Delaware State 23, NC A&T 13

October 15, 2005

GREENSBORO, N.C., October 15, 2005 ­ When the fourth quarter of North Carolina A&T’s Homecoming game arrived on Saturday, Delaware State became very selfish.

Selfishness is usually categorized as a bad thing, but in this case it was the best thing for the Hornets. They put together an impressive 17-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 23-yard field goal from Peter Gaertner and took 10:35 off the clock.

The drive clinched a 23-13 win over N.C. A&T in front of a N.C. A&T Homecoming crowd of 22,137.

Shareer McBride led the Hornets with 84 yards on four catches and he scored twice. But it was the Hornets’goal-line stand, a controversial spot and the Hornets’ fourth-quarter marathon drive it was did the Aggies in.

The Aggies had the advantage in field position in the third quarter. After falling behind 17-0 early, the Aggies trailed 20-7 in the third.

Marshall Glenn, who started the season as the Aggies starting quarterback, was lined up at wide receiver. Rico Watkins threw a waggle pass to Glenn who then threw the ball downfield. DSU cornerback Deon Rheubottom appeared to have the pass intercepted, but had slip through his hands and land in the arms of Chaz Dawson for a 34-yard touchdown as the Aggies moved to within seven, 20-13.

Delaware State kickoff returner Emmanuel Mark let Joseph Arroyo’s kickoff go out of bounds at the DSU 1. After the Aggies forced the Hornets to punt from their own 9, the Aggies took over at the Hornets 44.

Four plays later the Aggies at the ball 3rd-and-goal at the DSU 2. Brandon Sweeney ran for one yard on third down to the 1. Chaz Truesdale, who saw his first action in two weeks, was stopped from getting into the end zone by Delaware State’s Jason Taylor and Jarrod Wallace.

“Truesdale is our short yardage back,’’ Small said. “But you have to have a push up front. The personnel we had in the backfield was good personnel.” Even after failing to score, the field position advantage still belonged to N.C. A&T.

The Aggies forced the Hornets to punt from their own 14. Peter Gaertner’s punt with 56 yards, however, as the Aggies took over possession at their own 30.

After a Sweeney 14-yard run advanced the ball to the Delaware State 29-yard line. Two consecutive Delaware State sacks and a false start put the Aggies in a difficult 3rd-and-29 situation. Watkins, who was 14-for-29 for 208 yards and a touchdown, threw a perfect strike to the middle of Brandon Trusty’s chest.

It appeared Trusty landed at the 20, which would have given the Aggies a 4th-and-1, but the ball was placed at the 24, which made it 4th-and-5. On the next play, Watkins’ run left the Aggies about a foot-and-half short of the first down.

Delaware State took over and effectively ended the game by compiling five first downs with the help of Rodney Roy who had nine carries for 40 yards on the drive. Roy finished with 29 carries for 106 yards.

“It’s tough out there,’’ said defensive end Rickie Lewis. “You’re out there trying to make stops and they just keep coming up with ways to convert third downs. It was very frustrating.”

After Gaertner’s field goal, the Aggies got the ball back with 1:47 remaining in the game in what was an uphill battle to get two scores.

“They milked the clock and took their time,’’ Small said. “We said that they haven’t been as potent as they can be. Last week we executed. This week we didn’t.”