North Carolina A&T survived Winston-Salem State in a close overtime battle to defeat their cross-city rival 27-20 on Saturday.

The Aggies struggled to score after their opening drive, and the Rams took the lead with a touchdown by Timothy Ruff II following an Aggies turnover. 

North Carolina A&T responded with a strong ground game, and quarterback Kevin White scored on a keeper with 7:13 left in the first quarter, giving the Aggies a 7-6 lead. Andrew Brown then made a career-long 52-yard field goal to extend the Aggies' lead to 10-6 at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Aggies were stopped on the goal line by the Rams on a fourth-and-one play. However, North Carolina A&T soon scored again on a 25-yard touchdown pass from White to No. 11, making it 17-6 with 3:29 remaining in the quarter.

With 38 seconds left in the third, junior running back Trevon Hester, a Greensboro native and Page High School alumnus, broke away for a rushing touchdown to narrow the gap to 17-14.

A series of penalties against the Aggies allowed the Rams to go ahead 20-17 with 3:52 left in the game on a quarterback keeper. North Carolina A&T responded by driving down the field, and Brown hit a 31-yard field goal to tie the game and send it into overtime.

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In the extra period, the Aggies began their drive with a screen pass to Ger-cari Caldwell and then handed the ball to Wesley Graves. After a short run, Graves broke free for a 16-yard touchdown, giving the Aggies a 27-20 lead.

The Rams had one last chance to respond but fell short as quarterback Daylin Lee overthrew his intended target on a play-action pass. The Aggies secured the victory 27-20.

North Carolina A&T finished with 391 total yards. Wesley Graves, who stepped up after an injury to redshirt junior Kenji Christian, rushed for 106 yards. White threw for 157 yards, including one touchdown pass and one rushing touchdown, and had a 65% completion percentage with a 111.3 quarterback rating.

Winston-Salem State's Daylin Lee threw for 122 yards with a 48% completion rate and a quarterback rating of 86.1. The Rams' rushing touchdowns came from Lee, Hester, and Ruff II, contributing to their 165 rushing yards and 287 total yards.

Winston-Salem State will face Old Dominion University on September 14, while North Carolina A&T will host the Delaware Blue Hens on the same day.