NC Central 27, Southern 20

September 23, 2006

BATON ROUGE, La. - North Carolina Central University defensive coordinator Clifford Yoshida is known in the Baton Rouge area as a defensive specialist and a great coach, since he helped Southern University to an 11-1 record and a Black College National Championship as the Jaguars' defensive coordinator in 1993.

On Saturday, Yoshida's Eagle defense proved his reputation to be true, as NCCU forced seven turnovers (six interceptions and one fumble recovery) en route to a 27-20 victory over NCAA Division I-AA foe Southern in front of 12,845 fans at A.W. Mumford Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

During the first drive of the game, NCCU defensive back Craig Amos stepped in front of a SU quarterback J.C. Lewis pass and returned it 96 yards for a touchdown to give NCCU (4-0, 2-0 CIAA) a 7-0 lead. Amos’ interception return was the fourth-longest in NCCU history and the first career touchdown for the Winston-Salem native.

Both offenses stagnated throughout much of the first stanza, with the Eagles only able to muster 10 first-half points off of four first half interceptions. Following a Courtney Coard interception, Brandon Gilbert converted on a 29-yard field goal at the 7:50 mark of the second quarter to provide NCCU with a 10-0 halftime lead.

NCCU opened the second half with an eight-play, 56-yard drive, which included a 40-yard reception by senior receiver Charles Futrell from freshman quarterback Stadford Brown, resulting in a 20-yard field goal by Gilbert to push the NCCU lead to 13-0 at 10:37 of the third quarter.

After the NCCU defense forced its first three-and-out of the contest, Brown hit Futrell for a 73-yard touchdown strike (the longest of Futrell’s career), giving NCCU a 20-0 cushion with 8:22 remaining in the third quarter.

Futrell, a senior from Fayetteville, N.C., recorded a career-high in receiving yards with 140, coming on four receptions.

After a 2-yard touchdown pass from Lewis to tight end Evan Alexander gave Southern its first points of the contest at 12:45 of the fourth quarter, NCCU running back Greg Pruitt, Jr. sealed the game with a 58-yard touchdown scamper down the sideline. Pruitt, a senior from Cleveland, Ohio, passed Jefferson Inman (2,476 yards; 1969-72) into second place all-time with 2,564 career ground yards. He now stands just 277 yards from passing Joe Simmons (2,840 yards; 1990-93) as NCCU’s all-time leading rusher.

The NCCU defensive unit led by senior linebacker Naim Abdul-Malik’s 10 tackles (seven solo) yielded no points through the first three quarters. Safety Darren Brothers added six tackles (five solo), while freshman Rashard Coleman, starting for an injured Eric Ray, amassed six tackles (three solo), a tackle for loss, a forced fumble and a pass breakup for the Eagles. Junior linebacker Derrick Ray also contributed five tackles, including two tackles for a loss of four yards.

Amos (two), Coard (two), Brothers and defensive back Micguel Johnson intercepted passes from SU quarterbacks Lewis and C.J. Byrd, and junior Tyrone Williams forced and recovered a fumble, giving the Eagles the aforementioned seven turnovers in the contest. NCCU's six interceptions is the second-highest single-game total in school history. Coming into the match-up, Lewis led the SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference) in passing efficiency (144.4), yards per game (232.7) and total offense per game (205.3).

SU was led by Lewis who converted 27-of-44 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown. Jaguars receiver Gerard Landry caught eight passes for 132 yards and a touchdown.

NCCU, in the middle of a four-game road stretch, next travels to Bowie, Md. to face Bowie State in the Prince George’s Classic. The game marks a rematch of the 2005 CIAA Championship Game, which the Eagles won 26-23 after trailing 17-0 at the half. Kick-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.