Poll position: Johnson C Smith football cracks top 25

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Johnson C. Smith defensive end Elin Jones pressures Lincoln (Pa.) quarterback Isaiah Freeman during the Golden Bulls' 52-6 win Sept. 14 at McGirt Field. Lincoln's six points was a season-least allowed by JCSU until last week’s 42-3 win against Bluefield State. The Golden Bulls concede an average of 10.2 points per game.

The list of firsts are growing for Johnson C. Smith football.

The Golden Bulls are ranked No. 24 in the American Football Coaches Association top 25 poll and 23rd in the D2football.com survey, which follow a second straight week at No. 1 in the Box to Row Division II Black college coaches’ poll. But coach Maurice Flowers understands accolades are fleeting if they lose Saturday to Virginia State in a heavyweight clash at McGirt Field. Kickoff is 2 p.m.

“If [a national ranking] happens, we’re going to be elated, and we’ll take that as it comes,” he said. “But I’m not expecting anything. What I am expecting is for us to have a good week of preparation for Virginia State, because here’s the thing: if we’re ranked and we lose to Virginia State, we’ll be unranked the following week. So, the biggest thing we have to do is concentrate on the job at hand, which is the preparation for Virginia State.”

JCSU, which is 5-0 for the first time since 1969, can stay in the rankings by getting to within a game of the program record with a 6-0 start. To get there, the Golden Bulls, who are 2-0 in CIAA games, will have to take down Virginia State (3-2, 1-1), the preseason pick to win the conference according to CIAA coaches.

As the lone unbeaten and untied HBCU in the country, there’s a new level of significance and implications with every game.

“We’re embracing this,” Flowers said. “We talk about these things, just playing good each week and …having the opportunity to win every week. We don’t want our guys to not be aware of what’s going on, so they’re aware. I think we have a mature group that is taking it pretty well.”

Virginia State, which beat Fayetteville State 35-18 last week, is like JCSU in that the Trojans rely on offensive balance. VSU, which average 333.5 yards per game (158 yards rushing), are paced by tailback Jimmyll Williams, who has run for 373 yards and four touchdowns on 81 carries (4.6 yards per try) and quarterback Romelo Williams (48-of-76 passes for 702 yards and six scores).

“Virginia State brings some different challenges in that they are very talented at the receiver position, some guys that are long and can run and good at getting 50-50 balls,” Flowers said. “They’ve got some very good running backs. They run hard and they’ve got good quarterback play, so it’s going to be a challenge.”

By comparison, JCSU racks up an average of 431.6 yards per game (174.2 on the ground). The Golden Bulls spread the ball on offense, with three running backs – Quavaris Crouch, Avante George and Kamarro Edmonds – tallying more than 200 yards so far.

Crouch, who averages a team-best 5.5 yards per carry, leads JCSU in yards rushing (287) and touchdowns (six) while George has 261 yards and a score while averaging 5.0 yards per attempt.

Edmonds, who has 227 yards and a pair of scores, averages 4.9 yards a carry. Crouch and Edmonds were healthy scratches in last week’s 42-3 win against Bluefield State, which opened an opportunity for George, a redshirt junior who ran for 122 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.

Redshirt freshman Mason Lawson, Trenton Lodge and Bobby Smith also took turns at tailback, with Lawson and Lodge scoring.

“Both [Crouch and Edmonds] could have been available to play,” Flowers said, “but what we really felt was let’s give the other young men some time to get some experience. We played tailbacks three, four, five, and six, which is great experience for them.”

The ground attack could be pivotal. Virginia State concedes an average of 186 yards per game, which JCSU will look to exploit as they have over the first half of the season.

“We go into each game just trying to see how we can be effective in the run game and the pass game,” Flowers said. “What we know when we’re watching film is that each opponent is different. It shows they’ve given up some yards in the run game, but what we do know is they’re playing good football having played a tough schedule. … They’re playing some of the best ball in the CIAA.”

Golden Bulls quarterback Darius Ocean continues to be consistent. He tossed three touchdown passes among his 16 completions for 258 yards in 30 attempts against Bluefield State. Ocean, a Hough High graduate, has completed 80-of-135 passes for 1,226 yards and 10 scores.

Defensively, JCSU and Virginia State are two of the CIAA’s best, with the Golden Bulls allowing 10.2 points per game and Trojans conceding 17.0. While statistics suggest a low-scoring game, Flowers wants the Golden Bulls to start fast and force VSU to keep pace.

“Offensively, we’re going to have to make sure we’re on point to do everything that we need to make sure that we’re making sure that they have to score some points,” he said. “We’ve got to go put some points on the board against a very stingy defense.”

This article updates the JCSU record for most wins to start a season set by the 1969 team.

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