GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T had its chances offensively Saturday afternoon against the 24th-ranked William & Mary Tribe at Truist Stadium.
The Aggies entered the red zone three times and had the ball inside the Tribe's 35-yard-line on another occasion but only came away with seven points in a 45-7 loss to the Tribe in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play.
The Aggies, who made a move toward playing its future on Saturday, dropped to 1-8 overall and 0-5 in the CAA. A&T's youth movement included playing true freshman quarterback Braxton Thomas. But sophomore running Shimique Blizzard stood out among the youngsters by compiling a career-high 132 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.
Blizzard became the first Aggie to record a 100-yard rushing game since Wesley Graves had 106 against Winston-Salem State earlier this season on September 7. He is the third different Aggie to go over 100 yards rushing this season after Kenji Christian had 121 against Wake Forest on August 29.
"We have to find a way for our kids to keep fighting," said A&T head football coach Vincent Brown. "We had a lot of kids out there, and it was their first time playing. Some of their youth and experience showed up, but we had some kids who fought to the very end. I thought Shimique Blizzard played extremely well. He ran hard. He ran with authority. Our offensive line did a solid job of opening holes for him."
Despite Blizzard's exploits, the A&T had a difficult time stopping the Tribe's offense from moving the football throughout the afternoon. The Tribe totaled 489 yards of offense, including 213 yards on the ground. Quarterback Darius Wilson completed 16 of his 21 pass attempts for 242 yards and two touchdowns. Plus, the Tribe converted 70 percent (7-10) of its third downs.
"We had our moments. We had our opportunities," said Brown.
A&T's first moment came after W&M scored on its first drive of the game thanks to a 10-yard touchdown run by Wilson, who had 64 yards rushing on nine carries. A&T used a 34-yard run by Blizzard to move the ball to the Tribe 41. Three plays later, the Aggies had the ball 4th-and-1 from the Tribe 32 and handed the ball off to Blizzard.
The Tribe blew the play up immediately, throwing Blizzard down for a five-yard loss to take over on downs. A&T's offense stalled for the remainder of the first quarter, and the Tribe's did not. W&M took a 21-0 lead into the second quarter before the Aggies offense started to crank again. Another big run from Blizzard, this one for 20 yards, gave the Aggies the ball at the Tribe 43.
A nine-yard run by Blizzard and a 15-yard personal foul penalty on the Tribe gave the Aggies the ball at the W&M 14. However, on the next play from scrimmage, A&T quarterback Justin Fomby threw a quick pass to Laquan Veney, who then tried to toss to the end zone toward Anthony Rucker. Marcus Barnes intercepted Veney's pass, ending another scoring opportunity for A&T.
W&M added another score on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Malachi Imoh to give the Tribe a 28-0 lead. In an attempt to get points on the board before the half, the Aggies took over at their 25 and methodically moved the ball down the field, led by Blizzard, who had 25 yards receiving and 12 yards rushing on the drive.
A&T worked its way to the Tribe 4 and had it 1st-and-goal with nine seconds remaining in the first half. Fomby took the snap and rolled left but could not find an open receiver. He tried to extend the play but was sacked by Ty Gordon. A&T had no timeouts remaining in the half, therefore, the clock ran down without the Aggies getting any points from the drive.
"We talked before we went out on the field. We had time for two passes. If the first read isn't there, throw the ball away," Brown said as he described the play. "For whatever reason, he lost track of what the moment was."
After the Tribe opened the second half with another touchdown, the Aggies entered the red zone again, and this time, they put points on the board. Thomas led a 9-play, 71-yard drive that ended on a 4-yard TD run by Blizzard to cut the Tribe's lead to 35-7. But the Tribe added 10 more points and kept its playoff hopes alive by improving to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in league play.
It will not get easier for A&T. The Aggies will spend the next two weeks on the road as they travel to play nationally-ranked Villanova on November 9 before facing the Towson Tigers at Johnny Unitas Stadium on November 16.
"We need to get enough kids in our program who do the right things, not sometimes, all the time – classroom, community, weight room, meeting room, practice field. They are giving us all they've got. It's a great foundation to build on."
