Bethune-Cookman brings back true spring football game; Gold beats Maroon (2025)

DAYTONA BEACH — Raymond Woodie Jr. thought back to two springs ago.

He gave an example of the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats’ growth in the two years since he took over as head football coach.

“Starting out with seven offensive linemen to now 18, that's a big deal,” Woodie said. “We're excited about where we're at.”

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Saturday represented the latest step for the program: the return of its annual Maroon and Gold spring game.

Yes, B-CU had a “spring game” in 2023 and 2024. But they weren’t real games. In Year 1, the Wildcats didn’t have enough offensive linemen for a true contest.

So they held glorified practices, designating the offense as one team and the defense as the other, and ran through a bunch of drills. Goal-line plays. Two-minute scenarios. Special teams reps.

It made sense at that time.

But this year, Woodie and Co. brought the game back.

“Obviously, you're either getting better or you're getting worse,” Woodie said. “We want to do things a little different every year ... We, as a staff, split the teams up to make it more exciting. I just thought the last two were more controlled. This one was like a game with realistic situations.”

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Which he liked.

“We're going to be tough on them,” Woodie said. “We're going to put them in adverse situations. Obviously, we have to clean up on some of the self-inflicted things. But it's always good to be in game-like situations.”

New offensive coordinator Donte’ Pimpleton, who spent the previous two years as co-OC with Joe Gerbino before the latter’s departure last winter, served as the head coach of the maroon team. Co-defensive coordinator Otis Mounds led the gold squad.

Gold won 20-10.

Maroon jumped out to a 10-3 lead with a 7-yard touchdown scramble by Cam Ransom, the Wildcats’ starting quarterback last year.

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But Gold pitched a shutout the rest of the way, helped by second-half interceptions by Naim Lassiter and Gabe White.

Gold also rattled off two touchdown drives led by QB Timmy McClain. McClain played at South Florida, UCF and Arkansas State before transferring to Bethune-Cookman this offseason.

In the second quarter, McClain launched a deep ball to Corey Turner, who made a finger-tip catch and sprinted for a 65-yard touchdown. Woodie listed Turner as one of the day’s standouts.

In the third quarter, Gold struck for a 2-yard rushing TD to crystallize the final score. The scoreless fourth quarter featured a running clock.

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In Pimpleton’s system, both quarterbacks pushed the ball down the field more than the Wildcats did last season. Woodie said Ransom and McClain will battle for the starting job into fall camp.

“They're going to have to keep working and keep making each other better,” Woodie said. “That person will have to step up. It will be obvious. Right now, they're feeding off of each other.”

The resolution will have to wait a little while, though.

Saturday marked the end of spring ball. Bethune-Cookman won’t hit the field for organized practices until fall camp kicks off in three months. The regular season commences at Florida International on Aug. 29.

Woodie said he wishes he had more than 15 spring sessions with this team. But he felt excited about where the Wildcats reside.

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Especially in game-like conditions.

“Just to see the guys go out and execute the things we've taught throughout the spring,” Woodie said. “Obviously got to look at the film, but I thought we made a step in the right direction.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Bethune-Cookman Wildcats football: Maroon and Gold spring game returns