‘New team, new season’ with Golden Bulls in familiar spot

MATT LACZKO | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Johnson C. Smith is leveraging last year's late season stumble into motivation ahead of next week's clash against Fayetteville State for second place in the CIAA football standings.

If déjà vu wore a jersey, it would be Johnson C. Smith’s.

With two games left in the regular season, the Golden Bulls (7-1, 4-1 CIAA) are still playing for a berth in the CIAA championship game. While the Golden Bulls aren’t undefeated like last season going into the home stretch with one conference loss, a win next week at Fayetteville State and the following against Livingstone, they would likely get a rematch with Virginia Union for the title.

Last season was uncharted territory for Smith and coach Maurice Flowers said that experience made this year’s team better prepared for a similar situation. 

“We were 8-0 and feeling good, and then [the loss against Fayetteville State] last year,” he said. “I’m so proud of our young men, because the game that we lost against Fayetteville State, we were shut out 27-0. We wore the exact uniform that we wore today, because our young men, our leadership council, they were like, ‘Coach… What are we going to wear this week?’ And then they were saying, ‘All blue, all blue.’ I said, ‘I don't want to wear that all blue.’ And they said, ‘why?’ I say, ‘I don’t want to wear all blue,’ and they said, ‘Coach, new team, new season.’ I left them alone.”

How the Golden Bulls got here

Smith’s lone loss is against Virginia Union in September. They haven’t had many close games of late either, blowing out Bluefield State, Shaw and Winston-Salem State with at least 52 points scored against each. Saturday’s 52-27 win against WSSU was the Golden Bulls’ third straight in the series and their largest margin of victory since a 56-6 win in 1975.

“Anytime that you can beat Winston-Salem State is good,” Flowers said. “I told the team in my four-year playing career against Winston Salem State, I never won. In my junior year, 73-6. My senior year, they beat us 80-6, so when I say you want to beat Winston-Salem State, you do. And I'm just so happy for them that they know what it feels like to beat those Rams. And on top of that, it’s another conference win. I’m so proud of our football team. We really have young men that are bought into the process and our culture, and they just go about their business every single day.”

Golden Bulls quarterback Kelvin Durham threw for 351 yards and three touchdowns against WSSU and ran in two scores. The Golden Bulls started fast and ran out to a 38-6 lead at one point to where even when the Rams pushed back, they never threatened. 

“Starting fast is big for us,” Durham said. “Coach Flowers and my quarterback coach [Tyrell Jackson] get on me when I don’t start fast, and it shows. [Flowers] tells me that games we start fast and score early usually lead to big wins or a big margin, … so, I just keep that in mind every game and just make sure that we start fast and send that message to my offensive line, my receivers and running backs as well to make sure we are all on the same page.”

Tournament mentality 

The Golden Bulls know that losing isn’t an option if they want to play for the CIAA title. The theme of starting fast will be crucial next week at Fayetteville State.

“We’re in a single-elimination tournament,” Flowers said. “That is how we're approaching it. We say, one day at a time, one game at a time, one day at a time, one game at a time. And what we feel is that if we play well, we have an opportunity to win. And so that is really our focus. We want to have a good meeting each meeting. We want to have a good film session. We want to have good weightlifting sessions. We have good practices, and all of those things that will prepare us to have a good game on Saturday. That's the mindset.”

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