DURHAM - The history books will show that on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010, the N.C. Central Eagles defeated the N.C. A&T Aggies 27-16 in front of a sellout crowd of 15,173 at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium.
But in reality, it was the Aggies who defeated the Aggies. N.C. A&T turned the ball over a season-high seven times, including three times in the first 12 ½ minutes of the game. All three of those turnovers led to Eagle touchdowns as the Aggies found themselves down 21-0 before the end of the first quarter.
"There is no doubt that penalties and turnovers hurt us all night,'' said head coach Alonzo Lee, who saw his team lose five fumbles. "They don't score those points if we don't turn the ball over. When those things happen, this is result you get."
Once the Aggies gathered themselves from the gruesome start, they put together their best offensive performance of the season. Junior running back Mike Mayhew rushed for a career-high 183 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. It was the Aggies best rushing performance since Maurice Hicks ran for 183 yards against Morgan State on Oct. 7, 2000.
The Aggies defense slowed the Eagles production after the first quarter as well. But turnovers coupled and penalties (10 penalties, 120 yards) never went away.
Despite the miscues, the Aggies cut the lead down to eight before halftime thanks to Mayhew's elusiveness. After two pass interference penalties led to a 32-yard field goal by Aggies kicker Sullivan Shidler, a Mayhew 15-yard run, a 24-yard completion from Shelton Morgan to Wallace Miles and tenacious 13-yard run by Dominique Drake set up Mayhew for a 6-yard touchdown with 7:46 remaining in the first half.
Shidler's extra point was blocked and returned by Malik Cromartie. But the Aggies avoided giving up the 2-point return as Jeremy Graham caught Cromartie from behind to keep the score at 21-9.
An 8-play, 42-yard drive resulted in the Eagles adding on a field goal to which the Aggies answered with a familiar face to Greensboro residents. Ricky Lewis, a local high school hero during his days at Greensboro Dudley, scored his first collegiate touchdown as he lined up at quarterback and ran in from 11-yards out to pull the Aggies to within eight at 24-16.
Another penalty prevented the Aggies from going into the locker room with that score, however. An unsportsmanlike penalty on the ensuing kickoff gave the Eagles the ball in Aggies territory. N.C. Central's Frankie Cardelle took advantage by kicking a 41-yard field goal to give the Eagles a 27-16 lead at the half.
But not even halftime solved the Aggies turnover issues. The Aggies defense held the Eagles to 53 yards of offense in the second half, but an Aggies rally was made impossible by the fact that on four of their six second-half possessions, they surrendered the ball to N.C. Central.
"We moved the ball,'' said Lee. " I thought we played great defense, but we have to get the point where we are not beating ourselves. They played on our side of the field the entire first quarter because we gave them the ball there. That's what has been frustrating about this first four weeks. We put ourselves in a position to win, and then we self-destruct."
The Aggies dropped to 0-4 on the season, while the Eagles improved to 2-2. N.C. A&T's next game will be played in Indianapolis as the Aggies and Tennessee State will compete against one another in the Circle City Classic played at Lucas Oil Stadium at 4 p.m.
It could be a much-anticipated trip considering the Aggies are 3-0 in the classic.
