(RALEIGH, NC) North Carolina Central University snapped a 12-game losing skid to rival North Carolina A&T State University with a dramatic come-from-behind 33-30 overtime victory in the ninth annual Aggie-Eagle Classic at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, NC.
Donnie Pippen's 2-yard dive into the end zone in the extra session sent the Eagle fans into a frenzy and provided NCCU with its first win over the NCAA Division I-AA Aggies since Sept. 3, 1988.
In the first quarter of play it seemed as though A&T was on its way to another route. The Aggies scored 27 unanswered points in the first 11 minutes of the contest, courtesy to four NCCU turnovers (2 fumbles and 2 interceptions).
The Eagles, however, answered the call... loudly. NCCU freshman kicker Brian Burke put the Eagles on the board with a 34-yard field goal at 7:47 of the second quarter. Moments later, senior corner back Hassan Smith's interception set up an 18-yard touchdown connection from Sean Williams to Nathaniel Fitch, cutting the score to 27-10 at the half.
After the break, Luis George's interception and 44-yard return led to Fitch's second touchdown of the game, this time from Lawrence Fuller, who was taking his first snap from center after starting at tailback.
With 2:11 left in the third quarter, Burke capped off a 12-play, 48-yard drive for NCCU with a 25-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 27-20.
After the two squads exchanged punts, the Eagles tied the game with 4:50 remaining after a quarterback sneak by Fuller from the 1-yard line and the ensuing point-after kick by Burke.
NCCU's defense stopped A&T in "three-and-out" fashion, giving the Eagles possession at their own 32-yard line and 3:21 left to play in regulation. Nine plays and 53 yards later, NCCU was lined up for the potential game-winning field goal with just four ticks on the game clock. Burke's 32-yard effort missed its mark wide left and the game went into overtime.
In overtime, A&T got as close as the 3-yard line, but had to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Pat Simcox to go ahead 30-27.
The Eagles started their overtime possession heading in the wrong direction. An incomplete pass and penalty put NCCU back to the 30-yard line and facing second down and 15 yards to go. However, two pass interference penalties against the Aggies put the Eagles on the 2-yard line, setting up Pippen's game-winning plunge.
NCCU's stifling defense held the Aggies to 179 yards of total offense, including only 77 yards after halftime. George led the way with 8 tackles and an interception, earning NCCU's Defensive M.V.P. honors. DeLeon Raynor added 6 tackles, a forced fumble and a blocked punt for the Eagles, while Hassan Smith, one of only three NCCU seniors on the roster to have played in the Classic the past four years, contributed 5 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble, and two pass break-ups. Freshman Andre George, Luis' younger brother, chipped in 5 tackles in his Eagle debut.
NCCU, which had zero yards of total offense in the first quarter, finished the contest with 249 total yards, including 138 through the air. Fuller, NCCU's Offensive M.V.P. and recipient of the game ball, connected on 6-of-12 pass attempts for 83 yards and a touchdown, while running for a team-best 40 yards and a touchdown.
Williams completed 5-of-14 passes for 55 yards and a touchdown for NCCU (1-0), while adding 20 yards on the ground. Senior running back Ernest Rice was the Eagles' second-leading rusher with 30 yards on 8 carries. Pippen finished with 24 yards on 15 rushes and 31 yards on 2 pass receptions. Fitch caught six passes for 82 yards and two trips to the end zone.
A true classic
By Mike Potter : The Herald-Sun
Sep 2, 2002 : 12:05 am ET
RALEIGH -- For the first time in a half dozen years, the "Aggie-Eagle Classic" actually lived up to its name.
And if you love N.C. Central, it wasn't just a classic. It was a miracle.
Donnie Pippen took a pitch from quarterback Lawrence Fuller and bulled his way into the end zone in the bottom of the first overtime, giving the Eagles a 33-30 victory over archrival N.C. A&T in the ninth Aggie-Eagle Classic on Sunday at Carter-Finley Stadium.
That wasn't why the win was a miracle. It was a miracle because the Aggies held a 27-0 lead less than 11 minutes into the game.
"I was thinking 'It's going to be a long, ugly night,' " said Eagles coach Rudy Abrams, who won his season opener for the first time at NCCU and is 15-15 with the program. "But this is a testament to the courage and the spirit of our players. They never quit, and they've never quit on me since I've been at North Carolina Central."
