NC A&T State Aggies Dominate NC Central Eagles 0-45
DURHAM, NC – The North Carolina Central University Eagles were shutout against the North Carolina A&T State University Aggies 0-45 in the 90th meeting between the teams on the gridiron.
To start the game, the Eagles and Aggies both punted on their first drives. The next Aggies offensive drive resulted in a four-yard touchdown pass from redshirt senior Aggies quarterback, Lamar Raynard, to junior wide receiver, Elijah Bell, with 7:01 left in the first quarter to spark the offensive showcase for the Aggies.
“Cleary they were the better team today,” Eagles head coach, Granville Eastman, said. “They at times imposed their will on us and dominated us from beginning to end.”
The Eagles offense couldn’t advance the chains today as they were 1-14 on third-down conversions. The inefficiency of the Eagles’ offense, along with great overall team defense by the Aggies, caused the Eagles’ offense to have negative 21 rushing yards and only 41 yards of total offense.
“Not one thing in particular,” Eagles redshirt junior quarterback, Naiil Ramadan, said when asked about the Aggies shutting down the Eagles’ run game. “…We didn’t execute when we were supposed to, left a lot of plays out there that should’ve been made by every position. It’s a team game, so when one person doesn’t do their job, it doesn’t work.”
The Aggies offense controlled the game through the air and on the ground. Raynard, went 16-23 passing for 257 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. Bell had 10 catches for 122 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. Redshirt senior running back, Marquell Cartwright, rushed 20 times for 114 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
“No, they didn’t catch us off-guard,” redshirt senior defensive back, Davanta Reynolds, said when asked about the Aggies’ balanced offensive attack. “Because if you watch film, they’re a balanced team, so they can run and pass. It’s like you have to pick your poison with them.”
Cartwright’s performance today pushed him over the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season. He is the fourth running back in Aggies history to rush for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons.
What’s Next
With today’s win, along with Florida A&M losing to Bethune-Cookman 19-33, The Aggies (9-2, MEAC 6-1) are the outright 2018 MEAC Conference Champions and clinched a bid to the 2018 Celebration Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia on December 15 against the winner of the SWAC Championship Game.
The Eagles (4-6, MEAC 2-4) will travel to Orangeburg, South Carolina to face South Carolina State University in their final game of the 2018 season.
“We got another game,” Ramadan said. “We still got something to play for, we’re playing for ourselves, so we want to have a good showing and really beat those guys.”