The N.C. A&T Aggies (3-0, 1-0) will play the S.C. State Bulldogs (3-2, 1-0) in the 25th Atlanta Football Classic at the Georgia Dome on Saturday.
The matchup will be A&T’s first appearance in the Atlanta Football Classic.
A&T is coming off of a 27-19 victory over the Howard Bison (1-3, 0-1) last Thursday.
In the first half, A&T moved the ball up and down the field offensively, and was able to hold Howard to multiple three and outs defensively.
“A win is a win. We’re 3-0. The bottom line is you play to win the game,” said Rod Broadway, the football program’s head coach.
The performance of junior wide receiver Desmond Lawrence helped the Aggies get out to a 27-10 lead in the first half.
Lawrence finished the game with four receptions for 48 yards. He also added a 38-yard rushing touchdown on a trick-misdirection play in the second quarter.
“That’s a big win for us because it was the first conference game and we wanted to make sure we started out on top. Hopefully, this will give us some momentum coming into the rest of the conference,” said Lawrence.
On the ground, A&T continued to call the numbers of senior running back Dominique Drake and freshman Tarik Cohen.
Drake finished with 41 yards off of 14 carries and Cohen finished with 48 yards on six carries.
In his second start of the season, quarterback Lewis Kindle had a strong showing against Howard going 14 of 22 for 140 yards and a touchdown.
His only touchdown pass came early in the game when he found senior tight end Devin Moore out of the backfield for four yards.
Seniors, D’vonte Grant [Linebacker] and Travis Crosby [Safety] led the Aggies’ defensive unit in tackles.
Grant tallied 12 tackles, three of which were behind the line of scrimmage, and came up with a blocked field goal in the fourth quarter.
Crosby had ten tackles.
The play of A&T’s hard nose defensive back unit was significant in Thursday’s victory.
Senior cornerbacks, Ayodeji Olatoye and D’vonte Graham made several big plays.
Olatoye finished with a pass breakup and six tackles, while Graham finished with a tackle, an interception, and two pass-breakups.
Up front, sophomore defensive lineman Daniel Pinnix added two more sacks to his resume, bringing his season total to five.
In the second half, the Aggies’ offense stalled, scoring no points.
It will be important for the Aggies to flourish both offensively and defensively throughout the entire game on Saturday.
The Bulldogs’ sophomore running back, Dondre Freeman-Lewis played well rushing for a total of 140 yards on 18 carries against Hampton last week.
The Bulldogs leading rusher is freshman Dondre Brown who has 266 yards from 58 carries.
S.C. State senior quarterback, Richard Cue finished with 183 yards and an interception while completing 16 of 27 passes versus Hampton.
Cue has made it a habit to find senior receiver Tyler McDonald this season. McDonald is currently averaging over 31 yards per catch and has found the end zone 4 times this season.
Defensive end Andrew Carter salvaged 3.5 sacks and 8 tackles against Hampton, bringing his sack total to 7.5 for the season.
Against Hampton, linebacker Joe Thomas added nine tackles and an interception.
The Bulldogs are 3-0, defeating opponents by a total score of 121-12.
S.C. State has defeated Alabama A&M 32-0 and Benedict College 59-6 this season.
In the last meeting between A&T and S.C. State, A&T emerged victorious.
In the 2013 Atlanta Football Classic, a trophy will be on the line. Tune in to find out who wants the hardware more this weekend in Atlanta at 3:30 p.m.
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- Kalyn Hoyle, Managing Editor