It has often been said that offense wins games but defense wins championships. That age old proverb was proven Saturday night as a firm WSSU defensive unit aided the offense to score 28 points en route to a 21-point win over rival North Carolina A&T in front of over 22,000 people at Bowman Gray Stadium.
It wasn’t all easy for the Rams in the early-going as the new-look offense took a bit of time adjusting to facing a defense other than their own.
In fact WSSU quarterback Monte Purvis would prove to be the Rams’ only offensive threat during the first two series of play as he was able to repeatedly scramble for yardage while being pressured from Aggie defenders.
However, it would not take long for the Rams’ offense to earn their first points of the day as they benefited from stellar play by their counterparts on the defensive side of the ball.
WSSU’s 2006 leading tackler, Thadeus Griffin wasted no time in picking up where he left off in 2006 as he intercepted a pass from Herbert Miller and took the ball 34 yards to set up a Purvis one-yard touchdown run only nine minutes into the contest.
The Purvis touchdown, his fifth career rushing touchdown, capped a five-play, 23-yard drive that gave WSSU a 7-0 lead with less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter of play.
Purvis struck again less than five minutes after his first score of the game, this time with his arm as he found sophomore wide receiver Bryant Bayne in the end zone from 19 yards out to give the Rams an early 14-0 lead that they would never relinquish.
Sophomore running back Brandon McRae got into the action in the third quarter as the Rams capped a six-play, 60-yard drive with a 30 yard touchdown run to give WSSU the 21-0 lead with a little more than a quarter to play in the contest.
A late North Carolina A&T score cut the Rams’ lead to a pair of touchdowns headed into the final quarter of play as the Aggies looked as though they may rally from a 21-point deficit.
The comeback attempt was short-lived as Purvis closed out a night that saw him complete nine of his 15 passes for 96 yards and a pair of scores as he found Brent Thomas on a 16-yard slant pattern for a score to end all NC A&T hope of pulling out a win.
The win, the Rams second straight victory over the Aggies, moves WSSU to 1-0 while the Aggies fall to 0-1 with the loss.
WSSU returns to action on September 8, 2007 at 7:00 pm from Conway, South Carolina as they face the nationally-ranked Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina University.