Winston-Salem St. QB tells of beating

Virginia State and Winston-Salem State have drastically varying versions of a fight that left the WSSU quarterback beaten in a bathroom.

The only thing clear is that Winston-Salem State quarterback Rudy Johnson was injured during a fight at a luncheon the day before last week's scheduled CIAA championship game and a Virginia State player was arrested.

VSU coach Latrell Scott said there was a "rush to judgment" and that one player "made a bad decision."

A few hours later in Winston-Salem, N.C., WSSU Chancellor Donald Reaves called for further sanctions against Virginia State and declared his school "damaged" by the fight.

The CIAA, which opted to cancel its championship game, also declared Virginia State ineligible for postseason play.

Johnson appeared with sunglasses at a WSSU news conference Monday, concealing cuts above and below his blackened right eye.

The quarterback said he was punched, stomped and kicked by as many as six Virginia State players during the fight that also left him with a headache, a sore back and sore ribs.

"I acknowledge that we had one young man who made a bad decision, as young men sometimes do," Scott said Monday morning during an often-contentious news conference held at his school and attended by many team members and some frustrated parents.

Citing the ongoing investigations, VSU officials declined to comment on what precipitated the fight. Johnson, however, provided details.

He said when he entered the bathroom, the Virginia State players asked if he was the Rams' starting quarterback and as he washed his hands, "somebody hit me on my blind side."

He said he felt "four or five feet stomping on me and kicking me" and the Virginia State players fled when two other Winston-Salem State players emerged from their bathroom stalls.

The QB said he has not hired an attorney, has not decided whether to bring charges but declared that, "I'm positive I'll play Saturday."

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