By MIKE POTTER, The Herald-Sun
N.C. Central broke one of its worst football curses on Saturday night.
But it certainly wasn't easy, and it wasn't over until all zeros appeared on the clock.
Stadford Brown's 21-yard touchdown pass to Wayne Blackwell early in the third quarter provided the only points of the game as the Eagles blanked St. Augustine's 6-0 at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium.
It was the Eagles' second straight shutout, following a 17-0 victory over Fayetteville State six days earlier. The blanking marked the first time in 11 years the Eagles had back-to-back shutouts.
And oddly enough, it was NCCU's first win over the Falcons in Durham since 1964. A 35-year hiatus in the St. Aug football program was a big factor in that, but the Falcons had scored upsets on their past two visits here including a 22-8 homecoming spoiler two seasons ago. That 2005 loss to the Falcons was NCCU's last regular-season defeat at home.
The result wasn't safe until the last play of the contest, when Donald Laster corralled a scrambling Falcons quarterback Kevin Williams at the NCCU 12 after Williams had gained 16 yards.
"To be honest, on their last drive I was thinking about all the mistakes we had made when we had a chance to put the ball game away," said NCCU coach Mose Rison, whose team improved to 2-1 on the season while the Falcons fell to 0-2. "We had a missed field goal and a blocked field goal and a fumble on their 5-yard line after a turnover.
"St. Aug is a tough football team, and they played hard all night. But I can't say enough about the defense, defensive coordinator John Morgan and the staff -- they were the reason we won the football game."
The Falcons finished with 226 yards to NCCU's 148. Arnold Mullins rushed for 77 yards for the visitors, Tim Lovick caught three passes for 75 yards and three quarterbacks combined to complete 12 of 28 for 125 yards with one Craig Amos interception.
"It went down to the wire, that's for sure," said Amos, who continues to be a big-play man for the Eagles' defense. "At the end, we were all just saying, 'Don't let the big play happen!' Our defense can still get better and we know the offense can get better, too."
The Eagles had one first down and zero yards total offense in the first half, while St. Aug's had six first downs and 136 yards.
"Our defense played well, and overall we just played good enough to win," Falcons coach Mike Costa said. "We just made too many mistakes on offense. Central has a very good defense, but we just had too many mistakes."
The only serious threat before halftime came on the second play of the second quarter, when a 38-yard field-goal attempt by the Falcons' Adison Daniels' was wide right.
NCCU started with great field position on its second possession of the second half, as Brandon Alston returned a punt 10 yards to the Falcons' 25. Three plays later Brown found Blackwell down the right sideline from 21 yards out, and after a bad snap on the conversion attempt the Eagles led 6-0 with 10:08 left in the quarter.
"We just made too many mistakes and kept them in the ball game," said Brown, who completed 8 of 23 passes for 123 yards and was sacked four times. "They gave our line more trouble than they had all year. I made too many mistakes when we had the chance to put the game away. But we've just got to keep getting better."
The Eagles had a chance for some breathing room with 10:22 left in the game when Taylor Gray set up for a 36-yard field goal, but the Falcons' Alex Hall blocked the attempt. And again at 5:16, when Gray's 41-yard try was wide left. And again with 4:04 left, when they took over on the Falcons' 10 following a bad snap on a punt but Brown and Tim Shankle lost the ball on the exchange on the very next play.
"On their last drive everybody was just saying, 'Make a play!'" said defensive end Xavier Joe, who was in on seven tackles including three for losses with two sacks, two hurries and a breakup. "We're playing hard on defense. We're just good. And the offense got the touchdown we needed to win the game."
NOTES -- N.C. Central senior kicker Brandon Gilbert's injury will keep him out for the rest of the season, the school has announced. Also out for the year is senior running back Jeff Toliver. Gilbert, the school's all-time scoring leader with 234 points who gave the Eagles the winning points in the CIAA championship games each of the past two seasons, has a torn quadriceps muscle in his left (kicking) leg. Toliver, who was one of the Eagles' four captains and their rushing leader this season with 92 yards, has a torn ligament in his right foot. Both players will seek medical redshirts to complete their playing careers in 2008. ... NCCU leads the all-time series 26-2-1. ... The Eagles take on Elizabeth City State on Saturday in the Whitney Young Classic in East Rutherford, N.J. ... St. Aug's travels to Carson-Newman on Saturday.
