Photos by Sahozhuo Cui | Special to The Roanoke Times

Johnson C. Smith's Lawyer Montgomery drops an interception attempt while guarding Virginia Union wide receiver Andre Winston.

Virginia Union's Raymond Loney pushes Johnson C. Smith defensive back Marquell Frost during the Panthers' 42-14 win.

Virginia Union and Johnson C. Smith football players spent part of Friday at Patrick Henry High School speaking to students about the importance of education.

"It's good for kids in this area to see aspiring young men," Virginia Union head coach Greg Richardson said. "If we can touch some kids by who we are and what we do, then we have done something good."

On Saturday, those same players met on the turf at Salem Stadium in the Western Virginia Education Classic. The purpose of the annual game is to raise money for TAP's Project Recovery, a program aimed at getting dropouts back in school.

What Virginia Union learned is that quarterback Lamar Little is running on ankles that are almost completely healed.

Little threw five touchdown passes and displayed his running ability at times to lead the Panthers to a 42-14 victory over Johnson C. Smith in a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association game.

Little, the reigning CIAA player of the year, said he told Richardson this week that the ankles he sprained earlier this season were healed enough to run the spread formations they installed this season to take advantage of the Panthers' offensive weapons. Little threw for 167 yards and ran for 49, and tailback Tarian Donaldson gained 204 yards on 21 carries. Phillip Taylor caught three passes for 59 yards, all of them touchdowns.

"He's almost back, and that's a comforting thing to know," Richardson said of Little. "We saw him do some things today that we know he can do."

Little and Taylor are seniors who have played together for four years, and it showed on two of their touchdowns. The scores covered 22 and 15 yards and both times Taylor was angling toward the post when Little threw it over Taylor's outside shoulder. Both times Taylor turned back toward the ball and caught it in stride.

"Whenever a play breaks down we know each other good enough so he just breaks off on another route," said Little, whose team is 3-1 and 1-0 in the CIAA.

Virginia Union was 9-3 last year and won the CIAA East Division before falling to Shaw in the CIAA title game. Richardson, in his first year as head coach, says he doesn't talk to the players about winning the league title.

"Right now some teams we're playing we have more personnel and deeper personnel so we are able to overpower them, but that's not what it's going to be as we go along and we have to prepare ourselves for that," Richardson said.

Johnson C. Smith senior quarterback Carlton Richardson moved his team well at times, but a blocked field goal, a missed field goal, an interception returned for a first down and some untimely penalties kept the Golden Bulls (1-3, 0-1) from keeping pace with the Panthers, who were ranked No. 24 in The Sporting News preseason top 25.

"This could've easily been a good game without those mental mistakes," Carlton Richardson said.

Most of those mistakes came in the first half as Virginia Union built a 21-7 lead, and Richardson said the first half has been his team's weak spot this season

The trip from Charlotte, N.C., was an educational one nonetheless for the Golden Bulls.

"It's always fun to go see some new places," Carlton Richardson said. "A lot of people on our team are from different places and have never seen mountains. To come out here and practice on this field, to see the mountains and to see the area is a good thing for our team. But we ultimately want to come up here and get the win."

Johnson C. Smith 0 7 7 0 -- 14

Virginia Union 21 0 7 14-- 42

First quarter

VUU -- Winston 12 pass from Little (Hernandez kick)

VUU -- Cox 16 interception return (Hernandez kick)

VUU -- Taylor 22 pass from Little (Hernandez kick)

Second quarter

JCSU -- Hall 1 run (Wright kick)

Third quarter

VUU -- Taylor 15 pass from Little (Hernandez kick)

JCSU -- Hall 1 run (Wright kick)

Fourth quarter

VUU -- Miller 28 pass from Little (Hernandez kick)

VUU -- Taylor 22 pass from Little (Hernandez kick)

JCSU VUU

First downs 16 24

Rushes-yards 30-150 37-288

Passing yards 154 167

Passing 14-27-1 10-17-0

Penalties-yards 9-45 11-85

Punts-avg. 3-45.7 0-0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1

Time of possession 29:50 30:10

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- JCSU, Hall 18-70, Richardson 10-56, Weems 2-24. VUU, Donaldson 21-204, Little 7-49, Smith 6-21, Hassell 2-17, Hickman 1-(minus 3).

PASSING -- JCSU, Richardson 12-24-1-84, Carter 2-3-0-70. VUU, Little 10-17-0-167.

RECEIVING -- JCSU, Franklin 4-47, Battle 3-73, Poole 3-19, Story 3-5, Shaw 1-10. VUU -- Miller 4-76, Taylor 3-59, Cunningham 2-20, Winston 1-12.