The Division II Eagles had lost 12 straight in the series, and the only two close games in the series in Raleigh were a 38-31 overtime loss in 1996 and an 18-17 heartbreaker in 1995.
NCCU's last win over the Division I-AA Aggies was in 1988, a wet 15-2 decision at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium in Billy Hayes' first game as A&T coach. That NCCU team went on to make the school's only appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Fuller, the backup quarterback who started the game at tailback for the Eagles, completed six of 12 passes for 83 yards and a touchdown and rushed 12 times for 40 yards and a touchdown of his own. For that, he was named NCCU's offensive MVP.
"This is a big monkey off our coaches' backs and my teammates' backs," Fuller said. "The alumni and the students had been waiting a long time for us to do this."
Free safety Luis George, who was in on eight tackles and had a 44-yard interception return, was named NCCU's defensive MVP.
Both MVPs were involved in a quick sequence that jump-started the Eagles' momentum early in the third quarter.
The Eagles had gotten their pride back by scoring the last 10 points of the first half to trail 27-10. With 10:52 left in the third period, George intercepted a pass from the Aggies' Jason Douglas and returned it 44 yards to the A&T 27. Two plays later, NCCU starting quarterback Sean Williams left the field with an injury, and Fuller took the next snap and fired a strike across the middle to Nathaniel Fitch for a 25-yard touchdown play.
"I had the audible for that call," Fuller said. "They were blitzing and sending just about everybody. I knew if my line gave me just a couple of seconds, Fitch could make the catch. He beat his man, and that was it."
NCCU added a Brian Burke field goal from 25 yards out to cut the margin to 27-20 with 2:11 left in the third period. The Eagles later drove 62 yards in nine plays to set up Fuller's 1-yard run and Burke's kick to make it 27-all with 4:50 remaining in the game.
Burke attempted a game-winning field goal with four seconds left in regulation, but it was wide right.
The Aggies had the ball first in overtime, and Pat Simcox's 21-yard field goal gave them the lead.
But on the NCCU possession, a pair of pass interference penalties gave the Eagles the ball on the A&T 2 to set up Pippen's score.
"That was definitely the biggest touchdown of my career," the Person High graduate said.
The first quarter, or rather the middle of the first quarter, belonged completely to the Aggies, as four big NCCU mistakes in a span of 5:10 gave A&T a four-touchdown lead.
A bad snap on the Eagles' first punt attempt from their 26-yard line ended up in the NCCU end zone, and A&T's James McCoy pounced on it for the Aggies' first touchdown with 9:50 left in the quarter.
Three plays later, Montrail Pittman intercepted a Williams pass at the NCCU 30, and the Aggies quickly set up a 1-yard Cornelius Gary run that helped make it 14-0 at the 8:17 mark.
NCCU ran three more plays before Ivan Butler recovered a Lawrence Fuller fumble at the Eagles 16, and Gary ran in from 5 yards out to make it 20-0 at 6:31.
With 4:40 left in the quarter, McCoy intercepted a Williams pass and ran 27 yards for a touchdown, with Simcox's kick making it 27-0.
But just when it looked like the Eagles were dead, their offense began to show signs of life. Williams took the Eagles 63 yards in 14 plays to set up a 34-yard Burke field goal on the freshman's first career attempt.
NCCU took advantage of the Aggies' first real mistake on A&T's next series, as Hassan Smith intercepted a Jason Battle pass. After a personal-foul call, the Eagles took over at the Aggies 36, and four plays later, Williams hit Fitch with an 18-yard scoring pass, and Burke's kick cut the margin to 27-10 at halftime.
"We knew we were going to win," NCCU senior fullback Ernest Rice said. "Even when it was 27-0, we had confidence on the sidelines. I knew something good was going to happen."
Hayes, a Durham native and NCCU graduate, is 20-6 against his alma mater including his tenure as head coach at Winston-Salem State.
"I thought it was a great ball game and both teams played well," Hayes said. "I'd like to commend the quarterback from North Carolina Central [Fuller] who came off the bench. He did a great job and the line played well in front of him.
"It's at times like this when your true character gets tested. But we have some goals and they haven't changed. I said all along I thought our team would be ready for our first conference game [Oct. 5 against Norfolk State], which is four games from now."
