Watch the latest episode of our HBCU Hard Knocks docuseries ‘Brick x Brick SzN II with JCSU football’.
The Charlotte, North Carolina HBCU is amid a football resurgence, and HBCU Gameday cameras have captured the turnaround at Johnson C. Smith under head coach Maurice Flowers since his first win in 2022. Season 1 of Brick x Brick showed the Golden Bulls increase their win total from two to seven games, the most at the HBCU in over a decade.
Season 2 follows a currently undefeated JCSU football program as they have gone from upstart to usurper, by beating the defending CIAA champion Virginia Union Panthers at the Irwin Belk Complex in Charlotte, North Carolina in an emotional rollercoaster of a game that wasn’t decided until the final moments of the fourth quarter.
The title of the latest episode, ‘Refuse to Lose’, is about a portion of the team’s mantra that appears throughout the series. After the hard-fought victory, Coach Flowers repeated the “refuse to lose” portion of the mantra a few extra times to emphasize the team’s grit in the win.
“I knew when I heard him repeat it about three extra times that it would be the title of the episode,” said series producer Wali Pitt. “That was the biggest win for Smith in the three years that I’ve been covering them, it was a signature win for the program and a signature episode for the series.”
The Golden Bulls have grabbed the attention of the HBCU football world with their 4-0 start to the 2024 season, and the brick x brick motto has become an integral part of the identity of the team. “like we always say, day by day, brick by brick, just gotta keep going, keep the momentum going,” said all-CIAA linebacker Benari Black during the postgame press conference after the win against VA Union. “But like I said, we’ll celebrate tonight but tomorrow, we’re right back at it,” the Charlotte, North Carolina native continued.
JCSU football hits the road to face Bluefield State on Sept 28, and production of Brick x Brick, HCU football’s Hard Knocks docuseries will continue the week of Oct 5 when the Golden Bulls host Virginia State University. Watch full episodes of ‘Brick x Brick SzN II with JCSU Football’ on the hbcugameday.com homepage, the Gameday app, and on the HBCU Gameday YouTube channel.
Brick x Brick SzN II