The North Carolina A&T football team was unable to keep their winning streak going for interim head coach George Ragsdale Saturday after falling short to Bethune- Cookman College Saturday in Daytona Beach, Florida.

In their final road game of the season, the Aggies (3-7, 1-6) were without one of their starting quarterbacks.

This proved to be a detriment in their passing game after totaling only 60 yards in the air.Bethune Cookman’s offense dominated A&T in time of possession while running 22 more plays.

“We had too many series where we went three-and-out,” said Ragsdale. “They had some drives that they were able to sustain. We have to make up that difference.

Overall, I was pleased with the way the guys played. “We just need to control the football.”

Although the defense was able to hold the Wildcats under there opponent average in points, the Aggies did not have an answer for their running attack.Bethune-Cookman gained 207 total yards on the ground with quarterback McKinnsey Souverain compiling 120 alone.

This was almost more than the total rushing offense for the Aggies who only gained 139 yards running the ball. “We had a few problems with our offense.

“It seems like when we started moving the ball, something crazy would keep us from moving it. I thought that stifled us a little bit.”

Junior Nigel Tomlin’s 2-yard run gave A&T an early 7-0 lead late in the first quarter. This seemingly did not phase the Wildcats after going on a 17-0 run in the next two periods.

The blue and gold eventually closed the gap to within 3 on an Herb Miller 2-yard touchdown pass to Miles Wallace at the 6:00 mark in the third quarter.But the momentum would only last for a moment when Bethune-Cookman answered back with a 6-play 51 yard drive at the start of the fourth quarter.This gave the Wildcats a 24-14 advantage and eventually the ball game when A&T never got back to the end zone.

“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys,” said Ragsdale. “Our defense was up against it all night, but we’re in great shape.” A&T’s defense forced two turnovers and held the Wildcats quarterbacks to 156 combined passing yards.

Linebacker Jamison Hedgepeth led all Aggie players in tackles with 12.The blue and gold now have 3 remaining games on their schedule, all which will be hosted at Aggie Stadium.They will host Florida A&M this Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

• Daniel Henderson