NC A&T Aggies Go Down To NCCU Eagles In Annual Classic

By: Taren Vaughan

Other than their homecoming festivities, the Aggies of North Carolina A&T State University always look forward to one thing: beating the Eagles of North Carolina Central University in an always heated match up on the gridiron. Many years ago, and I do mean many, the level of competitiveness has been major between these two football squads, with A&T being the dominate force for extended periods of time. Oh but how things change. With neither team having an outstanding season thus far, no one could truly predict who would come out on top this time. All we did know was that someone has to win. And let’s just say the ones wearing blue and gold were not happy with Saturday night’s outcome.

This was the first time the Classic has been held at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium since the early ‘90’s. And it was packed to the brim. One side was filled with thousands of screaming students and die hard Eagle fans. Meanwhile across the field, Aggie Pride was virtually dead as alumni and students watched their team go down to one of their biggest football rivals of all time.

Was it really that Central played that good? Or was the way the Aggies played just that terrible?

Well considering the infinite amount of careless turnovers, it’s safe to say that A&T played bad. And at one point, it almost looked like they were not going to score a single touchdown. The Aggies were however able to get on the scoreboard and appeared to making a comeback. But the dreaded penalties overshadowed any positive moves that they made out on the field. Personal fouls led to a number of penalties against A&T, giving the Eagles free yardage several times throughout the game. Not a good performance at all from Coach Alonzo Lee’s team. He even gave his own comments on how “well” his team played:

“Just stupid penalties,” “Uncalled for penalties. We stop them a couple times on third down, but then take a crazy penalty. That really hurts.”

This 27-16 loss to Central adds to the Aggies’ losing streak, with their record now being 0-4. At this rate, the Aggies may be staring down the barrel of a winless season. They will next face Tennessee State for the Circle City Classic. Maybe this Classic’s outcome will be a little different.