NC Central Dominates WSSU in Season-Opener

DURHAM, N.C. – The defending HBCU National Champions opened the 2023 season in style as the North Carolina Central University Eagles defeated Winston-Salem State 47-21 in O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium.

Starting the game with a hyped crowd from both sides, the Eagles special teams returned the opening kickoff to the Eagles 30-yard line. At first, running back, Latrell Collier was having trouble finding that rush but quarterback, Davius Richard continued to complete his throws to Andrew Smith for the first down.

Continuously running the ball Davius Richard was getting hammered up in throwing and took business into his own hands by rushing the ball down the field for five yards and then another 19 into ram territory, completing his run for 17 yards leading to a touchdown—first play of the game.

To wrap up the first quarter NC Central led 10-0. The defense came in and made sure that they stayed on the Ram’s offense assuring the ball did not travel down into opposing territory.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Winston-Salem started the first three drives but was unable to hold the Eagle’s Defense.

WSSU’s punter, Jobanni Esparza punted the ball into Eagle territory where Brandon Codrington returned it for an 81-yard touchdown.

“It was really when I cut back inside and I saw my teammates signal me to tell me to come to the field,” said Codrington

Going into halftime, the NC Central Eagles were up on the Rams 37-0.

The defense was able to hold down WSSU’s offense with a significant sack by linebacker, Jayden Flaker.

Opening up in the third quarter, an interception made by the Rams resulted in some stamina to build up as the ball was overturned.

The Eagles were not looking to let up on the Ram’s offense pushing them back 4 yards from what could have been a touchdown.

Moving into the fourth quarter, there was no battle to stay persistent in winning this game. Collier and Richard continue to have chemistry and work up to a touchdown in the first two drives as Winston-Salem continues to try to turn the game around with 14 minutes on the game clock.

Davius Richard finished the game throwing for 236 passing yards on 15 for 22 passing attempts, three touchdowns with one interception. While offense and defense ran this game in a win-win situation Collier ran for 72 rushing yards and a touchdown.

NCCU head coach Coach Trei Oliver emphasized how big next week’s game is as NC Central (1-0) will look to keep up their momentum as they travel the charts as they face their old MEAC rival, North Carolina A&T (0-1), on September 9th at the Truist Stadium at 7 p.m.