Box Score
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DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina A&T’s all-time leading rusher Mike Mayhew closed out his college career with a 5-yard touchdown dash in overtime to defeat rival North Carolina Central University, 22-16, on Saturday inside a sold out O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium in Durham, N.C.

Mayhew amassed 116 of the Aggies’ 162 ground yards, while NCCU’s failure to consistently execute the snap from center resulted in a team total of negative-51 rushing yards for the Eagles, which proved to be a deciding factor in the outcome of the game.

On at least four occasions, NCCU’s snap from center got past the intended target. The first sailed over punter Matthew Cornelius’s head and resulted in a safety for A&T’s first points. The last one came on a third-and-1 play in overtime, with the Eagles needing a touchdown to even the score, which resulted in a 38-yard loss and sent most of the 11,184 fans scrambling for the exits.

NCCU’s special teams play continued to be special. In the closing seconds of the second quarter, senior Malik Cromartie blocked a 39-yard field goal attempt, the sixth blocked kick of his college career, and the loose pigskin was scooped up by senior Delson McAdams, who raced 71 yards for a touchdown. The score was the 10th non-offensive touchdown of the season for the Eagles. A missed extra-point kick made the score 9-6 in favor of A&T at halftime.

NCCU sophomore kicker Oleg Parent blasted a 41-yard field goal to even the score at 9-9 with 9:13 remaining in the third quarter.

Later in the third stanza, A&T blocked a punt to give the Aggies first-and-goal from the 2-yard line. Ricky Lewis’s second touchdown run from two yards out put the Aggies back on top 16-9 with 2:09 remaining in the quarter.

A few minutes later, A&T was in position to try a 38-yard field goal, but it was blocked again, this time by sophomore Sayyid Muhammad, who returned the bouncing ball 67 yards to the Aggie 5-yard line. The NCCU offense could not take advantage of the prime red-zone field position, as quarterback Jordan Reid’s third down toss to the end zone fell into the hands of A&T defensive back Ayodeji Olatoye.

In spite of NCCU’s snapping challenges and four turnovers, the Eagles managed to tie the score at 16-16 when Reid connected with receiver Lamar Scruggs with 10:09 left in the fourth quarter.

With less than a minute remaining in regulation, A&T faced fourth-and-1 at the NCCU 28-yard line. Rather than line up for a 45-yard field goal attempt, the Aggies tried to run Mayhew for a first down, but senior linebacker Elroy Powell and a host of Eagle defenders stopped him short of the first down marker.

With 21 seconds still on the game clock, Reid completed a17-yard pass to Geovonie Irvine, followed by a 20-yard connection with Decona Roberts to set up Parent for a potential game-winning field goal from 52 yards away with five seconds remaining. Instead of the longest field goal in NCCU history, the line-drive boot fell short and the game went into overtime for the fourth time in the past 16 meetings between the Eagles and Aggies.

In the overtime session, A&T took just two plays, a 20-yard swing pass from Lewis Kindle to Marquis Gorham and Mayhew’s 5-yard run, to score the game-winner.

A&T achieved 344 yards of total offense, including 168 yards on 15-of-32 passing by Kindle. NCCU finished with 122 total yards, topped by Reid’s 142 yards through the air on 18-for-24 passing.

Irvine caught eight passes for 55 yards to wrap up his NCCU career as the second-leading receiver in school history with 171 catches.

Senior running back Arthur Goforth posted a team-best 49 rushing yards and 28 receiving yards on four receptions to finish his career as only the third Eagle to amass more than 4,000 career all-purpose yards (4,009).

NCCU’s defensive unit had several standout performances. Senior safety Rickie Hubbard collected a team-high 12 tackles, redshirt freshman safety Ryan Smith added 11 takedowns and his fourth fumble recovery of the season, while Cromartie chipped in six stops, two pass break-ups and his fifth interception of the season, adding to his league-high total of 16 total passes defended.

A stout defensive front was paced by junior Aaron Wallace with eight tackles, including 1.5 hits for a loss, while senior Darian Pearson tallied five takedowns with 2.0 tackles behind the line of scrimmage with a sack, and senior Stephen Young contributed four stops with 1.5 hits for a loss to end his season with a team-best 15.5.

NCCU finishes the year with a 6-5 overall record, the program’s first winning season since 2007, and a 5-3 conference record to tie for third in the MEAC standings.