“They beat us in every phase — offense, defense, kicking game, every phase,” said coach Greg Richardson after a defeat that left the Blue Bears 1-3 and in eighth place in the nine-member league. Livingstone had won the previous two CIAA crowns.

Winston-Salem State, which has yet to allow a point to a league opponent, moved into a tie for first place with Virginia State at 3-0 in the standings. Virginia State downed Livingstone 17-0 the previous Saturday in Salisbury.

Virginia Union, a 24-6 winner over Livingstone in an earlier game, is third at 3-1, losing only to Winston-Salem.

Livingstone could win its final three league games and finish 4-3, but it’s not likely that the conference champion would lose more than two games. In fact, most CIAA observers expect the winner of the Winston-Salem State-Virginia State contest on Oct. 23 to go undefeated in the league.

That means Livingstone, which is 2-4 overall, must take aim on a winning season of 7-4 or at least 6-5. The Bears take on big rival Johnson C. Smith next Saturday in Charlotte. That game counts in the league standings for J.C. Smith, but not for the Bears.

Livingstone’s other games are against Winston-Salem State in Wilmington on Oct. 23, against N.C. Central in Durham on Oct. 30, against non-conference foe Albany State at home on Nov. 6, and vs. Fayetteville State in Greensboro on Nov. 13.

“Right now, we need to shoot for a good record. It’s pretty much settled that we’re not going to win the CIAA, so we’ve just got to shoot for a pretty good record, which would be 7-4,” said quarterback D’Andre Hopper.

Despite the lopsided score, Livingstone almost matched the Rams statistically, accumulating 215 total yards to 226 for the winners. However, the Rams held Hopper, the league’s total offense leader, to 98 total yards. The junior from Shelby also lost a fumble and had two passes intercepted.

Those three turnovers plus an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown by Winston-Salem’s Anthony Hines, made up for the fairly even statistics.

Livingstone became the third straight shutout victim of the Rams, who had blanked Virginia Union and Fayetteville State the previous two weeks. The Rams, who have outscored their league foes a combined 95-0, have held their opponents scoreless for 13 straight quarters, dating back to the last period of the 1998 season.

“They’re fast,” said Hopper, who played as a freshman at Winston-Salem before sitting out the next two seasons. “I don’t think the defense is good, because if it was that good, we wouldn’t be able to move the ball on them like we did. We got in great situations to where we just couldn’t capitalize off of them. ... They just had a lot of speed.”

Hopper, being a former Ram, added, “Now that we’re not going to win the CIAA, if I had my choice, I’d want Winston-Salem State.”

Offensive standouts for the Rams yesterday were quarterback Tory Woodbury, who accounted for 119 yards, most of it on 5-for-8 passing for 105 yards, and running back Terrie Newkirk, who had 74 yards rushing in 21 carries and scored touchdowns on runs of 21, 3 and 7 yards.

Livingstone’s 1998 CIAA defensive player of the year, linebacker Ronnie Washburn, thought back to Livingstone’s 38-33 victory over the Rams on the road last year and said of the Winston-Salem offense:

“I don’t understand how they’ve scored their points this year. They were a lot better last year than they are now,” said Washburn.

“The offensive line was not good. I guess we were pinned down a lot of times ... so they just kind of punched the ball in. We had our backs against the wall a lot of times,” he added.

One of the game’s defensive standouts, linebacker Carnell Brown, gave the Rams excellent field position early in the game when he recovered a Hopper fumble at the Livingstone 21. Newkirk struck for the game’s first touchdown on the next play.

Then, with the Rams leading 10-0 early in the second quarter, 248-pound defensive end Robert Mackey picked off a Hopper pass and ran it back 76 yards before being caught from behind by Livingstone running back Carlton Jones, the intended receiver, at the Bears’ 3.

Newkirk scored his second TD on the next play, and it was 17-0.

Another interception just three plays later by Rams defensive back Willie Crite plus a 22-yard return set up the second field goal of the evening by Shawn Thomas for a 20-0 lead.

The Rams put together their only real TD drive of 80 yards in eight plays before halftime. A 51-yard pass from Woodbury to Hines eventually led to Newkirk’s final TD run of 7 yards. It was 27-0 at halftime.