Nov. 10, 2007

Final Stats |  Notes

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - North Carolina Central University surrendered 470 yards of total offense, including 336 yards rushing, during a 35-10 loss to Winston-Salem State University inside Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Saturday.

The visiting Eagles close out their first season of NCAA Division I-FCS play with a 6-4 record, while the Rams improve to 6-4 with a road game against Norfolk State remaining.

WSSU senior quarterback Monte Purvis amassed 268 total yards with a perfectly balanced attack. The shifty quarterback rushed for 134 yards and a score, and threw for 134 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown bomb, on 8-of-13 passing in his final home game.

Senior running back Jed Bines contributed 93 yards and two touchdown runs to the Rams' dominant ground attack, while junior Roderick Fluellen rushed for 107 yards and a score.

In NCCU's final two games, the opposition combined for 709 yards (354.5 avg.) and nine touchdowns rushing.

WSSU held the Eagles to only 67 yards rushing and 278 total yards. NCCU sophomore quarterback Stadford Brown threw a career-high four interceptions, while managing 211 yards and a touchdown on 17-of-38 passing. NCCU's top receiver was junior Wayne Blackwell with six catches for 75 yards and a score.

The Eagles' defense, which spent more than 38 minutes on the field, was topped by senior lineman Courtney Coard and linebacker Eric Ray with 12 tackles each.

NCCU scored first courtesy of a season-long 33-yard field goal by rookie kicker Taylor Gray at the 12:19 mark of the first quarter.

WSSU then rolled off 21 unanswered points with consecutive touchdown runs by Bines followed by an end zone dive by Fluellen to put the Rams ahead 21-3 with 5:53 left before intermission.

NCCU gathered a little momentum heading into the locker room with a 9-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 29-yard connection from Brown to Blackwell with just three seconds on the second quarter clock to make the score 21-10 at the break.

The Eagles, however, managed only 113 total yards in the second half and Purvis' 22-yard touchdown scamper with 3:30 remaining in the contest was the exclamation point in the Rams' sixth win of the season.

WSSU broke the tie in the series record and now holds a 21-20 lead over the Eagles.

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THE HERALD-SUN: WSSU hands Eagles season-ending loss

By MIKE POTTER : The Herald-Sun

mpotter@heraldsun.com

Nov 10, 2007 : 11:05 pm ET

WINSTON-SALEM -- N.C. Central's first season in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision would be considered successful by most, but the finish didn't turn out quite so well.

Winston-Salem State seniors Jed Bines and Monte Purvis spoiled the Eagles' season finale, accounting for four of the Rams' five touchdowns in a 35-10 win Saturday at Bowman Gray Stadium.

The Eagles finished 6-4 after dropping their final two games, while the Rams -- a year ahead of NCCU in the move up from Division II -- also are 6-4 with one game left on the schedule.

Purvis rushed 21 times for 134 yards and one touchdown, adding 8-of-13 passing for 134 yards and a touchdown on WSSU's Senior Day. Bines rushed 18 times for 97 yards and his two TDs. Also in on the act was junior fullback Robert Fluellen, who picked up 107 yards and the other WSSU touchdown.

"This was a big win for us and our seniors," WSSU coach Kermit Blount said. "It's been great having guys like Purvis and Bines here. And it's good to get another winning season, although it's not over for us.

"We wanted to spread their defense out today, and we did a good job of that. We wanted to make them think we were doing one thing and then do something else."

The victory was the Rams' first football win over the Eagles since a 47-0 rout in 2003. The teams did not play each other last season, but NCCU had won close games each of the previous two years.

"We missed some things, and [quarterback Stadford Brown] did not have a good day," said first-year NCCU coach Mose Rison, who in his two seasons on the Eagles' staff has lost just the one game in 12 meetings with in-state opponents. "And of course turnovers made a lot of difference in the game. We had a chance to stop a drive early with a 3-0 lead, and we jumped offside on fourth down and gave them a first down.

"It wasn't a great day for us, but it was a good season. I learned a lot in my first year as a head coach. Now we need to go out and recruit and get bigger on the offensive and defensive lines."

WSSU finished with 470 yards total offense to 278 for NCCU. Most of the Eagles' offense came off the arm of Brown, who completed 17 of 38 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown but with a career-high four interceptions. Wayne Blackwell caught six passes for 75 yards and a touchdown to lead NCCU's receiving corps.

"We lost two close games to Central since I've been here, so this one feels pretty good, especially since I'm a Bull City boy," said senior Nate Biggs, a Riverside High alum who had the Rams' first interception of the day at their 16 with his team leading 21-3 late in the second quarter. "Brown is a good quarterback, and we watched an awful lot of film on him."

The Eagles scored the first time they had the ball, driving 43 yards in seven plays to set up Taylor Gray's 33-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 12:19 left in the quarter.

But WSSU responded on its ensuing possession, going 66 yards in 11 plays with Bines going in from 11 yards out. Matt Mitchell's kick put the Rams up 7-3 with 7:31 remaining in the period.

Bines added his second touchdown with 12:24 left in the half, bulling in from a yard out to complete a 13-play, 76-yard drive for a 14-3 lead.

The Rams stretched the advantage to 21-3 with 5:53 left in the half, as Fluellen went in from a yard out to complete a six-play, 54-yard march.

And it went to 28-3 at the 1:34 mark, when Purvis found Bryant Bayne for a 74-yard scoring connection.

The Eagles' offense showed some life in the closing seconds of the half, as Brown found Blackwell in the end zone from 29 yards out with :03 showing to finish a nine-play, 75-yard drive for a 28-10 halftime score.

"The interceptions were all big plays," Brown said. "I kind of put this loss on me, because I turned the ball over so much."

The second half was scoreless until Purvis added the capper on a 17-yard run with 3:30 left.

Nose guard Courtney Coard was in on 12 tackles for NCCU, while fellow senior linebacker Eric Ray also had 12.

"I've enjoyed playing against those guys because it's always been a challenge," Coard said of the Rams. "They have a lot of good athletes.

"We might have lost today, but this was still a great season. We're going out of here with the best four-year record in school history. I don't even want to take off my uniform."

NOTES -- The Rams now lead the series 21-20. ... Brown has 4,288 career passing yard, and is fifth on the Eagles' career list behind Adrian Warren '06 (4,676). ... The Eagles are 35-9 over the past four seasons. ...WSSU ends its season Saturday at 1 p.m. against Norfolk State.