The Aggies set a new school record for most points scored in a football game as they
exterminated the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets 77-0.
After Marlowe Wood’s two-yard touchdown and a successful extra point by freshman kicker Zach Cimaglia, the Aggies passed the 76 point record set Oct. 12, 2011 when A&T defeated Howard 76-30 in Aggie Stadium.
The score would have been even higher had it not been for a flag thrown at the Aggie 42 as junior cornerback D’Vonte Graham returned a punt for 68 yards scrambling from one sideline to the other tight-roping and shuffling his way into the end zone.
It would have been the first touchdown of Graham’s collegiate career.
“When I thought I scored I was happy because it was my first home game back, and I wanted to make an impact on the game,” Graham said.
“I’ll make the next one count and score again next week.”
With quarterback Lewis Kindle and running back Ricky Lewis returning to the starting lineup after having sat out the 29-13 loss to Coastal Carolina, A&T managed to compile a total of 489 yards. Safety Travis Crosby and the A&T defense held the opposition to a mere 41 yards.
“It’s good to have all the guys that were missing the first week back,” head coach Rod Broadway said. “There’s a difference in our football team.”
Kindle completed 11 of 14 passes for 176 yards and two rushing touchdowns all in the first half.
The game was out of reach by halftime. A&T scored 42 points.
“It’s just one game…a bit of a mismatch. We were playing at one speed and they were playing at another speed,” Broadway said, referring to the Yellow Jackets being a Division II team.
The Yellow Jackets’ defense could not stop the running game of Lewis, Dominique Drake, and Mike Mayhew.
“We’re very fortunate to have three running backs of that caliber on the same football team,” Broadway said. “They definitely make each other better, and they have to work hard everyday to get their carries. All three of them bring something different to the table.”
Lewis was the game’s leading rusher with 14 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown, and Drake finished with nine carries for 62 yards along with three touchdowns.
In the first game of the season, Mayhew broke Stoney Polite’s (A&T running back from 1984-1987) school record for the most carries in a career. He is now just 41 yards shy of passing Maurice Hicks’s 2,812 yard record and becoming A&T’s all-time leading rusher.
“It would be a great accomplishment,” Mayhew said. “It’s about time somebody got to break it.”
He finished the game with 14 carries running 74 yards and scored two touchdowns.
The Aggies (1-1) will play their second home game against the Virginia University of Lynchburg Saturday at 6 p.m. where Mayhew could possibly make school history. Again.
With the negative attention about the team not being able to compete in the postseason due to the academic progress rate as well as losing offensive lineman Tony Sunkins, who suffered a broken leg in the first game of the season, the Aggies finally have something positive to lean on.
The VUL game will be A&T’s last game before they play Morgan State in Aggie Stadium, Sept. 27. That game will be televised on
ESPNU.
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- Karmen Robinson, managing editor
