STONY BROOK, NY – North Carolina A&T returned to that same fight that had them competitive in every Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Football Conference game before Towson came to the east side of Greensboro last week.
Unfortunately, the grit arrived two quarters too late. Like Towson before them, the Stony Brook University (SBU) Seawolves grew a comfortable lead at halftime before going on to defeat the Aggies 38-12 Saturday afternoon at LaValle Stadium.
The loss dropped the Aggies to 2-8 overall and 2-4 in conference play. Led by the quarterback play of Quin Boyd, the Seawolves ended a two-game losing streak to improve to 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the CAA. Boyd completed 37 of 48 passes for 380 yards and three touchdowns. He was 20-for-23 in the first half for 267 yards and three touchdowns. Those numbers helped the Seawolves score on their first five drives of the game.
But it was A&T who struck first. A&T starting quarterback Kevin White completed an impressive 13-yard pass on 3rd-and-6 to sophomore Jayvonne Dillard that he tiptoed on the SBU sideline to keep his feet inbound for the first down at the SBU 48-yard line. On a 2nd-and-12 from the SBU 37, White scrambled to his left for a 9-yard run that put the Aggies well within graduate kicker Andrew Brown's range.
After an incompletion on third down, Brown stepped on the field to boot a 45-yard field goal to give the Aggies a 3-0 lead nearly five minutes into the game. SBU took over from there and had a 31-3 lead with 3:40 remaining in the first half after scoring on those five consecutive drives.
However, the Aggies opened the game with a nice drive and closed the first half with another impressive drive. The drive included a beautiful throw and catch from White to junior wide receiver Elijah Kennedy. Kennedy went up and caught White's pass and laded at the SBU 23 for a 24-yard gain and a first down.
Later, Kennedy took a short pass from White and brought it to the SBU 10 for a 12-yard completion and a first-and-goal. A&T's drive stalled at the SBU 5, leading to a 22-yard field goal from Brown as the Aggies went into the half trailing 31-6.
A more inspired A&T defense emerged from the locker room. The Seawolves did open the second half with a 17-play, 49-yard drive, but kicker Michael Mannino missed a 49-yard field goal to end SBU's streak of consecutive scoring drives. Meanwhile, the Aggies would put together their second straight scoring drive after the missed kick.
White completed a 14-yard pass to junior Amonte Jones before going deep down the left sideline and finding an open Jones for a 39-yard completion to the SBU 17. One play later, White faked a handoff to junior running back Shimique Blizzard before finding an open Antoine Bell down the middle of the field for a 16-yard TD pass on play action. White finished 16-for-24 for 180 yards, the touchdown to Bell, and two interceptions.
A&T missed the extra point but did cut the Seawolves' lead to 31-12 with 5:10 remaining in the third quarter. A&T would not produce any more points, but the Aggies defense kept the Seawolves off the scoreboard until SBU running back Roland Dempster scored from one yard out with 2:11 remaining in the game.
The Aggies had some nice defensive performances, led by junior defensive tackle Marquis Hood, who had seven tackles, including six unassisted, with three sacks, three tackles for loss, and two pass breakups. They were all career highs for the Fort Valley State transfer.
Juniors Joshua Iseah and Cameren Dalrymple also had career highs in tackles, with Iseah posting 15 and Dalrymple adding 10. Junior Jonathan Kimbrough-Campell added 12 tackles. Unfortunately, the Aggies still have not found answers for their running game, compiling only 21 yards on the day. A&T played without its starting graduate running back, Wesley Graves.
The Aggies will play their home finale at Truist Stadium next week against nationally ranked Monmouth, which lost to New Hampshire on Saturday. Kickoff is at noon, and before the game, the Aggies will celebrate Senior Day.
