WINSTON-SALEM, NC — Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) bounced back from a stifling defeat in a big way on Saturday against Shaw University in a big HBCU football matchup.
WSSU led the game from wire to wire, getting a big day by sophomore quarterback Daylin Lee to come away with a 34-14 win over Shaw.
Lee accounted for four touchdowns on the day, two on the ground and two in the air as he bounced back from a tough day at Virginia Union the week prior. WSSU head coach Robert Massey praised his young signal caller for his ability to get back on track.
“Daylin’s a smart young man. He understands the job. He understands the business. He’s resilient,” Massey said. “And that’s what you need at that position. He can spin it, he can run it when he need to run it. But more importantly, he’s a real good leader. So that’s important for us.”
WSSU accumulated 513 yards of total offense on Saturday, with 244 of it coming via Lee’s arm and another 269 on the ground. Trevon Hester led the rushing attack with 181 yards and one touchdown. Those totals include a 70 yard run to put the final points on the board.
The Rams started hot on their opening drive, going 95 yards in 12 plays to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a one-yard plunge by Lee. Shaw would respond with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Christian Peters to Ka’Trez Bracey, but the PAT would be blocked. Lee found Christian MacDonald for a 16 yard touchdown strike with 53 seconds remaining in the half, but that PAT would be blocked as well.
WSSU scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to take control of the game. The final points would come on Hester’s long touchdown run, which was set up by a clutch interception by Justin Fleming that took a badly needed score from the visitors.
The win improved WSSU’s record to 5-2, 3-1 in CIAA play. The win total is the best for the long-time powerhouse HBCU since Massey took over the program on an interim basis back in 2019. It will next face a Livingstone College program that has an identical record and beat it on its home field last season. Fleming, who is tied for the CIAA lead in interceptions with three, is a graduate student who says the team will be looking to make amends for last season’s loss to its closest rival.
“It’s very big. We gotta get our payback for everybody that beat us last year — we want to eventually get our getback from everybody,” Fleming said. “It’s very important — like I said — to get to where we want to be at the end of the season, and that’s to get the championship.”