N.C. Central broke one of its worst football curses on Saturday night.
But it certainly wasn't easy, and it wasn't over until all zeros appeared on the clock.
Stadford Brown's 21-yard touchdown pass to Wayne Blackwell early in the third quarter provided the only points of the game as the Eagles blanked St. Augustine's 6-0 at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium.
It was the Eagles' second straight shutout, following a 17-0 victory over Fayetteville State six days earlier. The blanking marked the first time in 11 years the Eagles had back-to-back shutouts.
And oddly enough, it was NCCU's first win over the Falcons in Durham since 1964. A 35-year hiatus in the St. Aug football program was a big factor in that, but the Falcons had scored upsets on their past two visits here including a 22-8 homecoming spoiler two seasons ago. That 2005 loss to the Falcons was NCCU's last regular-season defeat at home.
The result wasn't safe until the last play of the contest, when Donald Laster corralled a scrambling Falcons quarterback Kevin Williams at the NCCU 12 after Williams had gained 16 yards.
"To be honest, on their last drive I was thinking about all the mistakes we had made when we had a chance to put the ball game away," said NCCU coach Mose Rison, whose team improved to 2-1 on the season while the Falcons fell to 0-2. "We had a missed field goal and a blocked field goal and a fumble on their 5-yard line after a turnover.
"St. Aug is a tough football team, and they played hard all night. But I can't say enough about the defense, defensive coordinator John Morgan and the staff -- they were the reason we won the football game."
The Falcons finished with 226 yards to NCCU's 148. Arnold Mullins rushed for 77 yards for the visitors, Tim Lovick caught three passes for 75 yards and three quarterbacks combined to complete 12 of 28 for 125 yards with one Craig Amos interception.
"It went down to the wire, that's for sure," said Amos, who continues to be a big-play man for the Eagles' defense. "At the end, we were all just saying, 'Don't let the big play happen!' Our defense can still get better and we know the offense can get better, too."
The Eagles had one first down and zero yards total offense in the first half, while St. Aug's had six first downs and 136 yards.
"Our defense played well, and overall we just played good enough to win," Falcons coach Mike Costa said. "We just made too many mistakes on offense. Central has a very good defense, but we just had too many mistakes."
The only serious threat before halftime came on the second play of the second quarter, when a 38-yard field-goal attempt by the Falcons' Adison Daniels' was wide right.
NCCU started with great field position on its second possession of the second half, as Brandon Alston returned a punt 10 yards to the Falcons' 25. Three plays later Brown found Blackwell down the right sideline from 21 yards out, and after a bad snap on the conversion attempt the Eagles led 6-0 with 10:08 left in the quarter.
"We just made too many mistakes and kept them in the ball game," said Brown, who completed 8 of 23 passes for 123 yards and was sacked four times. "They gave our line more trouble than they had all year. I made too many mistakes when we had the chance to put the game away. But we've just got to keep getting better."
The Eagles had a chance for some breathing room with 10:22 left in the game when Taylor Gray set up for a 36-yard field goal, but the Falcons' Alex Hall blocked the attempt. And again at 5:16, when Gray's 41-yard try was wide left. And again with 4:04 left, when they took over on the Falcons' 10 following a bad snap on a punt but Brown and Tim Shankle lost the ball on the exchange on the very next play.
"On their last drive everybody was just saying, 'Make a play!'" said defensive end Xavier Joe, who was in on seven tackles including three for losses with two sacks, two hurries and a breakup. "We're playing hard on defense. We're just good. And the offense got the touchdown we needed to win the game."
NOTES -- N.C. Central senior kicker Brandon Gilbert's injury will keep him out for the rest of the season, the school has announced. Also out for the year is senior running back Jeff Toliver. Gilbert, the school's all-time scoring leader with 234 points who gave the Eagles the winning points in the CIAA championship games each of the past two seasons, has a torn quadriceps muscle in his left (kicking) leg. Toliver, who was one of the Eagles' four captains and their rushing leader this season with 92 yards, has a torn ligament in his right foot. Both players will seek medical redshirts to complete their playing careers in 2008. ... NCCU leads the all-time series 26-2-1. ... The Eagles take on Elizabeth City State on Saturday in the Whitney Young Classic in East Rutherford, N.J. ... St. Aug's travels to Carson-Newman on Saturday.
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