Last year the Aggies drove the ball into the Eagles’ red zone. In the final minutes, Herb Miller snagged a game ending interception. On Saturday, Oct. 4th, junior college transfer Carlton Fears could not advance the ball on the Aggies’ final possession giving N.C. Central (1-5) their first win of the season in a 28-27 rivalry upset.

This was the third consecutive victory in three straight seasons for N.C. Central over the blue and gold, and is something that has not occurred between the two teams since A&T (2-4) achieved it from 1991-94 in their 80 meetings.

N.C. Central received to start the game and did not hesitate for a second, jumping all over A&T earning an early 21 point lead within the first 21 minutes.

The third touchdown seemed to have awakened the blue and gold when freshman Quay Long returned a kickoff to the Eagles 5-yard line on a 75-yard return.

This resulted in Eric Houston’s 22-yard field goal after senior Eugene Parnell dropped a Fears pass in the end zone on third down.

A&T then forced another 3 and out on N.C. Central’s next offensive possession, and was able to gain another field goal from Houston just before the half ended to cut the lead to 21-6 just before halftime.

“They played competitively in the first half and we didn’t,” said N.C. A&T head coach Lee Fobbs after the game. When the second half began, it appeared the Aggie offense was still not awake as they fumbled on their very first drive in their own territory.

N.C. Central could not take advantage of the field position saving the Aggies from making it a commanding 3- possession game. Still in an offensive struggle the Aggies once again found themselves in another punting situation. A&T elected to run a fake punt play that resulted into a 50-yard touchdown pass from punter Lee Woodson to junior Nate Clement.  “They had practiced that play all year and the kids had been asking for it,” said assistant coach Kenneth Ray. The Aggies eventually turned to walk-on running back Nigel Tomlin who immediately revamped the offense on the ground.

Tomlin finished with career high 13 rushes for 110 yards and reached the end zone twice for the Aggies on their final two scoring possessions.

He scored with 9:56 remaining in the regulation on a 25-yard run that brought the Aggies within a two point conversion at 28-26.

 Fobbs decided to kick the extra point rather than tying the game.”We had the discussion before scoring the touchdown and felt like we were playing pretty decent defense,” said Fobbs.

The decision ultimately backfired on the blue and gold when they failed to reach N.C. Central territory for the remainder of the game on their final three offensive drives, despite their defensive effort.Senior linebacker Brandon Long led the defense with 14 tackles with 4 ½ for losses.

     The Aggie football team will attempt to win its first homecoming game since 2004 this Saturday hosting Morgan State at Aggie Stadium.

• Daniel Henderson