Loss doesn’t ruin Central State’s return
The questions were back, and Bobby Rome II was all too happy to answer them.
It was Saturday afternoon inside the home locker room at Ohio Stadium, and the Central State football coach was gearing up for his first game with the program after being hired in February 2020. The Marauders were preparing to face rival Kentucky State in the inaugural Classic for Columbus, an event pitting two Historically Black Colleges and Universities programs against each other, and the lack of game experience was felt during the final hours and moments leading up to kickoff.
“Doing the little things before the game, all the questions that's being asked prior to the game, it makes you say, ‘OK, I'm back in the locker room, it's gotta be game day,' ” Rome said. “Everyone's asking me crazy questions: ‘Coach, where's the (athletic) tape?' ”
Those questions would have easy answers. The final result of the game, a 20-6 Kentucky State win, will finally allow Rome and his coaching staff to seek answers to the issues actual game film will allow them to dissect.
After a 658-day layoff, Central State was finally back in action. That in itself was worth celebrating, and the trials of the last two years hit home during Friday's first trip to the stadium.
“It was very emotional when we first walked in here,” senior tight end Robert Corbin said. “It was a shocking moment. It was breathtaking. Guys were crying
on the sideline.”
Rome's journey to Ohio Stadium took him across the globe. A North Carolina product, he spent time with three different NFL teams before playing for the Moscow Patriots in Russia and remained in the country as a coach and American sport ambassador for the game before returning to the United
States. Before being hired by the Marauders, he spent two seasons as the coach for University of Virginia-lynchburg, where he snapped a 44-game losing streak in his first game.
“I took a moment before the game to say, ‘I can't believe I'm about to walk into this stadium (for our team) to play,' ” Rome said. “I just thought it was nothing short of a blessing.”
With a roster featuring roughly 50 newcomers, primarily freshmen, and upperclassmen who mostly didn't have a 2020 season, the game play was occasionally a little rough.
Still, the Marauders had a shot at the win. Trailing 13-6 in the fourth quarter, Central State forced a punt and took over on its own 14-yard line with 8:21 to play. The Marauders went three-andout, and the Thorobreds put the game away when running back Kendon Walker burst through the right side of the line for a 39-yard touchdown run.
“Guys were getting banged up, cramping up left and right,” said Corbin, a Cincinnati native making his first appearance in Ohio Stadium. “We weren't used to it. We're just getting back to the motions. A lot of guys were saying, 'I can't believe we're really playing.' ” ajardy@dispatch.com @Adamjardy