‘Go get it mentality’ keeps JC Smith in the CIAA title fight

DONALD WATKINS | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Johnson C. Smith defensive back Divine Ohiaeri (13) and defensive end Jaxon Hickson (33) douse defensive coordinator Barry Tripp after the Golden Bulls' 52-0 win at Shaw on Oct. 18, 2025.

DURHAM – Johnson C. Smith is still relevant in the CIAA football title fight.

The Golden Bulls earned another week to compete atop the conference standings after Saturday’s 52-0 win against Shaw at Durham County Stadium to clinch a third straight winning season, the program’s longest stretch since 1966-73. Immediately important is Smith (6-1, 3-1) remains a game behind Virginia Union and Fayetteville State for the conference’s best record and a berth in the title game.

“Our young men, we make sure that they’re aware of everything that’s going on in the conference on Monday meeting,” coach Maurice Flowers said. “We’ll show the standings, and our young men know if you get two losses, you’ve got to look for some chaos to happen, and now your destiny is in someone else’s hands. Heck, if you get one loss … really one loss is like two, because now you lose the head-to-head [result], so … we look at the tiebreakers for the conference.” 

It's also the motivation to keep winning with three games remaining in the regular season. A sweep – against Winston-Salem State, Fayetteville State and Livingstone – means another trip to Durham for the title game and perhaps the postseason.

“Coach says every game is everybody's championship, Super Bowl-type game,” said defensive end Kevin Haynes, a sophomore defensive end who tallied a couple of Smith’s school-record nine sacks and scored on a 15-yard fumble return. “We’ve got to take every game serious now, more serious now, because we need to be back here.”

Smith, ranked 23rd in Division II, handled business at Shaw’s homecoming with a dominant effort, especially on defense, where the Golden Bulls earned their first shutout in Flowers’ four seasons as coach. They limited the Bears to 103 yards and Cadricus Stanley and Damarion Jackson joined Haynes with a pair of sacks. 

“The first shutout in our four years, that is outstanding,” Flowers said. “We’ve been playing good defense here for a good minute the last three years, and then for us to know we’re going to finish above .500 … that just says what we’re looking to build at JCSU – a program that’s going to consistently challenge for championships.”

DONALD WATKINS | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Johnson C. Smith receiver Brian Lane (5) caught four passes for 146 yards and a touchdown in the Golden Bulls' 52-0 win against Shaw, including a 57-yard gain.

Smith moved the ball efficiently after a slow start. Quarterback Kelvin Durham (15-of-28 passing, 281 yards) tossed three touchdown strikes and ran for another score while receivers Deandre Proctor (six receptions, 106 yards, 2 TDs) and Brian Lane (four catches, 146 yards, TD) broke Shaw’s secondary. The ground attack, paced by Bobby Smith’s 60 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, provided balance with 125 yards on 31 tries.

“We misread some blocking and pre-snap reads, and then it just carried over for a couple of series,” Flowers said. “We’ve got to get back to work on that. We controlled the slow start, and we’ve got to do better but once we got rolling, we did turn it on some.”

The special teams completed the rout with Isaiah Perry returning second half kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, making him the first Golden Bull to do it twice in a single season.

“We’ve all got this go get it mentality,” Haynes said, “so we are just doing the extra things to get ready for the Winstons and Fayettevilles and things like that, for us to come out and dominate.”

Said Flowers: “Our young men know the importance of having good days of practice and bringing those good days into game day so that we can have a good performance, because one thing that we know is that if we play well, we’re going to give ourselves an opportunity to win.” 

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