PEMBROKE – The 19^th-ranked UNC Pembroke football team nearly stormed all the way back from a 20-0 halftime deficit, but Winston-Salem State held off a last-drive rally by the Braves to preserve a 34-31 victory on Thursday afternoon in the season opener for both teams.
 
The setback snapped a 10-game home win streak for the Black & Gold (0-1) who had not tasted defeat at Grace P. Johnson Stadium since Nov. 8, 2014 against then-No. 18 Valdosta State. The victory broke a two-game series skid for the Rams (1-0) who had lost three of the last four matchups with UNCP heading into Thursday.
 
Redshirt freshman Dominick Samson threw for 209 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 27-of-40 passing in his collegiate debut to highlight the offensive effort for the Braves who out-scored their in-state rival by a 31-14 count in the second half. Senior JoJo Spann, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, caught four passes for a team-best 59 yards and a touchdown, while Winston-Salem State transfer E.J. Williams hauled in six receptions for 53 yards and a fourth quarter score for the hosts.
 
Tre'von Gibson tallied a team-best five solo stops, as well as a momentum-turning interception in the third quarter to lead the way for Code Black who limited the Rams to just 109 yards of total offense (all rushing) in the second half.
 
Kerrion Moore ran for 230 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries to carry most of the load for the Rams, while Canard Brown caught three passes for 125 yards and a key second quarter touchdown as well.
 
Winston-Salem State scored touchdowns on their first two drives of the contest and had racked up 20 points and 327 yards of total offense by the halftime break. Brown's 73-yard touchdown reception with two seconds left before intermission gave the visitors a 20-0 edge heading into the locker rooms.
 
Gibson's interception and ensuing 26-yard return on the opening drive of the third quarter set up a 4-yard touchdown reception by Spann two plays later, and the Black & Gold got to within a single score, 20-13, on a botched punt attempt by the Rams that resulted in a Jordan Howard fumble recovery in the end zone.
 
The Black & Gold made it a four-point game, 27-23, on Jo Leake's 18-yard scoring scamper with 6:03 left to play, but the Rams all but iced the game 16 seconds later when Moore galloped 59 yards for his third rushing touchdown of the game. UNCP made it a 34-31 contest on Samson's 6-yard pass to Williams with just less than three minutes to play, and took over possession at the Winston-Salem State 44-yard line with 21 seconds to play thanks to another special teams miscue by the visitors.
 
Samson found Williams, again, on a short 6-yard pass across the middle on the opening play of the final possession, but finished the outing with three-straight incomplete passes.
 
The Braves will hit the road next week when they head to northeast North Carolina to battle Elizabeth City State (0-0) at Roebuck Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. The Vikings will open their 2017 campaign on Saturday at Central State in Ohio.