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D2 Football: Wingate hosting JCSU, Winston-Salem State playing spring game on Saturday

NCAA provision will allow intriguing spring match-up between South Atlantic champs and CIAA front-runner

Johnson C. Smith will play at Wingate in a D2 football scrimmage April 5, 2025
Johnson C. Smith will visit Wingate on Saturday for a spring scrimmage.

A unique NCAA provision will allow a pair of the top Division II football programs in our state to face each other this weekend as part of their spring practices. Wingate, which won the South Atlantic Conference championship in 2024, will host CIAA power Johnson C. Smith on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Irwin Belk Stadium.

Wingate also has a separate spring game planned for next Friday, April 11 at 7 p.m. Johnson C. Smith’s official spring game also will be next Friday at 6 p.m.

The NCAA put a provision in place in 2023 that opened the door for the intriguing Wingate vs. JCSU spring match-up. It allows D2 schools to use one of their three permissible 11-on-11 scrimmage sessions to compete against another school. 

Wingate went 9-2 a year ago, defeating Carson-Newman in the SAC title game. The Bulldogs lost to CIAA champion Virginia Union in the D2 playoffs. 

Johnson C. Smith started last season 8-0, including a win over Virginia Union in September. The Golden Bulls, though, dropped their final two games to Fayetteville State and Livingstone. Those defeats kept JCSU out of the post-season, where a meeting with Wingate might have been in the cards.

Winston-Salem State also will play a spring game this Saturday. The Rams culminate spring drills with their annual intrasquad game at 1 p.m. at Carver High School. 

Attendance is free. There will be food vendors as well as Winston-Salem State’s powerhouse marching band, the Red Sea of Sound. 

WSSU went 7-3 last season, pushing FCS rival North Carolina A&T to overtime and beating long-time nemesis Fayetteville State in the season finale. 

“It’s that time of year, football is in the air, and everyone is excited,” head coach Robert Massey said earlier in the spring. “We have about 100 kids out here participating and our goal is to get better as we begin our quest to win the CIAA championship.”


🗓️ Spring games and fall schedules

We’re still waiting on several Division II football schedules for 2025 to be released, including Winston-Salem State’s. Wingate and Johnson C. Smith recently unveiled their schedules:

Click here to see the Wingate Bulldogs’ full 2025 slate.
And click here to see Johnson C. Smith’s 2025 schedule.

To see who else is playing spring games this month around North Carolina, visit our spring game schedule page.

Did you know North Carolina has 34 (!) college football programs that play at six different levels, from FBS to NAIA and junior college. Learn more about football in the Old North State and find links to your favorite teams here.

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