North Carolina Central University Athletics

North Carolina College's first CIAA football championship came in 1953, wrapped up by the Eagles with a 15-6 Thanksgiving Day win over North Carolina A&T College in Greensboro. The crowd was small for the game, which featured the kicking of Al Mon­tgomery. Writing the story, Alex Rivera estimated the audience was a "chilled crowd of 5,000." Coached by Herman Riddick, the Eagles scored on a 13-yard field goal by Bill Hollingsworth, an eight-yard run by Jerome Evans, and a five-yard run by Linwood Johnson. The victory was the first over the Aggies since 1947. A&T Coach William Bell had achieved a tie in 1948 and then four straight wins. The overall Eagle record for the season was 5-3-0.

The 1953 Football Team: Joe Person, captain; Jack Aikens, Horace Brown, Samuel Chambers, James Courtney, Belton Cunningham, Cleveland Darden, Zander Dockery, Charles Floyd, Otto Harvey, William Hollingsworth, Ernest McCray, Fred Sneed,. Henry Lewis, Harvey Thompson, James Poole, Claude Mayfield, Lawrence Pettis, Robert Price, Linwood Jones, Linwood Johnson, Oscar Turner, Cletus Horton, George Alexander, Mat­thew Boone, Leonard Shadding, Amos Thornton, Jerome Evans, Charles Floyd, Albert Montgomery, James Crawford, Charles Glenn, and Ross Hines.