No offense, taken or given for JC Smith Golden Bulls

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Johnson C. Smith’s defense has been stellar all season, including the last three games as the offense struggled to move the ball and score points. The Golden Bulls (5-3, 4-2 CIAA) will try to hang on to second place in the Southern Division Saturday against Winston-Salem State, which they haven’t beaten since 1996.

Points are becoming harder to come by for Johnson C. Smith.

The Golden Bulls have scored 31 points in going 1-2 over the last three games, including one touchdown in a 14-7 loss last week at Fayetteville State. They finished that game with freshman Jamere Cherry at quarterback after Robert Adams went down with a high ankle sprain in the first half. Regardless of who’s behind center, JCSU (5-3, 4-2 CIAA) isn’t moving the ball efficiently, failing to go over 200 yards on offense in any game during that stretch.

“It’s lack of offensive consistency,” coach Maurice Flowers said. “Just not being able to establish the run game and not effective enough on a consistent basis in the pass game. There’s concern, but at the same time, you don’t just go out and start to throw the ball 30 or 40 times if you don’t need to because your defense is going to keep you in the game.”

The Golden Bulls are playing well on defense – they held Fayetteville State to 114 yards – but the Broncos twice flipped field position with fourth-down stops that created scoring opportunities.

Offensively, JCSU’s lack of experience at quarterback limits what they can do in passing situations. Cherry and Adams combined for 10-of-20 passing with 113 yards and a touchdown. They were sacked four times.

“There’s a formula that a lot of folks play with – play good defense, play good special teams and offense just don’t mess it up, don’t turn it over,” Flowers said. “Of course, that’s not the way that I want to play football as the head guy. I’m a quarterback guy, offensive guy. I want to throw the ball 30 to 40 times a game. That’s who I am, that’s the type of ball I want to play but right now that’s not the ball that’s going to give us the best opportunity to win.”

Adams, who hit 2-of-3 passes for 20 yards when he went down, was held out as a precaution, leaving Cherry, a Mooresville High graduate, to finish the game. He went 8-of-17 for 93 yards and a 10-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Bryant that cut JCSU’s deficit in half.

Cherry also ran for a team-best 51 yards.

“Like a freshman in his first action of the year, he made some mistakes but that’s expected,” Flowers said. “We didn’t put a lot on him, but he made some good plays in the passing game, made some good plays in the running game.”

Regardless of who plays quarterback, the Golden Bulls will need to be good at situational football Saturday against Winston-Salem State (4-4, 4-2), which has won two straight to tie JCSU for second in the Southern Division. The Rams are 2-1 in division games while the Golden Bulls are 1-2.

JCSU’s defense was stellar against Fayetteville State, paced by defensive end Jalen Alexander, a South Mecklenburg High alumnus who tallied five tackles (two for loss). Defensive back Tynan Tucker matched Alexander’s total.

The Golden Bulls eliminated the Broncos’ passing threat, limiting them to 20 yards through the air.

“Our defense is good,” Flowers said, “and they’re really one of the tops in this conference. One of the better ones in Division II. We just want to do everything we can not to put them in a bad situation and to give them a chance to be who they are.”

With a shot at winning the division title all but gone after the Fayetteville State loss, JCSU still has much to play for with two games left. They have a shot at six wins for the first time since 2012 and would triple last year’s victory total. The Golden Bulls haven’t beaten WSSU since 1996 – long before anyone on this year’s roster was born.

“What we do know in our program and the building of it is we’re ahead of schedule, but we want six wins,” Flowers said. “We’re only going one week at a time, but we want this sixth win – and we want to finish the seventh, too – but we’ve gone one step at a time. … When you win, that’s where you really show your growth.”

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