Tears shed, lessons learned and JC Smith handles business 

HERBERT L. WHITE | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Johnson C. Smith players celebrate after beating Fayetteville State 17-14 Nov. 1, 2025. The Golden Bulls improved to 8-1, 5-1 in the CIAA with the win and can set a single season wins record with a victory next week against Livingstone.

FAYETTEVILLE – Maurice Flowers’ tears were from a place of joy.

And redemption. Certainly relief, too.

Johnson C. Smith’s coach got all three with the Golden Bulls’ 17-14 win against Fayetteville State Saturday to break an eight-game losing streak to the Broncos and seize second place in the CIAA standings with a game remaining. In addition to closing within a win of locking down a berth in the title game, No. 19 JCSU (8-1, 5-1 CIAA) can earn a school-best ninth victory next week against rival Livingstone in the Commemorative Classic. 

“I was very emotional after the game because it’s not necessarily about getting the monkey off our back of Fayetteville State,” said Flowers, who joined Eddie McGirt (1969-70) as coaches with consecutive eight-win seasons at JCSU. “It’s about how proud I am of our young men. They put in so much work. And just to come in this environment, to know that you hadn’t beat this team, you hadn't beat them in three years since we've been here, and then also to know that we had a formula to win.”

That formula – control time of possession and limit game-altering mistakes – still required a dramatic late rally. After Demari Daniels connected with Xayden Watson on a 52-yard pass to put Fayetteville State ahead with 3:28 left, JCSU responded with a nine-play, 69-yard march. 

Kelvin Durham (20-of-27 passing, 182 yards; 9 carries, 33 yards, TD) completed 4-of-5 passes for 27 yards and ran for another 27, including a 12-yard scramble on fourth-and-9 to set up Bobby Smith’s 6-yard run with 13 seconds left. JCSU dominated time of possession at 38:23, primarily by running the ball for 40 of their 68 plays.

“My day’s been good,” said Smith, a redshirt freshman who established career bests for carries (31) and rushing yards (113) in a game. “We came here with a purpose to win. We had to execute, no doubts at all. With the coaches preparing us and … faith, and then my o-line, I appreciate my line. They do a lot for me.”

Said Flowers: “We do that every Thursday – two-minute drill. It was really no panic. We just need to know the situation. Do we need a field goal? Do we need a touchdown and know the timeouts.” 

Beating Fayetteville State did more than give JCSU its first win in the series since 2015. It exorcised the ghosts of 2024, when the Broncos broke up the Golden Bulls’ unbeaten season with a 27-0 win in Week 9. That loss was followed by a setback against Livingstone that pushed JCSU out of the CIAA title game, a hard lesson in perseverance the Golden Bulls have used since a Week 4 loss at Virginia Union (8-1, 6-0).

“That’s just what I love about our young men,” Flowers said. “We’re experienced. We’ve seen a lot, and we’ve been through a lot. Just look at last year, look at the lessons learned. At this point, this is where we dropped two [straight], and to be able to just rebound from last year, such an emotional downer … our young men wouldn't let it happen.”

Smith agreed. 

“Can’t happen again,” he said. “That was our mindset. … We prepared for the moment. We can’t go short. We just had to execute.”

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