Nov. 15, 2008

Final Stats

DURHAM, N.C. - On a sloppy and slippery O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium turf, North Carolina Central University took advantage of four Winston-Salem State University turnovers and a special teams miscue to defeat the rival Rams 23-16 on Saturday in Durham, N.C.

A stifling NCCU defense forced four turnovers with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries, while recording 10 tackles for a loss with six sacks and holding the Rams to only 1-of-10 third down conversions.

Several Eagle defenders enjoyed possibly the best games of their careers. Senior lineman Eric Smalls recorded a team-best 12 tackles, including a sack. Sophomore safety Jeffery Henderson amassed 10 tackles with a sack and two forced fumbles. Senior linebacker Troy McConico collected 10 tackles with a hit for a loss and his first interception as an Eagle. Freshman cornerback David Ingram tallied five tackles and his team-leading third interception of the season. And sophomore safety Kurtis Campbell contributed two tackles for a loss with a sack and a fumble recovery.

NCCU senior place-kicker Brandon Gilbert scored 11 points, with field goals of 45, 28 and 34 yards, along with a pair of extra-point conversions to extend his consecutive streak to 103 PAT kicks.

Gilbert's first field goal of 45 yards (11:46, 1st) was a season-long and made the senior the school's all-time leader in career field goals, with the standard now set at 43.

WSSU evened the score at 3-3 with a 33-yard field goal by Adnan Kljajic at 7:55 of the second quarter.

The visiting Rams took the lead courtesy of a six-play, 51-yard drive that was capped by a 1-yard plunge by quarterback Jarrett Dunston with 3:08 left before the end of the first half.

Trailing 10-3 at intermission, the Eagles stormed out of the locker room. Red-shirt freshman quarterback Keon Williams connected on back-to-back passes to Deshawn Spears for 32 yards and Will Scott for 17 yards to move the pigskin to the Rams' 11-yard line. On the next play, sophomore running back Tony McCord turned the corner and dove into the end zone for his first career touchdown, tying the score at 13:52 of the third quarter.

McConico's interception return to the WSSU 16-yard line led to a 28-yard boot by Gilbert to put the Eagles on top 13-10 at 7:59 of the third stanza.

On the next possession for WSSU, a high snap from center sailed over the punter's head and the Eagles took over at the 1-yard line. Fullback George Mobley bulled his way into the end zone on third-and-goal to provide a 20-10 cushion for NCCU at 4:06 of the third.

WSSU answered with an eight-play, 70-yard drive to score a touchdown on a 1-yard dive by John Thompson with 19 seconds left in the third quarter. Kljajic missed the extra-point kick to keep the score 20-16 in favor of the Eagles.

Midway through the fourth quarter, WSSU used a 52-yard dash by running back Nicholas Cooper to put the ball at the Eagles' 17-yard line. On third down and eight yards to go, however, Rams' signal caller Dunston was stripped of the ball by Henderson and Campbell fell on the fumble.

NCCU drove 40 yards in 10 plays to set up Gilbert for his third field goal of the day, this time from 34 yards out with 2:52 left in the contest to make the score 23-16.

With a chance to tie, WSSU completed a 13-yard pass on a third-and-14 play to bring up fourth down and a yard to go at the NCCU 29-yard line. For one last time, the Eagle defense stepped up big time, denying the Rams a first down on a rush attempt up the middle.

WSSU out-gained the Eagles 192 total yards to 154. The Rams rushed for 167 yards and threw for 25, while NCCU ran for 80 yards and passed for 74.

Williams completed 7-of-11 passes for 74 yards with an interception that slipped through a receiver's hands.

For the Rams, Dunston completed 2-of-7 passes for 25 yards and rush for his ninth touchdown of the season, but he also threw two interceptions, lost two fumbles and was sacked six times.

McCord topped the Eagles with 35 rushing yards, while Scott caught a team-best three passes for 31 yards.

NCCU improves to 3-7, with two rival wins (WSSU and NC A&T) and a Homecoming victory to its credit, while WSSU falls to 3-7.