Johnson C. Smith football prepares for the stretch drive

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Redshirt freshman Bobby Smith (center) has been one of the most productive surprises for Johnson C. Smith at midseason. The running back leads JCSU in rushing yards and total touchdowns, including this one against Bluefield State on Sept. 27,

Midway through the season, Johnson C. Smith is on track to earn a berth in the CIAA football title game.

But there’s little room for error. 

The Golden Bulls, (4-1, 1-1) head into the second half of the season where a second loss could effectively end any chance of advancing to the postseason showcase.

“What lies ahead in the next five is it’s good to be coming off the first five 4-1,” coach Maurice Flowers said. “We’ve shown that we can play at a high level, and we’ve shown that we have to play at a high level if we want to reach the goals that we’ve set for ourselves.”

Outside a 28-10 loss at Virginia Union in Week 4, JCSU, which was the CIAA coaches’ preseason pick to finish second to the Panthers, has played up to expectations. The loss to VUU, though, showed the Golden Bulls still have room for improvement, especially in stopping the run and finishing possessions with points. They did both in blowing past Bluefield State 69-13 last week, their widest margin of victory in Flowers’ four season. The focus is on building that consistency going forward.

“When you look at the schedule as a whole, and we did that (last) week… we know it’s a gauntlet, and we know that we’re going to have to play well,” Flowers said. “We wanted to make sure that we did it (against Bluefield State). We had a good week of practice, and we brought that good week of practice to the game.”

The remaining schedule has its share of potential pitfalls, starting Saturday at Virginia State (2-2, 0-1), which is coming off a 34-13 loss at Fayetteville State (2-3, 2-0). The Trojans, who finished third in the preseason poll behind VUU and the Golden Bulls, will be motivated after losing at JCSU last year. The Golden Bulls also have incentive to keep the pressure on FSU, Livingstone and VUU, all of which are a game ahead in the CIAA standings. Livingstone is at Elizabeth City State on Saturday, while FSU is at Bowie State and VUU heads to Winston-Salem State.

“We get the same opportunity that we just had two weeks ago,” Flowers said. “We’re going to Virginia; we’re going to a hostile crowd. We’re playing a very tough football team, and we’ve got an opportunity to play the type of football that we know that we can play. We know we learned plenty of lessons against Virginia Union, and we'll see how much we're going to see how much we learned.”

Midseason observations

Surprise (the good kind)

• Bobby Brown: The redshirt freshman has flourished at tailback after beating out Kamarro Edmonds and Avante George for the starting role. 

Through five games, Brown has rushed for 376 yards and four touchdowns on 71 carries. Half of those scores were in last week’s 69-13 win against Bluefield State, and he added a touchdown catch to boot.   

• Jalen Alexander: The South Mecklenburg High grad has taken a massive leap at defensive end. He’s third among Golden Bulls with 20 tackles, leads with 2.5 sacks and nabbed an interception. 

Surprise (the problematic kind)

• Too many chunk plays given up on defense. JCSU isn’t as stingy compared to the previous two seasons, which is a concern. Virginia Union lived on them in a 28-10 loss and Bluefield State showed capability early before the Golden Bulls adjusted in the second quarter.

• Penalties: JCSU averages 83.2 yards per game compared to 64.4 for opponents. Winning teams can get by on talent; competing for championships takes discipline.

Expected, but more’s needed

• Quarterback Kelvin Durham is one of the CIAA’s most capable dual-threat assets. He passes (89-of-130, 1,191 yards, 9 TDs) and runs (33 carries, 72 yards, 5 TDs) with equal impact and efficiency and will need to turn it up as the CIAA race kicks into high gear starting Saturday at Virginia State.

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