NOTES — Gary was named A&T's offensive player of the game while Butler took the defensive honor for the Aggies. The 33 points were the most the Eagles have scored against A&T since a 38-19 win at Aggie Stadium in 1987. ... The win was the first time in 10 tries the Eagles have beaten A&T in a neutral city. ... The last time NCCU had won its season opener was in 1993, when the Eagles routed Bowie State 30-2. NCCU did not play A&T that year, the only time the schools have not met in football since 1944.
'It is like winning the lottery'
By Jim Furlong : The Herald-Sun
Sep 1, 2002 : 11:59 pm ET
RALEIGH -- After looking like victims of an early massacre, the gritty N.C. Central Eagles rallied Sunday to enjoy a euphoric victory over their biggest rival.
While the N.C. A&T Aggies slumped, both the NCCU offense and defense surged to erase a 27-0 deficit in the first quarter and grab a 33-30 overtime victory at Carter-Finley Stadium.
"I can't imagine a scenario that started worse and ended better," NCCU senior center Joshua Wallace said. "This is the greatest feeling in the world. It is like winning the lottery. It was a roller-coaster ride. We went through every emotion imaginable. We went from mad to happy.
"A couple of times it felt like we were going to get blown out, but we hung in there and it paid off. This is my last year to play and this is the only way to go out ... I will remember this forever."
The Eagles scored 27 straight points to tie the game at 27-all with 4:50 left in regulation.
The Aggies kicked a field goal in overtime for a three-point lead. Then, on NCCU's possession, former Person High standout Donnie Pippen vaulted over the goal line for the game-winning TD, which ignited a lingering celebration for the Eagles and their fans.
"Oh my God! We finally won it. We made history," said Pippen when asked his first thought after NCCU stopped a 12-game losing streak against Coach Bill Hayes' Aggies.
"This is the most important touchdown I have scored in my life, the most meaningful. I had never scored a touchdown to win a game. ... It is a feeling like I won a million dollars. To come back from 27-0, it has to be one of the biggest things I have accomplished in my life."
Pippen, who celebrates his 22nd birthday today, said he and his teammates are delighted to give Coach Rudy Abrams his first victory against A&T in his four seasons at NCCU.
"[Abrams] was so emotional [in the locker room after the game that] he could hardly speak," Pippen said. "He said 'I am so proud of you guys. You have finally done it,' and he walked away crying."
NCCU junior wide receiver Nathaniel Fitch, who caught two TD passes in the comeback, said people around Durham and around his campus questioned whether the Eagles could finally beat the Aggies, and he's glad to get the last laugh.
"People were asking if we were ready for A&T ... but once we got down, we didn't stop fighting," Fitch said. "This could be the highlight of their careers for the seniors.
"All the doubters, all the disbelievers, we told them it was going to happen. When it was 27-0, everybody on the sidelines had their heads down, but the leaders went around saying it wasn't over. It is the first quarter and there are four quarters in a football game."
Abrams knew his team was in a deep hole after the Eagles' early turnovers, including a blocked punt, gave A&T four touchdowns in the first 10 minutes.
"I was thinking it was going to be a long, ugly night," Abrams said.
But Fuller's leadership sparked the offense and the NCCU defenders gradually starved the Aggie offense. A&T finished with 165 yards of total offense, including minus-seven yards in the fourth quarter.
"It was a big fight and we never gave up," NCCU sophomore nose guard Benjamin Harrington said.
Free safety Luis George paced the NCCU defense with eight tackles and a 44-yard interception return. Cornerback Hassan Smith also made in interception.
While the Eagles walked off the field grinning, many Aggies trudged to their locker room with blank looks on their faces.
"It is very stunning since it was 14 years since they beat us," Aggie defensive tackle Osita Alaribe said. "They played with a lot of heart."
A real classic
N.C. Central rallies to force overtime, then shocks N.C. A&T
The Division II Eagles overcome a 27-0 first-quarter deficit to beat the Aggies after 12 straight losses to their rivals.
Running back Donnie Pippen soars like an Eagle to score the game-winning touchdown in overtime.
Staff Photo By John L. White
By A.J. CARR, Staff Writer
RALEIGH - Maybe it's time for another "Rudy" movie.
No, not about the former Notre Dame football player, but rather about N.C. Central coach Rudy Abrams and his Eagles.
