South Carolina State 41, NC A&T 19

November 18, 2006

CHARLOTTE, NC – South Carolina State senior DeShawn Baker, playing before a home crowd, rushed for 153 yards and one touchdown to lead South Carolina State to a 41-19 win over winless North Carolina A&T Saturday in the Rivalry Classic at Memorial Stadium.

Baker, who carried the ball 25 times and went over the 100-yard rushing mark for the fourth consecutive game and the sixth time in 11 contests this season, capped his Bulldog career with his highest single-season rushing total – 1,289 yards. During his four years at SC State, the Charlotte native amassed 3,695 yards and 34 touchdowns and gained over 1,000 yards three consecutive years.

In Saturday’s triumph, Baker had a lot of support from his teammates. Freshman Will Ford rushed for 62 yards and two scores and quarterback Cleve McCoy passed for two scores and ran for a third as Coach Buddy Pough’s team finished the year at 7-4 overall and coupled with Delaware State’s 20-17 loss to Howard, in a tie for second in the MEAC at 6-2.

The Aggies, who played inspired football after falling behind 20-0 in the first period, ended the year at 0-11 -- their first winless season ever -- and 0-8 in the MEAC.

The Bulldogs rolled up 435 yards total offense in the contest, including 318 yards on the ground. The Aggies finished with 258 total yards, including 202 rushing.

SC State exploded for 20 unanswered points in the opening period and appeared on its way to a blowout.

It took Pough’s team only one minute to get on the scoreboard as the Bulldogs, on the game’s opening possession, moved 76 yards in four plays to open the scoring. On the first play from scrimmage, McCoy, who completed 8-13 attempts for 117 yards and two scoring passes, hooked up with Oliver Young for 49 yards to the NC A&T 35. Wide receiver Chris Burgess got 22 yards on an end-around, McCoy and Baker hooked up for an 11 yard completion to the Aggie two-yard line, and Ford capped the drive with a two-yard scoring run. The PAT by Mike Gaston put the Bulldogs ahead 7-0 with still 14 minutes left in the first period.

Stephon Gore intercepted the Aggies’ Wayne Campbell on NC A&T’s next possession, and four plays later, McCoy hit Gerald McCloud with a 27-yard scoring strike to put the Bulldog lead to 13-0 with 11:24 left on the first-period clock. The PAT was no good.

Two series later, the Bulldogs were in business again, after the Aggies fumbled a punt and Bailey Brinson recovered for SC State. An unsportsmanlike penalty against NC A&T put the ball at the Aggie 26-yard line. On first and ten from the 13-yard line four plays later, Ford scored the first of his two touchdowns to push the SC State lead to 20-0 after Gaston’s extra point with 32 seconds left on the first period clock.

The Bulldogs would not score again until the fourth period when they added 21 more points on McCoy’s nine-yard scoring toss to tight end Darris Jackson, Baker’s three-yard run and a 47-yard scamper by McCoy.

Meanwhile, the Aggies came to life with scoring drives in the second and third period to close the gap to 20-13 when Michael Ferguson scored from 12 yards out to cap a 12-pay, 60-yard drive with 2:29 remaining in the third. The PAT was no good.

NC A&T had closed to within 20-7 at the half on Campbell’s nine-yard scoring toss to Curtis Walls with 5:32 left in the second period.

After NC A&T sliced the SC State edge to a touchdown, the Bulldogs came alive and responded with three straight fourth-period scores to take control of the game and build a 41-13 edge with 7:03 remaining.

The Aggies closed out the scoring when Ferguson broke away from the Bulldog defense for a 75-yard gallop and a touchdown and the final points of the game with 5:54 to play.

“I’m glad we woke up (after the Aggies got back in the game),” said Pough. “We didn’t play particularly well after getting off to a quick start. We did enough to get the job done, but it seemed that we needed for them (the Aggies) to step up and challenge us. And once they did that, we responded with three straight touchdowns.

“But, despite the down year A&T has had,” he continued, “They showed some spunk and made us earn the victory.”

Pough lauded the play of Baker and also praised the fourteen Bulldog seniors who ended their SC State playing careers.

“I’m really happy for Baker,” Pough said. “He is very deserving of the season he has had, finishing with somewhere around 1300 yards rushing. Not only is he a good football player, he’s a class young man and I hope he gets a chance to play at the next level.

“I’m just happy,” he continued, “for all or our 14 seniors. We finished the year strong. We started out pretty shakey (1-3) but we pulled things together and actually had control of things at one point before losing at Delaware State. It is a little bit disappointing that we will not be playing next week, but, I’m proud that we kept fighting and gave a good effort in the final weeks.