CHARLOTTE – The 2000 football season came to a sweet and sour end for the Aggie football team. The sweet part is that they rolled past S.C. State by a score of 66-14 to improve their record to 8-3 overall. The sour part is that the selection committee left them out of the playoff bracket. The Aggies will not make a return trip to the postseason this year despite wins over Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M. They did not only beat these teams, they beat them handily as BCC took a 30-19 loss and FAMU took a 30-10 defeat. The Aggies then trounced the Bulldogs of S.C. State in a game that was over nearly halfway through the first quarter. The most astonishing stat was Hicks’ numbers in the game and the first quarter. Hicks rushed only eight times for 141 yards and four touchdowns in the first quarter to put A&T up 28-0 after one quarter. Hicks was nowhere near done as he finished with a school and MEAC record 353 yards and six touchdowns to lead the Aggies to the 66-14 win. “I am proud of the way my team played,” said Coach Bill Hayes. “We jumped on them from the start and kept the heat on.” S.C. State seemed to be in a state of shock after the first quarter as the Aggie offense lit up the score board. The Bulldog could not stop the Aggies as they piled up over 500 yards of offense and controlled the ball. The defense played very well as they forced the Bulldogs into many mistakes. “We ran the ball very well from the start,” stated Keith Matkins, the quarterback. “Once we got them, we never looked back.” The Aggies offensive line did a great job as they’ve done all season long to help lead the MEAC’s number one rushing attack.