DURHAM, North Carolina – Trailing 26-7 late in the third quarter, Bethune-Cookman University scored 21 unanswered points and blocked a potential game-winning 18-yard field goal try with just 32 seconds left to edge North Carolina Central University 28-26 on a wet Saturday inside O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
Bethune-Cookman senior quarterback Quentin Williams, who was taken out of the game in the second quarter, returned to the contest midway through the third quarter to spark the Wildcats with 197 yards and two touchdowns passing along with 67 rushing yards after intermission. Williams finished the contest with 320 yards of total offense, including 248 through the air on 13-of-18 passing and a team-high 72 yards on the ground.
The visiting Wildcats opened the scoring with a 5-yard run by running back Anthony Jordan at 9:28 in the second quarter.
NCCU then posted 26 unanswered points courtesy of a pair of field goals by freshman Nigel Macauley, two rushing touchdowns by junior quarterback Malcolm Bell and a dash into the end zone by freshman running back Dorrel McClain.
Bethune-Cookman (4-1, 2-0 MEAC) started its comeback late in the third quarter when Williams found Jawill Davis for a 29-yard touchdown pass. The two connected again from 29 yards out in the first minute of the fourth quarter to pull to within five points of the Eagles.
Junior running back Michael Jones put the Wildcats ahead with 10:50 remaining in the contest with a 6-yard touchdown run.
With Bethune-Cookman threatening to make it a two-score game with the ball at the NCCU 3-yard line, the Eagles recovered a fumble to get the ball back with a chance to win.
Starting at their own 7-yard line with 6:11 left on the clock, the Eagles marched 92 yards to the 1-yard line after McClain thought he had scored the game-winning touchdown, but was ruled down short of the goal line. Macauley lined up for the chip-shot kick to win the game, but B-CU freshman Elliott Miller raced off the edge to block the potential game-winning field goal.
McClain's 144 rushing yards topped a lethal NCCU ground attack that amassed 324 yards for the program's best running effort since accumulating 349 rushing yards against Livingstone on Oct. 23, 2004.
Bell recorded 271 yards of total offense with 178 yards through the air and 93 yards and two scores on the ground.
As a team, NCCU posted 502 yards of total offense and 30 first downs compared to 395 total yards and 16 first downs by the Wildcats.
Defensively, NCCU was charged by senior safety C.J. Moore with a team-high nine tackles, 2.0 hits for a loss and a pair of interceptions. Junior linebacker Jeremy Thompson collected seven stops with a sack, while linemen Richard Mitchell and Antonio Brown each forced a fumble.
After dropping its sixth straight decision in the series with Bethune-Cookman, NCCU (1-3, 0-1 MEAC) returns to MEAC action next Saturday at Florida A&M.
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COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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