Hollywood would have loved the theatrics at Carter-Finley Stadium on Sunday, when Central -- a decisive underdog -- rallied from a 27-0 first-quarter deficit and secured a 33-30 overtime victory against N.C. A&T in the Aggie-Eagle Classic that was ... well, a classic, and more.
When the officials' arms pointed skyward signaling "touchdown!"on Donnie Pippen's game-winning two-yard run in overtime, it touched off a bedlam-like celebration. Eagles players flew all over the place. Some ran around wildly. Others flopped on their backs. A few knelt in prayer. NCCU junior linebacker Lawrence Taylor Jr. kissed the turf and 25,027 fans watched in disbelief.
Incredibly, the goal posts stood as security gathered in the end zones.
This was more than a win. It was the slaying of a monster. Division I-AA A&T, with 36 more scholarships than Division II Central, had beaten the Eagles 12 straight times and was expected to defeather them again Sunday.
"This is extremely exciting," said Abrams, who was hoisted on the shoulders of his players. "Our guys kept fighting and fighting and fighting. This is something we can build on ... it's big in our rebuilding process."
The Eagles began to soar -- and score more -- when tailback Lawrence Fuller stepped in for injured quarterback Sean Williams early in the second half.
Playing with aplomb, the nifty Eagle guided Central to 23 second-half points, sneaking for the tying touchdown with 4:50 left in regulation, then sending Pippen ramming over the right side for the winning tally in overtime.
"Without a doubt," said Pippen, when asked whether that was his biggest touchdown ever.
That decisive march from the 25-yard line -- aided by two pass interference calls against A&T -- came after Central's Brian Burke had sailed a potentially, game-winning 32-yard field goal attempt wide left at the end of regulation.
A&T coach Bill Hayes was gracious in defeat, but a bit perplexed that his team was penalized 16 times for 134 yards compared to NCCU's six infractions totaling 32 yards.
"It was unfortunate the penalty situation was as lopsided as it was, but I'm not taking anything away from their wonderful win," he said. "It was a great game. Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you."
NCCU's upset was part of a wacky football weekend, when Miami (Ohio) stunned North Carolina 27-21 and Duke whipped East Carolina 23-16.
But those teams didn't have to do it the way the Eagles did. They made it look like something out of mythology, doing an imitation of the Phoenix bird that destructed itself, then came soaring out of his own ashes.
That was the Eagles' way. Four early turnovers -- two fumbles and two pass interceptions -- led to a 27-0 A&T lead in a 4:10 span in the first half.
"I thought it was going to be a long, ugly night," Abrams said. "But we told our players that we were better than we had shown, that we had made critical mistakes."
And the Eagles players said they believed, but it's doubtful anybody else believed in them.
Oh, they of little faith.
"We knew it would happen," said fullback Ernest Rice. "You could see the look in our eyes."
NCCU, which had a top Division II defense last year, showed it can play defense again. It had A&T's new Spread Gun offense backfiring much of the day and limited the Aggies to 179 total yards. Quarterback Jason Battle threw for just 92 yards and Cornelius Gary (two TDs) was held to 55 on the ground.
Luis George was a defensive stalwart, intercepting a pass and hauling it back 44 yards. Hassan Smith also turned bandit, picking off an Aggie throw. The Eagles blocked two A&T punts to boot.
Then Fuller, voted Central's MVP, kicked the Aggies in the pants with his scrambling (40 yards on 15 carries) and passing (6-for-12 and one TD).
"Their quarterback did a great job," said Hayes. "His play changed the complexion of the game. We had not seen him before. He made us change our defense."
On his first snap at quarterback, Fuller threw a 25-yard scoring pass to Nathaniel Fitch (6 catches, 82 yards) to cut A&T's lead to 27-17. After Burke kicked a field goal, Fuller scored the tying TD.
"We passed more than in the past," said Abrams, whose team threw 26 times. "We were able to mix it up."
As suspense swirled in overtime, A&T's Pat Simcox booted a 21-yard field goal for a 30-27 Aggies lead.
But NCCU had come back too far to fall short now. Pass interference calls against A&T's Jason Horton and Theron Thomas helped NCCU immensely, pushing the ball to the Aggies' 2-yard line. Then Pippen popped over the right side and crossed the goal-line plane.
The comeback was complete, victory assured, and the Eagles celebration began as "One Shining Moment" blared over the sound system.
