massey connected with Flowers in their final conversation of the week.
“I just told him I support them but not on Saturday because we need this win,” Massey said. “That’s just how this business works, so he knows it.”
Johnson C. Smith is averaging 30 points per game and allowing just 12 points per game. They set the tone early in the season by beating Tuskegee and Morehouse on the road, then easily defeated Lincoln (Pa.) 52-6.
The Rams will face the undefeated Golden Bulls on Saturday at Bowman Gray Stadium
Barry Tripp, who is the Golden Bulls’ defensive coordinator, is a WSSU graduate who played for the 2012 Rams, who went 14-1 and lost in the Division II national championship game.
In last week’s win, more than 5,300 attended Shaw’s game at Irwin Belk Stadium.
Flowers said he is looking forward to the challenge of playing in Winston-Salem. The Rams have won 12 CIAA titles in their history, while the Golden Bulls have just one conference title.
“Winston is 4-1 and we’re 4-0 in the CIAA, so it’s a big game,” Flowers said. “We’ll be excited, but obviously we have to stay away from turnovers and be strong on special teams.”
The Golden Bulls beat the Rams last season in Charlotte, but the last time the Golden Bulls won in Winston-Salem was 48 years ago.
The Rams will play JC Smith at 1pm in a key game at Bowman Gray Stadium
As this historic season unfolded, Flowers was asked a lot about what had changed.
“I’m very aware of the struggles,” Flowers said of the Golden Bulls being in CIAA competition for the first time since the early 1990s. “The most important thing is our culture and our core values with our commitment to academia. That’s where it all starts and with a few more scholarships that’s helped too, but it’s really about the culture and the guys have really bought into it.”
Massey said Tuesday that he encourages WSSU fans to come out to one of the biggest games this late in the season since 2016.
“We need our fans wearing red to come out and I say that because these guys have worked extremely hard to be in this position,” Massey said. “We know we are facing a challenge.