Consequential finale for rivals JC Smith and Livingstone

DONALD WATKINS | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Johnson C. Smith (8-1, 5-1 CIAA) needs a win Saturday against rival Livingstone (5-4, 3-3) in the Commemorative Classic to clinch a spot in the CIAA title game in Salem, Virginia, as well as the school single-season record for victories.

Johnson C. Smith’s task is simple.

Beat rival Livingstone Saturday, advance to the CIAA title game.

The Golden Bulls, whose quest for an unbeaten regular season was derailed last week in a 27-0 loss to Fayetteville State, can clinch the first nine-win season in school history with a win Saturday against Livingstone in the oldest rivalry in Black college football. A Blue Bears victory coupled with a Virginia State win against their rival Virginia Union would knock JCSU (8-1, 5-1 CIAA) out of contention.

“We’re not even into worrying about what happens over there,” Golden Bulls coach Maurice Flowers said. “We worry about these Golden Bulls. … That’s the great thing about being in this situation. We have not talked about our goals, really, since the beginning of the season and at that time … we said we did not want to be in a position where we are scoreboard watching and hoping that one team beats another team. And we’re still not in that position.”

Livingstone (5-4, 3-3), coached by former Carolina Panther Sean Gilbert, has something at stake, too. The Blue Bears, who have lost two straight games, are aiming for their first plus-500 campaign since 2015.

There’s also the motivation of taking down JCSU in a series that has grown more emotional in recent seasons. Pregame and in-game skirmishes become more pronounced, including a benches-clearing brawl that forced officials to call the 2021 game off.

“Our message to our team is going to be … let’s worry about playing football,” Flowers said. “We’re not even worried about all that extracurricular chippiness and late hits and stuff that comes with this game where guys are playing too emotional and over the edge. That’s not Golden Bulls football. We want to play Golden Bulls football, and that’s fast and physical. It’s going to be really easy to motivate our young men this week, because we didn’t play fast and physical (last week) against Fayetteville State.”

That means playing cleaner, something the Golden Bulls didn’t do against the Broncos, who were flawless, especially on defense. For the first time this season, JCSU was undone by mistakes from turnovers to blown assignments and penalties – lessons that can be leveraged going forward.

“The reason it’s going to help us is because it’s going to show us a couple of things,” Flowers said. “We have to have attention to detail, of all the details, and that’s going to be a wakeup call. It’s going to be a wakeup call that we know that we’re going to get everyone’s best shot. This was probably one of the few games that we have played as not the hunter, but the hunted, so that’s a different role.”

In a season of firsts, JCSU is in unfamiliar territory as they prepare for Livingstone. As a group, they haven’t faced a win-and-in game together, which will test their – and the program’s – maturity.

“No matter how much you talk about it, there is no substitute for the experience and our team has not experienced together,” said Flowers, who is in his third season as coach. “We have not experienced ranked in the top 25 before, so all these things are new. We haven’t experienced making history. You have to go through them. … Everybody might not have had the proper focus and preparation that we should have, but guess what? There’s nothing that will get your attention like an underperforming loss.”

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