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North Carolina A&T fought valiantly against the University of Rhode Island but ultimately fell short 31-24.
Rhode Island entered the game as the and adept passing team. They showed why immediately. Quarterback Kasim Hill connected with Kahtero Summers for a remarkable 34-yard catch and run, giving the Rams an early 7-0 lead. A&T responded with brilliance of their own, as Brickhandler rolled to his left and found Amonte Jones open in the end zone for a touchdown, completing the catch with precision.
The second quarter saw A&T start to fight, opening with a 9-play, 48-yard drive that ended with a 28-yard field goal by Owen Daffer, propelling them to a 10-7 lead. However, Rhode Island fought back, scoring the next 17 points to take a commanding 24-10 lead into the fourth quarter.
But A&T refused to back down. They put together a 12-play drive, highlighted by a 32-yard run on a 3rd-and-23 by Brickhandler and a 22-yard completion to Ger-Cari Caldwell on a 4th-and-2. The drive concluded with Christian's triumphant 1-yard TD run.
In a crucial turn of events, linebacker Avarion Cole secured up a fumble that eventually set up an Eli Brickhandler 14-yard touchdown run three plays later. The game was tied 24-24 with 6:15 remaining in the fourth.
With the game on the line, NC A&T embarked on a potential game-winning drive. The team drove down the field with Kenji Christian's breaking off for a 19-yard run and Shimique Blizzard's getting a 17-yard run, putting them in position for a miraculous comeback.
However, on 2nd-and-10, Christian's valiant effort was met with adversity as he fumbled after colliding with URI safety Brent Jackson at the nine-yard line. The fumble recovery by Rhode Island's Malachi Burby turned the tide in their favor. The University of Rhode Island seized the opportunity, running out the clock to secure the victory.
North Carolina A&T Vincent Brown in a quote obtained by North Carolina A&T athletics spoke about how disappointed he was in the loss.
“It was such a heartbreaking way to lose the game. We were perfectly set up – time, timeouts, field position, offense marching the ball down to either tie or potentially go ahead and win it at the very end – but we turned the ball over once again. But it wasn't just that. We dropped passes at inopportune times earlier. We had poor tackling throughout the game, not fitting the runs correctly. It was just too many errors to overcome.”
However, he was encouraged by his team's high level of play throughout the contest.
“I was so proud of the grit and determination our guys displayed throughout the entire course of the game,” said Brown. “That will pay dividends for us at some point.”
North Carolina A&T will end the season at home against Campbell University on Saturday at 1 PM EST. The game will be broadcast on FloSports.
